drupal-views

Drupal Views Management

Views is Drupal's query builder and display system for creating dynamic listings of content, users, taxonomy terms, and more.

Key Concepts

• View: A saved configuration entity that defines a database query and how to display results. Identified by a machine name (id).
• Base Table: The primary data source -- node_field_data for content, users_field_data for users, taxonomy_term_field_data for taxonomy terms, media_field_data for media, comment_field_data for comments.
• Display: A view can have multiple displays, each showing the same base query differently. Types:
  • default: The master display all others inherit from. Always exists. Cannot be deleted.
  • page: Creates a page at a URL path. Can have menu settings.
  • block: Creates a placeable block. Can have block category and override settings.
  • feed: Creates an RSS/Atom feed at a URL path.
  • attachment: Attaches before/after another display.
• Display Inheritance: Non-default displays inherit all settings from the default display. Only settings explicitly overridden on a display are stored on that display. To change all displays at once, modify the default display.

Handler Types

Handlers are the building blocks of a view's query and output:

• field: What columns/data to show. Each field has a formatter, label, and options.
• filter: WHERE clauses that limit results. Can be exposed to let users filter interactively.
• sort: ORDER BY clauses. Can be exposed to let users choose sort order.
• relationship: JOINs to related data (e.g., node author, referenced entities).
• argument: Contextual filters from the URL path (e.g., /articles/% where % is a taxonomy term ID).
• header: Content shown above results (custom text, result summary, etc.).
• footer: Content shown below results.
• empty: Content shown when there are no results.

All handler operations use the same tools (AddHandler, UpdateHandler, RemoveHandler, ListHandlers) with a handler_type parameter.

Filter Value Format

Different filter types require different value formats. The tools auto-normalize, but for reference:

• Boolean filters (status, promote, sticky): use a simple string value {"value": "1"} for true, {"value": "0"} for false
• Bundle/type filters: use an associative array {"value": {"article": "article"}}. Multiple: {"value": {"article": "article", "page": "page"}}
• Language filters: use an associative array {"value": {"en": "en"}}
• String/date/numeric filters: use a simple string value {"value": "some text"}

The tools automatically convert between formats when needed, so either format will work.

Using GetViewsData

Before adding handlers, use GetViewsData to discover available table+field combinations:

• Search "title" to find title fields across tables
• Search "created" for creation date fields
• Search "status" for published/active status fields
• Filter by table (e.g., table="node_field_data") for fields on a specific entity type

The result tells you what table and field values to use in AddHandler.

Style/Format System

Each display has a style plugin (how to arrange items) and a row plugin (what each item looks like):

Style plugins (set via SetDisplayFormat):

• default -- Unformatted list (each row in a div)
• table -- HTML table with sortable columns. Options: columns, info (column settings), default sort, sticky headers
• grid -- CSS grid layout. Options: columns count, alignment
• grid_responsive -- Responsive CSS grid
• html_list -- HTML ul/ol list. Options: type (ul/ol), class

Row plugins:

• fields -- Render individual fields (most common with table/grid/list styles)
• entity:node -- Render full node using a view mode (teaser, full, etc.)
• entity:user, entity:taxonomy_term, etc. -- Entity rendering for other types

Available Operations

#	Tool	Operation	Description
1	ListViews	Read	Lists all views with their id, label, base_table, status, and display count
2	GetView	Read	Gets full details of a view including all displays with their types, titles, and key settings overview
3	CreateView	Write	Creates a new view with the given id, label, description, and base_table. Automatically creates a default display
4	DeleteView	Write	Deletes a view by its machine name. Permanently removes the view and all its displays
5	GetDisplay	Read	Gets full details of a specific display including all settings, handlers, style/row plugins, access, pager, and page/block settings
6	AddDisplay	Write	Adds a new display (page, block, feed, attachment, etc.) to a view. Returns the generated display_id
7	DeleteDisplay	Write	Deletes a display from a view. Cannot delete the "default" display
8	UpdateDisplaySettings	Write	Updates display-level options via a JSON settings object. Supports: title, css_class, use_ajax, group_by, use_more, access, pager, cache, exposed_form, and more
9	SetDisplayFormat	Write	Sets the style (format) and row plugins for a display. Style types: table, default, grid, grid_responsive, html_list. Row types: fields, entity:node, entity:user, etc.
10	UpdatePageBlockSettings	Write	Updates display-type-specific settings. For pages: path, menu, tab_options. For blocks: block_description, block_category, allow
11	ListHandlers	Read	Lists all handlers of a given type (field, filter, sort, relationship, argument, header, footer, empty) for a specific display
12	AddHandler	Write	Adds a handler (field, filter, sort, relationship, argument, header, footer, or empty) to a view display
13	UpdateHandler	Write	Updates an existing handler configuration by merging provided options into the existing config
14	RemoveHandler	Write	Removes a handler (field, filter, sort, relationship, argument, header, footer, or empty) from a view display
15	GetViewsData	Read	Searches available tables and fields from the Views data cache. Returns matching table+field combos with handler types and help text

