Filters

This chapter provides information on the existing filters and illustrates how to create new filters.

Filters are used to limit a set of data or request additional information returned by the API.

Filters for fields that have a database index are enabled automatically. Filters by all other fields should be enabled explicitly.

ComparisonFilter Filter

The ComparisonFilter is the default filter used to filter data by a field value using various comparison types.

All supported comparison types are listed in the following table:

Comparison Type	Operator	Description
eq	=	For fields and not collection valued associations, it checks whether a field value is equal to a filter value. For collection valued associations, it checks whether a collection contains any of the filter values.
neq	!=	For fields and not collection valued associations, it checks whether a field value is not equal to a filter value. For collection valued associations, it checks that a collection does not contain any filter values. Records with null as the field value or an empty collection are not returned. To return them, use the neq_or_null comparison type.
lt	<	Checks whether a field value is less than a filter value. Supports numeric, date, and time fields.
lte	<=	Checks whether a field value is less than or equal to a filter value. Supports numeric, date, and time fields.
gt	>	Checks whether a field value is greater than a filter value. Supports numeric, date, and time fields.
gte	>=	Checks whether a field value is greater than or equal to a filter value. Supports numeric, date, and time fields.
exists	*	For fields and not collection valued associations, it checks whether a field value is not null (if a filter value is true) or a field value is null (if a filter value is false). For collection valued associations, it checks whether a collection is not empty (if a filter value is true) or empty (if a filter value is false).
neq_or_null	!*	For fields and not collection valued associations checks whether a field value is not equal to a filter value, or is null. For collection valued associations, it checks whether a collection does not contain any filter values or is empty.
contains	~	For string fields, it checks whether a field value contains a filter value. The LIKE ‘%value%’ comparison is used. For collection valued associations, it checks whether a collection contains all of the filter values.
not_contains	!~	For string fields, it checks that a field value does not contain a filter value. The NOT LIKE ‘%value%’ comparison is used. For collection valued associations, it checks that a collection does not contain all of the filter values.
starts_with	^	Checks whether a field value starts with a filter value. The LIKE ‘value%’ comparison is used. Supports only string fields.
not_starts_with	!^	Checks that a field value does not start with a filter value. The NOT LIKE ‘value%’ comparison is used. Supports only string fields.
ends_with	$	Checks whether a field value ends with a filter value. The LIKE ‘%value’ comparison is used. Supports only string fields.
not_ends_with	!$	Checks that a field value does not end with a filter value. The NOT LIKE ‘%value’ comparison is used. Supports only string fields.
empty		Checks whether a field value is empty or null (if a filter value is true) or a field value is not empty and not null (if a filter value is false). Supports string and array fields.

Existing Filters

A list of filters that are configured automatically according to the data type of a field:

Data Type / Filter Type	Operators enabled by default
string	=, !=, *, !*
boolean	=, !=, *, !*
integer	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
smallint	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
bigint	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
unsignedInteger	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
decimal	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
float	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
date	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
time	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
datetime	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
guid	=, !=, *, !*
text	*
percent	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
money	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
money_value	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*
currency	=, !=, *, !*
duration	=, !=, <, <=, >, >=, *, !*

All these filters are implemented by ComparisonFilter.

See Enable Advanced Operators for String Filter and Enable Case-insensitive String Filter for examples of advanced filter configuration.

The following filters are also configured automatically:

• The composite_identifier filter for the ID field if an entity has a composite identifier. The operators enabled for this filter are =, !=. It is implemented by CompositeIdentifierFilter.

• The association_composite_identifier filter for the ID field if an association has a composite identifier. The operators enabled for this filter are =, !=. It is implemented by AssociationCompositeIdentifierFilter.

• The association filter for multi-target associations. The operators enabled for this filter are =, !=, *, !*. It is implemented by ExtendedAssociationFilter. More details on how to configure multi-target associations are available in the following topics: Configure an Extended Many-To-One Association, Configure an Extended Many-To-Many Association and Configure an Extended Multiple Many-To-One Association.

A list of filters that should be configured explicitly using the type option:

Filter Type	Enabled Operators	Implemented by
primaryField	=, !=, *, !*	PrimaryFieldFilter
nestedTree	>, >=	NestedTreeFilter
searchQuery	=	SearchQueryFilter
searchAggregation	=	SearchAggregationFilter

You can also run the php var/console debug:config oro_api command to view all the existing filters in the filters section and all the existing operators for filters in the filter_operators section.

FilterInterface Interface

All filters must implement the FilterInterface interface.

