Magento - Adding a new column to sales_flat_quote_item and sales_flat_order_item

Question

I'm working with Magento version 1.4.1.1, and I want to save a value in sales_flat_quote_item table (and pass it to sales_flat_order_item).

I've found this tutorial, but I'm not sure if it's still relevant (to Magento version 1.4.1.1) since it talks about a table called sales_order, which I believe is now sales_flat_order and looks a bit different.

Should this method still work? If so - Can I use it for sales_flat_quote_item and sales_flat_order_item and what entity_type_id should I put in the commend :

`insert into eav_attribute('entity_type_id','attribute_code','attribute_model','backend_model','backend_type','backend_table','frontend_model','frontend_input','frontend_input_renderer','frontend_label','frontend_class','source_model','is_global','is_visible','is_required','is_user_defined','default_value','is_searchable','is_filterable','is_comparable','is_visible_on_front','is_html_allowed_on_front','is_unique','is_used_for_price_rules','is_filterable_in_search','used_in_product_listing','used_for_sort_by','is_configurable','apply_to','position','note','is_visible_in_advanced_search'  )  
values(11, 'my_new_column', null, '', 'static', '', '', 'text', '','',null, '', 1,1,1,0,'',0,0,0,0,0,0,1,0,0,0,1,'',0,'',0);`

If this is not the way to do that in the new Magento version, how should I do that?

Thanks, Shani

Answer 1

1. Create a new module with own setup class extended from Mage_Sales_Model_Mysql4_Setup or just use it as module setup class in config.xml:

    <global>
        <resources>
            <your_module_setup>
                 <setup>
                     <module>Your_Module</module>
                     <class>Mage_Sales_Model_Mysql4_Setup</class>
                 </setup>
            </your_module_setup>
        </resources>
    </global>
   

2. Use addAttribute($entity, $attributeCode, $options) method inside of your setup script, it will automatically add a new column to sales_flat_order tale. The same for other entites.

   $installer = $this;
   $installer->startSetup();
   $installer->addAttribute(
       'order', 
       'your_attribute_code', 
       array(
           'type' => 'int', /* varchar, text, decimal, datetime */,
           'grid' => false /* or true if you wan't use this attribute on orders grid page */
       )
   );
   $installer->endSetup();
   

Answer 2

important thing to know when adding attributes to orders: you need to add the same attributes to quotes, too (at least in my case this solved all problems)