Common Workflows

Create a content listing page

1. CreateView with base_table node_field_data
2. AddDisplay with display_plugin page
3. UpdatePageBlockSettings to set the path
4. Add fields: title, created, author (use AddHandler with handler_type field)
5. Add filter for published status (handler_type filter, table node_field_data, field status, options {"value": "1"})
6. Add filter for content type (handler_type filter, table node_field_data, field type, options {"value": {"article": "article"}})
7. Add sort by created date (handler_type sort, options {"order": "DESC"})
8. Optionally set format to table via SetDisplayFormat

Add exposed filters

1. AddHandler for a filter with {"exposed": true, "expose": {"label": "Content type", "identifier": "type"}, "value": {"article": "article"}}
2. Or UpdateHandler on existing filter to add exposed settings
3. Configure exposed form settings via UpdateDisplaySettings with {"exposed_form": {"type": "basic", "options": {"submit_button": "Apply", "reset_button": true}}}

Add a block display

1. AddDisplay with display_plugin block
2. UpdatePageBlockSettings with block_description and block_category
3. Override settings as needed (fields, pager, etc.)

Configure pager

• Full pager: UpdateDisplaySettings with {"pager": {"type": "full", "options": {"items_per_page": 25, "offset": 0}}}
• Mini pager: {"pager": {"type": "mini", "options": {"items_per_page": 10}}}
• Show all: {"pager": {"type": "none", "options": {}}}
• Fixed number: {"pager": {"type": "some", "options": {"items_per_page": 5}}}

Configure access

• Permission-based: UpdateDisplaySettings with {"access": {"type": "perm", "options": {"perm": "access content"}}}
• Role-based: {"access": {"type": "role", "options": {"role": {"authenticated": "authenticated"}}}}
• Unrestricted: {"access": {"type": "none", "options": {}}}

Add header/footer/empty text

• AddHandler with handler_type header (or footer/empty), table views, field area_text_custom, options {"content": "My custom header text", "tokenize": false}
• For result summary: table views, field result, options {"content": "Displaying @start - @end of @total"}

Contextual filters (arguments)

• AddHandler with handler_type argument, appropriate table/field
• Options: {"default_action": "default", "default_argument_type": "fixed", "default_argument_options": {"argument": "1"}}
• Or from URL: {"default_action": "default", "default_argument_type": "raw", "default_argument_options": {"index": 0}}
• With validation: {"specify_validation": true, "validate": {"type": "entity:node", "fail": "not found"}}

Relationships

• AddHandler with handler_type relationship, e.g., table node_field_data, field uid for author
• Options: {"admin_label": "Content author", "required": true}
• Once added, fields from the related table become available

Display Settings Reference

UpdateDisplaySettings accepts any display option as a key. Common ones:

• title: The view title shown to users
• css_class: CSS classes on the view wrapper
• use_ajax: true/false -- AJAX-enable the view
• group_by: true/false -- Enable aggregation (GROUP BY)
• use_more: true/false -- Show a "more" link
• use_more_always: true/false -- Show "more" even with fewer results
• use_more_text: Text for the more link
• exposed_block: true/false -- Put exposed form in a block
• link_display, link_url: Where "more" links point

Best Practices

• Always use GetView or GetDisplay first to understand the current configuration before making changes.
• Use GetViewsData to discover valid table+field combinations before adding handlers.
• Modify the "default" display for settings that should apply to all displays.
• Override on specific displays only what differs from the default.
• When creating a content view, always add a status filter for published content.
• Use table format when displaying multiple fields in a structured way.
• Use entity row plugin (e.g., entity:node with view_mode teaser) for rich content displays.
• Set appropriate access controls on every view.
• Confirm deletions before removing views or displays.

Example Workflows

Viewing Configuration

• "List all views on the site"
• "Show me the details of the 'content' view"
• "What displays does the 'frontpage' view have?"
• "Show me the handlers on the content view's page display"

Creating Views

• "Create a new view called 'blog' for listing article content"
• "Create a user directory view based on the users table"
• "Set up a taxonomy term listing view"

Managing Displays

• "Add a page display to the blog view at /blog"
• "Add a block display to the recent articles view"
• "Delete the feed display from the blog view"
• "Configure the page display with a menu tab"

Adding Fields and Filters

• "Add the title, body summary, and created date fields to the blog view"
• "Add an exposed filter for content type on the content view"
• "Add a published status filter to only show published content"
• "Add a sort by created date descending"

Configuring Display Settings

• "Set the blog view to show 10 items per page with a full pager"
• "Change the access on the blog view to require 'access content' permission"
• "Set the style to a table format with sortable columns"
• "Set the row style to 'Content' with the teaser view mode"

Handler Management

• "Add a relationship to the author field on the blog view"
• "Add a contextual filter for content type"
• "Update the title field label to 'Article Title'"
• "Remove the author field from the blog view"

Data Discovery

• "Search for available Views data related to taxonomy"
• "What fields are available on the node_field_data table?"

Complete Setup

• "Create a blog listing page at /blog showing articles with title, image, summary, author, and date, sorted by newest first with a pager"
• "Build a staff directory view as a table with name, email, department, and photo, with an exposed filter for department"