Hi guys.

I have a recurring problem.
Everytime I use a get_post_meta(pid,mkey,single) on any field that is a select field (single select not multiple) and I use single=true in the get_post_meta.
An array is ALWAYS returned instead of a single value.

So for a single get_post_meta call, instead of
$tmp = get_post_meta($pid,$key,true);

$tmp != ‘string’;
But
$tmp = array (
‘string’
);

So I’m always having to do this to all get_post_meta vars, just in case I can’t remember if its a select or not. 🙂

$tmp = get_post_meta($pid,$key,true);
$tmp = (is_array($tmp) && count($tmp)==1) ? $tmp[0] : $tmp;

Which I hate, as get_post_meta for singles, should return singles, not arrays.

So I decided to do a little hacking on Kevins magnificent code. (it is, I’m not kidding)
So in class-piklist-meta.php in the get_metadata function I changed it from:

  public static function get_metadata($value, $meta_type, $object_id, $meta_key, $single)
  {
    global $wpdb;
    
    self::$reserved_meta_keys = apply_filters('piklist_reserved_meta_keys',self::$reserved_meta_keys);
    
    if ((isset(self::$reserved_meta_keys[$meta_type]) && in_array($meta_key, self::$reserved_meta_keys[$meta_type])) || !$meta_key)
    {
      return $value;
    }

    $meta_key = '_' . piklist::$prefix . $meta_key;
    
    switch ($meta_type)
    {
      case 'post':
      
        $meta_table = $wpdb->postmeta;
        $meta_id_field = 'meta_id';
        $meta_id = 'post_id';
      
      break;

      case 'term': 
      
        $meta_table = $wpdb->termmeta;
        $meta_id_field = 'meta_id';
        $meta_id = 'term_id';
      
      break;

      case 'user':
      
        $meta_table = $wpdb->usermeta;
        $meta_id_field = 'umeta_id';
        $meta_id = 'user_id';
      
      break;
    }
    
    $is_group = $wpdb->get_var($wpdb->prepare("SELECT $meta_id_field FROM $meta_table WHERE meta_key = %s AND $meta_id = %d", $meta_key, $object_id));
    
    if ($is_group)
    {
      if ($meta_ids = get_metadata($meta_type, $object_id, $meta_key))
      {
        foreach ($meta_ids as &$group)
        {
          foreach ($group as &$meta_id)
          {
            $meta_id = $wpdb->get_var($wpdb->prepare("SELECT meta_value FROM $meta_table WHERE $meta_id_field = %d", $meta_id));
          }
        }
        $value = $meta_ids;
      }
    }
    return $value;
  }

to this (I added just before the final value, a simple routine that checks to see if its single, and the value is an array and has a count of 1)

  public static function get_metadata($value, $meta_type, $object_id, $meta_key, $single)
  {
    global $wpdb;
    
    self::$reserved_meta_keys = apply_filters('piklist_reserved_meta_keys',self::$reserved_meta_keys);
    
    if ((isset(self::$reserved_meta_keys[$meta_type]) && in_array($meta_key, self::$reserved_meta_keys[$meta_type])) || !$meta_key)
    {
      return $value;
    }

    $meta_key = '_' . piklist::$prefix . $meta_key;
    
    switch ($meta_type)
    {
      case 'post':
      
        $meta_table = $wpdb->postmeta;
        $meta_id_field = 'meta_id';
        $meta_id = 'post_id';
      
      break;

      case 'term': 
      
        $meta_table = $wpdb->termmeta;
        $meta_id_field = 'meta_id';
        $meta_id = 'term_id';
      
      break;

      case 'user':
      
        $meta_table = $wpdb->usermeta;
        $meta_id_field = 'umeta_id';
        $meta_id = 'user_id';
      
      break;
    }
    
    $is_group = $wpdb->get_var($wpdb->prepare("SELECT $meta_id_field FROM $meta_table WHERE meta_key = %s AND $meta_id = %d", $meta_key, $object_id));
    
    if ($is_group)
    {
      if ($meta_ids = get_metadata($meta_type, $object_id, $meta_key))
      {
        foreach ($meta_ids as &$group)
        {
          foreach ($group as &$meta_id)
          {
            $meta_id = $wpdb->get_var($wpdb->prepare("SELECT meta_value FROM $meta_table WHERE $meta_id_field = %d", $meta_id));
          }
        }
        $value = $meta_ids;
      }
    }
    if ($single==true && is_array($value) && count($value)==1) {
      $value = $value[0];
    }
    return $value;
  }

So a couple of questions. What damage will I be doing to the piklist forms I’m creating? (and other than having to repeat this fix every time a new version comes out is it ok to do this?)

And is there any way we can have this as a permanent fix? Or is there a specific reason why it will stay like this that I am not smart enough to figure out? (which is totally possible)

Thanks guys.

Marcus