Unable to Import Featured Images During theme:seed (Importer Rejects featured_image_urls)

[SamBrishes]

I’m trying to seed RainLab.Blog posts using php artisan theme:seed command, and I’d like to include demo images as well.

Thus, in my data.yaml, I first import the media files, then the RainLab.Blog posts:

-
    name: Demo Media Files
    class: Media\Models\MediaLibraryItemImport
    file: seeds/data/media-files.json
    attributes:
        file_format: json
-
    name: Demo RainLab.Blog Posts
    class: RainLab\Blog\Models\PostImport
    file: seeds/data/rainlab-blog.json
    attributes:
        file_format: json
        auto_create_categories: true

My media-files.json is as simple as

[
    {
        "type": "folder",
        "path": "newshub/demo",
        "source": "seeds/media"
    }
]

The problem is that the images cannot be imported. The exported Blog Posts contain a featured_image_urls attribute (which is empty, though), but the importer rejects it because this attribute does not exist on the Post model.

Error: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1 table rainlab_blog_posts has no column named featured_image_urls

My intended approach was to stay using the featured_image_urls, but - at least for the seeder - with internal storage paths that already exist from the media importer. Example Post:

[

    {
        "title": "Title",
        "categories": ["Articles", "Featured"],
        "created_at": "2022-08-13T14:53:24.000000Z",
        "updated_at": "2022-08-13T14:53:24.000000Z",
        "published_at": "2022-08-13 14:53:14",
        "content": "Post Content.",
        "content_html": "<p>Post HTML Content</p>",
        "excerpt": "",
        "slug": "title",
        "author_email": "sam@rat.md",
        "featured_image_urls": [
            "newshub/demo/hero-image-01.jpg"
        ],
        "published": 1
    },
]

Then in your PostImport.php on line 67, create File objects like this:

foreach (array_except($data, $except) as $attribute => $value) {
    if (in_array($attribute, $post->getDates()) && empty($value)) {
        continue;
    }
    if ($attribute == 'featured_image_urls') {
        $value = is_array($value) ? $value : [$value];
        $files = [];
        foreach ($value AS $image) {
            $filePath = storage_path('app/media/' . $image);
            if (empty($image) || !file_exists($filePath) || !is_file($filePath)) {
                continue;
            }

            $files[] = (new \System\Models\File)->fromFile(
                $filePath,
                basename($image)
            );
        }
        if (!empty($files)) {
            $post->featured_images = $files;
        }
    } else {
        $post->{$attribute} = isset($value) ? $value : null;
    }
}

Or is there a more native or recommended way to import images along with the Blog posts?

Thanks.

~Sam.

[daftspunk]

Hey Sam, thanks for the detailed report, this is a real gap in the import/export system.

We've added native file attachment support to the base ImportModel and ExportModel classes in v4.3 (next feature release), so this now works at the framework level rather than requiring per-plugin workarounds.

For theme seeding, you can reference files from the media library or from theme-relative paths directly in your JSON data. Your approach was on the right track, just use the relation name (featured_images) instead of featured_image_urls, and the import model handles the rest:

[
    {
        "title": "Title",
        "slug": "title",
        "categories": ["Articles", "Featured"],
        "published_at": "2022-08-13 14:53:14",
        "content": "Post Content.",
        "excerpt": "",
        "featured_images": [
            "newshub/demo/hero-image-01.jpg"
        ],
        "published": 1
    }
]

The path newshub/demo/hero-image-01.jpg resolves from the media library automatically (as long as you seed media files first, which you're already doing). You can also reference files directly from the theme directory using theme-relative paths like seeds/files/hero.jpg.

For the ImportExportController (backend UI), you can now upload a ZIP archive containing a data file plus a files/ directory with the attachments. Exporting records with file attachments automatically produces this ZIP format.

Note: this requires the specific plugin's import model (e.g. RainLab\Blog\Models\PostImport) to handle the featured_images column via decodeFileRelation(), which is now available on the base ImportModel class. Plugin authors just need to route the file column through it. We'll make a note to do the RainLab.Blog plugin when this releases.

This will be available in v4.3 (the next feature release).

• Documentation: octobercms/docs@7507a60