getFlatColumns

After we turn on Use Flat Catalog Product, we activate the catalog_product_flat index. Run bin/magento indexer:reindex catalog_product_flat A new table catalog_product_flat_<storeId> will be created. In this table, product eav attributes which are configured as Used in Product Listing are added as columns. Let’s see how this worked.

<indexer id="catalog_product_flat" view_id="catalog_product_flat" class="Magento\Catalog\Model\Indexer\Product\Flat">
        <title translate="true">Product Flat Data</title>
        <description translate="true">Reorganize EAV product structure to flat structure</description>
</indexer>

Magento\Catalog\Model\Indexer\Product\Flat:executeFull > Magento\Catalog\Model\Indexer\Product\Flat\AbstractAction:_updateRelationProducts > Magento\Catalog\Helper\Product\Flat\Indexer:getFlatColumns

public function getFlatColumns()
    {
        if ($this->_columns === null) {
            $this->_columns = $this->getFlatColumnsDdlDefinition();
            foreach ($this->getAttributes() as $attribute) {
                /** @var $attribute \Magento\Eav\Model\Entity\Attribute\AbstractAttribute */
                $columns = $attribute->setFlatAddFilterableAttributes(
                    $this->isAddFilterableAttributes()
                )->setFlatAddChildData(
                    $this->isAddChildData()
                )->getFlatColumns();
                if ($columns !== null) {
                    $this->_columns = array_merge($this->_columns, $columns);
                }
            }
        }
        return $this->_columns;
    }

Practice Tests

What is the purpose of the getFlatColumns method in an EAV’s Source model? A. It returns a list of columns in the entity’s _text table. B. It converts option values into row values for the attribute value tables. C. It flattens an array attribute value into a JSON string. D. It returns columns that will be added to the EAV model’s flat table. Answer D