Consider checking out the following classes before implementing your own filters, as each of them may serve as a good base class for your own filters:

• StandaloneFilter

• StandaloneFilterWithDefaultValue,

• ComparisonFilter and

• AssociationFilter

FieldFilterInterface Interface

The FieldFilterInterface is a marker interface that filters applied to a field must implement.

Examples of such filters are ComparisonFilter, StringComparisonFilter, CompositeIdentifierFilter, AssociationCompositeIdentifierFilter, NestedTreeFilter, ExtendedAssociationFilter and PrimaryFieldFilter.

FieldAwareFilterInterface Interface

Filters that are applied to a field and need to know the field name. must implement the FieldAwareFilterInterface interface.

Examples of such filters are ComparisonFilter, StringComparisonFilter, ExtendedAssociationFilter, PrimaryFieldFilter and AssociationCompositeIdentifierFilter.

CollectionAwareFilterInterface Interface

Filters that can handle a collection valued association must implement the CollectionAwareFilterInterface interface.

Examples of such filters are ComparisonFilter, StringComparisonFilter, ExtendedAssociationFilter and PrimaryFieldFilter.

ConfigAwareFilterInterface Interface

Filters that depend on the entity configuration must implement the ConfigAwareFilterInterface interface.

MetadataAwareFilterInterface Interface

Filters that depend on the entity metadata must implement the MetadataAwareFilterInterface interface. An example of such a filter is CompositeIdentifierFilter and AssociationCompositeIdentifierFilter.

RequestAwareFilterInterface Interface

Filters that depend on a request type must implement the RequestAwareFilterInterface interface.

Examples of such filters are ExtendedAssociationFilter, CompositeIdentifierFilter and AssociationCompositeIdentifierFilter.

SelfIdentifiableFilterInterface Interface

Filters that should search for their value themselves must implement the SelfIdentifiableFilterInterface interface.

An example of such a filter is ExtendedAssociationFilter.

NamedValueFilterInterface Interface

Filters with a named value should implement the NamedValueFilterInterface interface.

An example of such a filter is ExtendedAssociationFilter.

SpecialHandlingFilterInterface Interface

Filters with special handling must implement the SpecialHandlingFilterInterface interface. As a result, common normalization should not be applied to their values.

Examples of such a filter are MetaPropertyFilter, FieldsFilter, and IncludeFilter.

StandaloneFilter Base Class

The StandaloneFilter is the base class for filters you can use independently of other filters.

Examples of such filters are:

• ComparisonFilter

• StringComparisonFilter

• ExtendedAssociationFilter

• CompositeIdentifierFilter

• AssociationCompositeIdentifierFilter

• NestedTreeFilter

• SearchQueryFilter

• SearchAggregationFilter

• SimpleSearchFilter

• PrimaryFieldFilter

StandaloneFilterWithDefaultValue Base Class

The StandaloneFilterWithDefaultValue is the base class for filters that you can use independently of other filters and have a predefined default value.

Examples of such filters are PageNumberFilter, PageSizeFilter and SortFilter.

Criteria Class

The Criteria class represents criteria for filtering data returned by ORM queries. This class extends the Doctrine Criteria class and adds methods to work with joins. It is required as API filters can be applied to associations at any nesting level.

CriteriaConnector Class

The CriteriaConnector class is used to apply criteria stored in the Criteria object to the QueryBuilder object.

This class uses CriteriaNormalizer to prepare the Criteria object before criteria are applied to the QueryBuilder object.

Keep in mind that you can decorate RequireJoinsDecisionMakerInterface and OptimizeJoinsDecisionMakerInterface interfaces and oro_api.query.require_joins_decision_maker and oro_api.query.optimize_joins_decision_maker services if your expressions require this.

QueryExpressionVisitor Class

The QueryExpressionVisitor is used to walk a graph of DQL expressions from the Criteria object and turns them into a query. This class is similar to Doctrine QueryExpressionVisitor, but allows adding new types of expressions easily and helps to build subquery-based expressions.

Query Expressions

The following query expressions are implemented out-of-the-box:

