Magento: Adding attribute from MySql setup file

You can add attribute from Admin Panel -> Catalog -> Attributes -> Manage Attributes.

You can also add attributes from mysql setup file of your module. MySql setup file is present inside “YourModule/sql/yourmodule_setup” directory.

In the following example, the version of my module is 0.1.0.  I have added attribute for product. I have added a new Attribute Group called “Special Attributes” and then I have assigned the new attribute called “testing_attribute” into the “Special Attribute” group.

// file mysql4-install-0.1.0.php

<?php

$installer = $this;
$setup = new Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup('core_setup');
$installer->startSetup();
/**
 * Adding Different Attributes
 */

// adding attribute group
$setup->addAttributeGroup('catalog_product', 'Default', 'Special Attributes', 1000);

// the attribute added will be displayed under the group/tab Special Attributes in product edit page
$setup->addAttribute('catalog_product', 'testing_attribute', array(
    'group'         => 'Special Attributes',
    'input'         => 'text',
    'type'          => 'text',
    'label'         => 'Testing',
    'backend'       => '',
    'visible'       => 1,
    'required'      => 0,
    'user_defined' => 1,
    'searchable' => 1,
    'filterable' => 0,
    'comparable'    => 1,
    'visible_on_front' => 1,
    'visible_in_advanced_search'  => 0,
    'is_html_allowed_on_front' => 0,
    'global'        => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,
));

$installer->endSetup();

Be careful on input and type. Input means the input type of the attribute. And type means the input type in database.

For textfield it will be:
'input' => 'text',
'type' => 'text',

For textarea it will be:
'input' => 'textarea',
'type' => 'text',

For date field it will be:
'input' => 'date',
'type' => 'datetime',

For select list it will be:
'input' => 'select',
'type' => 'text',

Here is the sample code to add datetime attribute. Please note that the type for date should be datetime and backend should be eav/entity_attribute_backend_datetime.

$setup->addAttribute('catalog_product', 'delivery_date', array(
    'group'         => 'Special Attributes',
    'input'         => 'date',
    'type'          => 'datetime',
    'label'         => 'Delivery',          
    'backend'       => "eav/entity_attribute_backend_datetime", 
    'visible'       => 1,   
    'required'      => 0,
    'user_defined' => 1,
    'searchable' => 1,
    'filterable' => 0,
    'comparable'    => 0,
    'visible_on_front' => 1,
    'visible_in_advanced_search'  => 0,
    'is_html_allowed_on_front' => 0,
    'global'        => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,     
));

Adding custom options to dropdown attribute through setup file

You can also add custom options to dropdown attribute, like there is in manufacturer or color attribute.

Here is a sample code for this purpose:-

$installer = $this;
$setup = new Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup('core_setup');
$installer->startSetup();                       
                            
$setup->addAttribute('catalog_product', 'test_attribute', array(
             'label'             => 'Test',
             'type'              => 'varchar',
             'input'             => 'select',
             'backend'           => 'eav/entity_attribute_backend_array',
             'frontend'          => '', 
             'source'            => 'yourmodule/source_option',
             'global'            => Mage_Catalog_Model_Resource_Eav_Attribute::SCOPE_GLOBAL,
             'visible'           => true,
             'required'          => true,
             'user_defined'      => true,
             'searchable'        => false,
             'filterable'        => false,
             'comparable'        => false,
             'option'            => array ('value' => array('optionone' => array('Sony'),
                                     'optiontwo' => array('Samsung'),
                                     'optionthree' => array('Apple'),                                               
                                )
                            ),
             'visible_on_front'  => false,
             'visible_in_advanced_search' => false,
             'unique'            => false
));

$installer->endSetup();

In the code above, we have added a dropdown attribute named ‘Test‘. Three options (Sony, Samsung, and Apple) are added to this attribute.

Note:- In the source value, you can see yourmodule/source_option. This means, you just need to create a file YourModule/Model/Source/Option.php with the following code:-

<?php

class YourNamespace_YourModule_Model_Source_Option extends Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Attribute_Source_Table
{
   
}

Following are the allowed parameters for attributes

(see Mage_Eav_Model_Entity_Setup::addAttribute)

$data = array(
            'entity_type_id'            => $entityTypeId,
            'attribute_code'            => $code,
            'backend_model'             => $this->_getValue($attr, 'backend', ''),
            'backend_type'              => $this->_getValue($attr, 'type', 'varchar'),
            'backend_table'             => $this->_getValue($attr, 'table', ''),
            'frontend_model'            => $this->_getValue($attr, 'frontend', ''),
            'frontend_input'            => $this->_getValue($attr, 'input', 'text'),
            'frontend_input_renderer'   => $this->_getValue($attr, 'input_renderer', ''),
            'frontend_label'            => $this->_getValue($attr, 'label', ''),
            'frontend_class'            => $this->_getValue($attr, 'frontend_class', ''),
            'source_model'              => $this->_getValue($attr, 'source', ''),
            'is_global'                 => $this->_getValue($attr, 'global', 1),
            'is_visible'                => $this->_getValue($attr, 'visible', 1),
            'is_required'               => $this->_getValue($attr, 'required', 1),
            'is_user_defined'           => $this->_getValue($attr, 'user_defined', 0),
            'default_value'             => $this->_getValue($attr, 'default', ''),
            'is_searchable'             => $this->_getValue($attr, 'searchable', 0),
            'is_filterable'             => $this->_getValue($attr, 'filterable', 0),
            'is_comparable'             => $this->_getValue($attr, 'comparable', 0),
            'is_visible_on_front'       => $this->_getValue($attr, 'visible_on_front', 0),
            'is_html_allowed_on_front'  => $this->_getValue($attr, 'is_html_allowed_on_front', 0),
            'is_visible_in_advanced_search'
                                        => $this->_getValue($attr, 'visible_in_advanced_search', 0),
            'is_used_for_price_rules'   => $this->_getValue($attr, 'used_for_price_rules', 1),
            'is_filterable_in_search'   => $this->_getValue($attr, 'filterable_in_search', 0),
            'used_in_product_listing'   => $this->_getValue($attr, 'used_in_product_listing', 0),
            'used_for_sort_by'          => $this->_getValue($attr, 'used_for_sort_by', 0),
            'is_unique'                 => $this->_getValue($attr, 'unique', 0),
            'apply_to'                  => $this->_getValue($attr, 'apply_to', ''),
            'is_configurable'           => $this->_getValue($attr, 'is_configurable', 1),
            'note'                      => $this->_getValue($attr, 'note', ''),
            'position'                  => $this->_getValue($attr, 'position', 0),
        );

Thanks.