How can I specify what happens when someone calls my fieldtype without any further dot chains?

Question

So, I'm in the process of building a fieldtype, and I'd like to output an HTML element and some javascript when a developer calls my plugin like this:

{{ entry.fieldtypeHandle }}

The field returns an object with other methods/properties on it, but I'd like to specifically provide something different when a developer calls my fieldtype without any other chaining.

I've tried pass a class with a __toString() method, but it just returns a string. (I don't know what I expected, honestly.) I also know that coupling the HTML output with the class seems a bit dirty, even if that did work.

Is this possible?

Answer 1

entry.myFieldHandle will return whatever the field type’s prepValue() function returns.

If you always want that to be HTML, then prepValue() can just return the HTML as a string or \Twig_Markup object via TemplateHelper::getRaw() so devs don't have to type |raw when outputting the value.

If you want it to be an object that supports sub-properties and methods, then have prepValue() return the object. Give the class a __toString() method, which defines the string that should be returned when the object is treated like a string. Behind the scenes, __toString() is what will be called when a template has {{ entry.myFieldHandle }}. But note that this is a PHP construct and PHP mandates that the method returns an actual string, so you can’t return a \Twig_Markup object here. Devs will have to type {{ entry.myFieldHandle|raw }} to prevent Twig from escaping the HTML.