Concat an image URL from existing column data??

[arcadeicons]

I'd like to be able to show my users' avatars next to their names in a list.
The avatar images are recorded in a separate table, is there a way to build out a concat to create the image URL so it shows next to their name?

image names are stored in #comprofiler___avatar
users are stored in #users___id

my image URL would be http://www.arcadeicons.com/images/comprofiler/gallery/{#comprofiler___avatar}

 

[cheesegrits]

Probably a calc element.

Not sure from your description if "users' is the list you are showing, but assuming it is ...

$myDb = JFactory::getDbo();
$myQuery = $myDb->getQuery(true);
$myQuery->select('avatar')->from('#__comprofiler___avatar')->where('userid = {#__users___id_raw}');
$myDb->setQuery($myQuery);
$avatar = $myDb->loadResult();
if (!empty($avatar)) {
   return = 'images/comprofiles/gallery/' . $avatar;
}
return '/path/to/default/image.png';

NOTE - I can't recall if we handle #__ in placeholders, so you may need to use the actual table prefix. Also I don't know what the 'userid' field in the comprofiler___avatar table is called, so you'll have to change that.

Also note ... as this data doesn't exist in your list, you'll have to set "Calc on save only" to "No" so it calcs it when displaying your list. This will create an overhead on displaying the list, as it involves an extra query for every row being displayed.

To avoid that, you'd either have to manually edit and save every row, to force the calc element to save the data, or you could manually do it in phpMyAdmin (or your mysql client of choice) by running a query to update your list.

Also note, if this really is your J! users list, that's suboptimal, as it means adding a new field to it (the avatar calc).

-- hugh