How do I get the number of entries that have checkboxes?

Question

I'm trying to get the number of entries that have selected checkboxes.

This works successfully (where genreGames is a checkbox field):

{{ games.genreGames('action').all()|length }}

Is there a way that I can do the same thing, except the field name is set dynamically? Like this:

{% set games = craft.entries().section('games') %}
{% set field = 'genreGames' %}
{{ games.field('action').all()|length }}

Obviously that won't work, but I need something similar.

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The reason I need this is I'm building a solution for displaying the number of entries where a certain checkbox is checked. As you can see from the screenshot below, I want to set some parameters first and then use them below in my actual "template". It would also be nice to create a function to pass these variables in to and then output the template, but I do not know if this is possible in Twig.

Answer 1

To query on variable field names, you can use object notation; i.e. an object passed to craft.entries():

{% set field = 'genreGames' %}

{% set games = craft.entries({ (field): 'action' }).section('games').all() %}

Note the paranthesis around the field variable attribute; this is necessary to let Twig know that it should be parsed as a variable, and not interpreted literally as a field handle "field".

It's possible to add multiple variable parameters (i.e. fields) using the object notation:

{% set fieldA = 'genreGames' %}
{% set fieldB = 'somethingElse' %}

{% set games = craft.entries({ (fieldA): 'action', (fieldB): 'foo' }).section('games').all() %}

...but I'd recommend sticking with the common dot notation for any fields/parameters that doesn't have to be variables (i.e. .section(), in the above examples).

Object notation also works for relational fields (e.g. Entries fields), for example if you had an Entries field called relatedGames you could do this:

{% set relatedGames = entry.relatedGames({ (field): 'action' }).all()

Aside from this, Jalen's suggestion for using include to create a re-usable "query template" partial (i.e. to act as a "function" to pass variables into and render the final template), is solid, and commonly the way situations like this are solved in Twig. You might also want to look into Twig macros, which are even more "function-like" than includes or embeds, but essentially these will just behave like a less flexible include.

Answer 2

To answer your initial question, I think you could use the attribute function here to solve your problem:

{% set field = 'genreGames' %}
{{ attribute(games, field, 'action').all()|length }}

FYI, there is also the .count() method, which could be a better fit here than .all()|length - works the same in this instance, but is shorter and more clear 🙃

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To answer your question/wish about the function thingy in Twig, I think what you might be looking for is something like this:

1. Move your template code (i.e. what you highlighted as template code in your screenshot) into its own Twig file somewhere in your templates folder.
2. Then, you'll want to include that template, and you can pass it your parameters (you don't even need the different sets you're currently doing):

{% include 'path/to/your/template/partial.twig' with {
    'name': 'genre',
    'type': 'checkbox',
    'field': 'genreGame',
    'fields': craft.app.fields.getFieldByHandle('genreGame')
} %}

There are some other things you could tinker with there, like the inclusion of only in the include function if you don't want the whole Twig context passed, or its possible an embed might fit your use case more than the include.

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Hopefully that helps!