Change Template file via PW API (SOLVED)

[EyeDentify]

Hello Fellow PW Fans and Gurus.

I have run into a problem where i have created a template without a template file associated with it.
Now i would like to HAVE a template file associated with it, not an alternate but as the main template file.

So i thought, that's easy, I upload the template file and change it in template settings but I only get the Alternate template file setting?

Ok so maybe i can change it via the API , so i wrote some code for this.

<?PHP
function changeTemplate($pages = null, $templates = null) {
    /* get the pages to change template on */
    $logItems = $pages->findMany('template=tmp_log_item');
	
  	/* get the template object for our desired template */
  	$Template = $templates->get('tmp_new_log_item');
  
    foreach($logItems AS $key => $logData) {
        
        /* use template object $Template to set template */
      	$logData->template = $Template;
        
        /* save page item */
        $logData->save();
    }
}

/* do the magic change */
changeTemplate();
?>

Needless to say, PW was not happy about this, It throw up an error message:

Error: Exception: Invalid value sent to Page::setTemplate (in /home/virtual/mydomain/public_html/wire/core/Page.php line 1782)

Now from what i understand i gave $logData->template the wrong type of value.
So what should the value be to correct this?

When I read the docs at: https://processwire.com/api/ref/page/

the value can be "string" or "Template".

So i gave it a string and it went haywire.

How should I approach this cause I realy dont want to manually change template file on över 50 plus pages

Maybe I should use the Template class to create the value that the API wanted, but I am unsure how to use it.

Thank you for any info you can give me on this.

If you want more info to help me, ask and I will try my best to give it to you.

Updated and Solved
I solved the problem and have updated the code to reflect this.

Essentialy i used the get() method of $templates to get the template object for my template i wanted to use using the template name.
I gave the Object to the $logData->template property and all went well.

We learn something new every day.

One Note:

The template file you want to use must have been uploaded and added as a template in the Template section in the Admin for this code to work as expected.

Edited June 14, 2018 by EyeDentify
Updated the post to correct som variable/property namnings and make it more readable.

[kongondo]

I realise this was a one-off but just wanted to point out that calling the get() inside the foreach loop is not very efficient. It is better to do that (once) outside the foreach since it is the same template you are retrieving each time. 

Edited June 5, 2017 by kongondo

[EyeDentify]

2 minutes ago, kongondo said:

I realise this was a one-off but just wanted to point out that calling the get() inside the foreach loop is not very efficient. It is better to do that (once) outside the foreach since it is the same template you are retrieving each time. 

You are absolutly right. I was thinking of this but i forgot at the last minute. ?

[Robin S]

1 hour ago, EyeDentify said:

I have run into a problem where i have created a template without a template file associated with it.
Now i would like to HAVE a template file associated with it, not an alternate but as the main template file.

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the situation here, but it isn't necessary to do anything in the PW admin or via the API to associate a template file with a template - you just add a file named the same as your template to /site/templates/. So if you created a template named "my_template" then you add a file "my_template.php".

You don't have to create the template and the template file at the same time. You could create a template last week and add the file today and it is automatically associated with the template if the name is the same.

[EyeDentify]

5 minutes ago, Robin S said:

Maybe I'm misunderstanding the situation here, but it isn't necessary to do anything in the PW admin or via the API to associate a template file with a template - you just add a file named the same as your template to /site/templates/. So if you created a template named "my_template" then you add a file "my_template.php".

You don't have to create the template and the template file at the same time. You could create a template last week and add the file today and it is automatically associated with the template if the name is the same.

You are talking about the Alternate template file functionality. Then Yes, you can have a file uploaded and it would get used by the template that has a alternate template assigned with the same name as the one you uploaded.

But in my case i hade Created a Template without a file in Admin, but later i wanted it to have a file for views, but not an alternate file.
So my code fixes this by using a Template that i added with a associated file to go with it.

[Robin S]

10 hours ago, EyeDentify said:

You are talking about the Alternate template file functionality.

No, I'm not referring to the Alternate template file feature. I'm just saying that if you create a template without a file, and later decide you want to add a file for it, all you need to do is put that file (named the same as the template it relates to) into /site/templates/. Maybe you never tried it that way before but give it a go and you'll see what I mean.

[EyeDentify]

On 2017-06-06 at 0:29 AM, Robin S said:

No, I'm not referring to the Alternate template file feature. I'm just saying that if you create a template without a file, and later decide you want to add a file for it, all you need to do is put that file (named the same as the template it relates to) into /site/templates/. Maybe you never tried it that way before but give it a go and you'll see what I mean.

Oh. Ok i see what you mean. I have tried what you are talking about, but i need to associate the file with a Template, and to remove the file from list of files without a Template that gets shown when you click "new template" in admin.

then i have to change every Template manually in the tree for every page.

There is no option in admin when you edit a Template to change the Orignal associated file (if any) or associate a new one if no one was chosen when creating the Template without a file.

Therefore i needed the code.

I don´t see the Automatic association you are talking about.

Maybe i misunderstood you.

On 2017-06-06 at 0:29 AM, Robin S said:

No, I'm not referring to the Alternate template file feature. I'm just saying that if you create a template without a file, and later decide you want to add a file for it, all you need to do is put that file (named the same as the template it relates to) into /site/templates/. Maybe you never tried it that way before but give it a go and you'll see what I mean.

Anyway, i have resolved the issue. i Thank you all for your input.