Block Bindings: Unify `getValue`/`getValues` and `setValue`/`setValues` APIs

[SantosGuillamot]

What?

Initially discussed here.

I'm opening this pull request to discuss some of the editor APIs that should be exposed by block bindings and how to make them more coherent. Right now, we have:

• getValue: To get the value of each connected attribute one by one.
• setValue: To update the value of each connected attribute one by one.
• setValues: To update the values of all the attributes connected to a specific source in batch.

In the pull request to use block bindings in pattern overrides, setValues function was introduced because updating in batch was needed for this particular use case.

This is a valid use case not only for pattern overrides, but also for other sources that might want to call an API only once to update all the attributes connected to it. And this not only happens for updating the attributes (setValues), but to get the value as well (getValues). For example, in post meta we are using getValue and setValue, which means we are calling the REST API for each attribute connected to post meta.

I can think of two main options:

Option 1: Have ONLY getValues and setValues.

Covered in this pull request.

Basically, this would require source developers to update the values in batch. They will receive an object with all of the block attributes that are bound to that specific source, and it's up to them to decide what to do.

The developer experience might be slightly more complicated, and maybe it is a bit harder conceptually.

You can see how each source would use the different possibilities in the alternative pull request:

• Post meta getValue vs getValues: link.
• Post meta setValue vs setValues: link.
• Pattern overrides getValue vsgetValues: link.

You can check the differences in pattern overrides and post meta functions.

Option 2: Have getValue, getValuesInBatch, setValue, and setValuesInBatch.

Covered in this other pull request

Another option would be to allow both options and let developers decide which one to use. This will give more flexibility, but at the same time, it implies having two functions for a really similar purpose, which could also be confusing. Additionally, it complicates the core logic, and it will probably require more maintenance.

---

I would love to know more opinions on which approach you would take or other alternatives I didn't consider.

Why?

As an effort to polish the existing block bindings APIs in order to make them public, I believe it makes sense to revisit the this part and make it coherent.

Testing Instructions

Automated tests should pass. Block bindings and pattern overrides should keep working the same way.

[github-actions[bot]]

Size Change: +88 B (+0.01%)

Total Size: 1.75 MB

Filename	Size	Change
build/block-editor/index.min.js	254 kB	+20 B (+0.01%)
build/blocks/index.min.js	52.2 kB	-14 B (-0.03%)
build/editor/index.min.js	98.7 kB	+82 B (+0.08%)

ℹ️ View Unchanged

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[github-actions[bot]]

Flaky tests detected in 473b5aa954fb098341306156b608fe943f6ffe83. Some tests passed with failed attempts. The failures may not be related to this commit but are still reported for visibility. See the documentation for more information.

🔍 Workflow run URL: https://github.com/WordPress/gutenberg/actions/runs/9810788697 📝 Reported issues:

• #62434 in /test/e2e/specs/site-editor/dataviews-list-layout-keyboard.spec.js

[gziolo]

Can you confirm the server-side counterpart for completeness? I believe it is getValueCallback which takes three params:

• args - arguments saved with the binding
• blockInstance - the WP_Block instance for the currently parsed block
• attributeName - the name of the currently edited attribute

It would be valuable to discuss all of these APIs together. I'm also thinking how much this should mirror the known patterns we have for updating and reading block attributes as props passed to React components and through the block editor store.

[cbravobernal]

My opinion is that less functions, less maintenance, less learning is always better. A get/set values with a batch of just one item would do the same work than a get/set values for several ones.

[SantosGuillamot]

Let's go with Option 1: Have ONLY getValues and setValues. Based on the feedback, it seems the preferred option and I agree it makes more sense. We can always add individual getValue/setValue in the future.

After taking a look at how attributes are handled, there are two similar use cases:

• attributes and setAttributes props from the block.
• updateBlockAttributes and getBlockAttributes as functions. getBlockAttribute (singular) exists, but it seems it is only used internally: link.

It's true that those use cases are slightly different because the implementation is managed by Gutenberg, and in this case we will ask external developers to define getValues and setValues, but I believe it makes sense to keep consistency.

With the implementation of this pull request we would have:

getValues - Link

Params - Link It receives:

• registry
• clientId
• context
• bindings: this is an object with all the block attributes that are connected to that specific source and the arguments used. Something like this:

{ 
   url: {
        args: {
            key: 'url_field'
        }
    },
    title: {
        args: {
            key: 'text_field'
        }
    }
}

Normally, we would have name and args, but name doesn't make sense here. We could get rid of the args level, but I'm not sure if we will have more properties in the future. For example, I'm thinking if we want to pass the currentValue at some point, similar to the value we are passing in setValues: link.

Return It must return an object with the attributes and the bindings values. Something like:

{
    url: 'https://wp.org',
    title: 'Custom field value',
}

setValues - Link

Params - Link

It receives the same params as getValues with a small difference. The bindings contain the newValue pass to the setAttributes function.

{ 
   url: {
        args: {
            key: 'url_field'
        },
       newValue: 'https://wp.org/2'
    },
    title: {
        args: {
            key: 'text_field'
        },
       newValue: 'update custom field value'
    }
}

Return It doesn't return anything. It just do whatever it wants. In the case of post meta, update the post entity.

---

Can you confirm the server-side counterpart for completeness?

Regarding the server-side counterpart, you're right we only have get_value_callback right now with source_args, block instance, and attribute names as params: link.

I'd like to explore having a get_values_callback in the server as well, I remember people asking for getting values in batch in the server as well. Although I believe it could be explored in a follow-up pull request? If we want to remove the existing get_value_callback we will need some kind of deprecation.

---

Apart from that, I plan to work on improving the code docs and the types to ensure it is clear how to use these functions before making them public.

[github-actions[bot]]

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Co-authored-by: SantosGuillamot <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: artemiomorales <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: cbravobernal <[email protected]>
Co-authored-by: gziolo <[email protected]>

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[cbravobernal]

We may need to take a look at how to make this API public without asking the developer to pass registry and clientId.

Good work @SantosGuillamot ! Feel free to merge when you feel is ok.