Operator	Class	Description
AND	AndCompositeExpression	Logical AND
OR	OrCompositeExpression	Logical OR
NOT	NotCompositeExpression	Logical NOT
=	EqComparisonExpression	EQUAL TO comparison
<>	NeqComparisonExpression	NOT EQUAL TO comparison
<	LtComparisonExpression	LESS THAN comparison
<=	LteComparisonExpression	LESS THAN OR EQUAL TO comparison
>	GtComparisonExpression	GREATER THAN comparison
>=	GteComparisonExpression	GREATER THAN OR EQUAL TO comparison
IN	InComparisonExpression	IN comparison
NIN	NinComparisonExpression	NOT IN comparison
EXISTS	ExistsComparisonExpression	EXISTS (IS NOT NULL) and DOES NOT EXIST (IS NULL) comparisons
EMPTY	EmptyComparisonExpression	EMPTY and NOT EMPTY comparisons for collections
NEQ_OR_NULL	NeqOrNullComparisonExpression	NOT EQUAL TO OR IS NULL comparison
NEQ_OR_EMPTY	NeqOrEmptyComparisonExpression	NOT EQUAL TO OR EMPTY comparison for collections
MEMBER_OF	MemberOfComparisonExpression	checks whether a collection contains any of specific values
ALL_MEMBER_OF	AllMemberOfComparisonExpression	checks whether a collection contains all of specific values
ALL_NOT_MEMBER_OF	AllMemberOfComparisonExpression	checks whether a collection does not contain all of specific values
CONTAINS	ContainsComparisonExpression	LIKE %value% comparison
NOT_CONTAINS	NotContainsComparisonExpression	NOT LIKE %value% comparison
STARTS_WITH	StartsWithComparisonExpression	LIKE value% comparison
NOT_STARTS_WITH	NotStartsWithComparisonExpression	NOT LIKE value% comparison
ENDS_WITH	EndsWithComparisonExpression	LIKE %value comparison
NOT_ENDS_WITH	NotEndsWithComparisonExpression	NOT LIKE %value comparison
EMPTY_VALUE	EmptyValueComparisonExpression	EQUAL TO empty value OR IS NULL and NOT EQUAL TO empty value AND NOT IS NULL comparisons
NESTED_TREE	NestedTreeComparisonExpression	returns all child nodes for a given node depending on the nesting level
NESTED_TREE_WITH_ROOT	NestedTreeComparisonExpression	returns a given node and all child nodes for this node depending on the nesting level

You can add new comparison expressions and use them in your filters if necessary. For this, create a class that implements the expression logic, register it as a service tagged with the oro.api.query.comparison_expression in the dependency injection container, and decorate the oro_api.query.require_joins_decision_maker and oro_api.query.optimize_joins_decision_maker services if required.

Creating a New Filter

To create a new filter:

• Create a class that implements the filtering logic. This class must implement FilterInterface Interface or extend one of the classes implementing this interface.

• If your filter is complex and depends on other services, create a factory to create the filter. Register the factory as a service in the dependency injection container.

• Register this class in the oro_api / filters section using Resources/config/oro/app.yml. You can find examples of filters registration in ApiBundle/Resources/config/oro/app.yml.

To configure your filter for an API resource, use the type option of the filter.

Other Classes

Consider checking out the list of other classes below, as they can provide insight on how data filtering works:

• FilterNames - contains names of predefined filters for a specific request type.

• FilterNamesRegistry - a container for names of predefined filters for all registered request types.

• FilterValue - represents a filter value.

• FilterValueAccessorInterface - represents a collection of the FilterValue objects.

• RestFilterValueAccessor - extracts values of filters from REST API HTTP request.

• FilterHelper - reusable utility methods that can be used to get filter values.

• FilterCollection - a collection of filters.

• SimpleFilterFactory - the default implementation of a factory to create filters.

• FilterOperatorRegistry - the container for all registered operators for filters.

• MetaPropertyFilter - a filter used to request to add entity meta properties to the result or to perform some additional operations.

• AddMetaPropertyFilter - a processor that adds the “meta” filter that is used to specify which entity meta properties should be returned or which additional operations should be performed.

• HandleMetaPropertyFilter - a processor that handles the “meta” filter.

• ValidateMetaPropertyFilterSupported - a processor that validates that the “meta” filter is supported and all requested meta properties are allowed.

• AddMetaProperties - a processor that adds the configuration of meta properties requested via the “meta” filter.

• FieldsFilter - a filter that is used to filter entity fields.

• AddFieldsFilter - a processor that adds “fields” filters that are used to filter entity fields.

• HandleFieldsFilter - a processor that handles “fields” filters.

• FilterFieldsByExtra - a processor that modifies configuration of entities according to “fields” filters.

• IncludeFilter - a filter that is used to request information about related entities.

• AddIncludeFilter - a processor that adds “include” filters that are used to request information about related entities.

• HandleIncludeFilter - a processor that handles “include” filters.

• ExpandRelatedEntities - a processor that adds configuration of related entities requested via “include” filters.

• BuildCriteria - a processor that applies all requested filters to the Criteria object.

• NormalizeFilterValues - a processor that converts values of all requested filters according to the type of the filters and validates that all requested filters are supported.

• RegisterConfiguredFilters - a processor that registers filters according to the filters configuration section.

• RegisterDynamicFilters - a processor that registers nested filters.