Extension Documentation

Categories Table
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Categories Table

Each article belongs to a specific category.

Table 7.1. Categories table description

Column Name	Type	Size	Not Null?	Constraints	Description
id	Number	11	Yes	Primary key	A unique numeric identification for each category (or sub-category). Populated by an auto-sequence.
asset_id	Int	10	Yes	None	FK to the #__assets table.
title	Varchar	255	Yes	Unique key	A unique alphanumeric name for the category.
description	Text	64K	No	None	Description of the category.
category_image	Varchar	255	No	None	Name of the category image if required.
parent_id	Int	n/a	No	None	Key to parent category.
lft	Integer	11	Yes	None	Nested table left.
rgt	Integer	11	Yes	None	Nested table right.
level	Integer	10	Yes	None	Nested table level.
path	Varchar	255	Yes	None	Required for nested table.
category_icon	Varchar	255	Yes	None	Font Awesome icon.
alias	Varchar	255	Yes	None	Category Alias.
ordering	Int	11	No	None	The column used for ordering records. Not used. lft is used instead.
state	TinyInt	1	No	None	State of the specific record. i.e. Published, archived, trashed etc.
language	Character	7	No	None	Language code.
access	Int	10	Yes	None	Access levels required to view the category. [ACL]
checked_out	Int	11	Yes	None	Checked out indicator. User id of user editing the record.
checked_out_time	Datetime	na	Yes	None	When the record was checked out for editing.
created_by	Int	-	No	None	The userid of the person who created the record.
created_on	Timestamp	-	No	None	The date and time the record was created. Default NULL.
modified_by	Int	-	No	None	The userid of the person who last modified the record. Default NULL.
modified_on	Timestamp	-	No	None	The date and time the record was last modified. Default NULL.

	Note
1) It is possible to define sub-categories as well. Each sub-category is linked through the parent_id field. In some of the Joomla displays the full category name is displayed for every sub-category. i.e. For a category with three levels of sub-category the category name is displayed as: Category Name Level 1 - Level 2 - Level 3 Where ‘Level 1’, ‘Level 2’ and ‘Level 3’ are the defined category name values for the sub categories. This means that the displayed ‘combined category name may become quite long, and for that reason it is suggested that the ‘category name’ is kept to a minimum length sufficient to uniquely identify it. 2) There is a 'Root ' category that is never displayed, but acts as the base of the category tree.

Note

1) It is possible to define sub-categories as well. Each sub-category is linked through the parent_id field. In some of the Joomla displays the full category name is displayed for every sub-category. i.e. For a category with three levels of sub-category the category name is displayed as:

Category Name Level 1 - Level 2 - Level 3

Where ‘Level 1’, ‘Level 2’ and ‘Level 3’ are the defined category name values for the sub categories. This means that the displayed ‘combined category name may become quite long, and for that reason it is suggested that the ‘category name’ is kept to a minimum length sufficient to uniquely identify it.

2) There is a 'Root ' category that is never displayed, but acts as the base of the category tree.

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