Mastering Drupal 9 EntityQuery

Let's dive into more details about Drupal 9's entityQuery, covering Simple node entity queries, Condition groups, Reaching into reference fields, Show me the SQL, and loadByProperties() with corresponding codes and examples.

1. Simple Node Entity Queries:

The entityQuery method in Drupal 9 allows developers to query entities and fields in a SQL-like manner. Here's an example of a simple node entity query:

$query = \Drupal::entityQuery('node')  
->condition('type', 'page')  
->condition('field_some_field', 14)  
->accessCheck(TRUE); 
$results = $query->execute();

In this example, it retrieves all nodes of type "page" where the value of the integer field "field_some_field" is 14.

2. Condition Groups:

Condition groups enable more complex queries. Consider finding users whose account was created either before 2010 or after January 1, 2020:

$query = \Drupal::entityQuery('user'); 
$group = $query  
->orConditionGroup()  
->condition('created', '1262304000', '<')     // Jan 1, 2010 
 ->condition('created', '1577836800', '>');    // Jan 1, 2020 
 $results = $query->condition($group) 
  ->condition('status', 1) 
  ->sort('created', 'DESC')  
  ->accessCheck(TRUE)  
  ->execute();

3. Reaching into Reference Fields:

EntityQuery can query field values of referenced entities. For instance, finding event nodes whose location's "venue type" is 'boat':

$results = \Drupal::entityQuery('node')  
->condition('type', 'event')  
->condition('field_location.entity:node.field_venue_type', 'boat') 
 ->accessCheck(TRUE)  
 ->execute();

4. Show Me the SQL:

You can output the SQL generated by entityQuery. For example:

$query = \Drupal::entityQuery('node')  
->condition('type', 'event')  
->condition('field_location.entity:node.field_tag.entity:taxonomy_term', 'sailboat')  
->accessCheck(TRUE); 
$sql = $query->__toString();

This allows developers to inspect and understand the underlying SQL query.

5. loadByProperties():

The loadByProperties() method provides a way to load fully-populated node objects based on specified properties. Example:

/** @var \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityStorageInterface $node_storage */ 
$node_storage = \Drupal::entityTypeManager()->getStorage('node'); 
$nodes = $node_storage->loadByProperties([  'type' => 'event',  'field_location.entity:node.field_tags.entity:taxonomy_term.name' => 'sailboat', ]);

This method is helpful when you need the complete entity objects directly.

Conclusion:

Understanding entityQuery is crucial for effective Drupal 9 development. These examples cover simple to advanced scenarios, showcasing the versatility of entityQuery in managing and retrieving data from Drupal entities.