Render containers

This guide shows how to output EXT:container (b13/container) elements with this extension — the container's columns as JSON alongside or inside the container's own data.

Prerequisites

EXT:container installed (composer require b13/container)
Container Content Types defined (e.g. the b13_2_columns_container used below, with child columns colPos 201 and 202)

b13/container is a suggested dependency — the extension works without it; the nb-container-json processor only loads when EXT:container is present.

TypoScript setup

Variant 1: `left`/`right` parallel to `data`

lib.content.select.where = colPos NOT IN (201, 202)

tt_content.b13_2_columns_container =< lib.contentElement
tt_content.b13_2_columns_container {
    fields {
        left = TEXT
        left {
            dataProcessing {
                10 = nb-container-json
                10 {
                    colPos = 201
                    as = left
                }
            }
        }
        right = TEXT
        right {
            dataProcessing {
                10 = nb-container-json
                10 {
                    colPos = 202
                    as = right
                }
            }
        }
    }
}

Result: the container element carries left/right next to data:

{
    "id": 5,
    "type": "b13_2_columns_container",
    "colPos": 0,
    "left": [ { "id": 6, "type": "vendor_text", "data": { "...": "..." } } ],
    "right": [ { "id": 7, "type": "vendor_image", "data": { "...": "..." } } ]
}

Variant 2: `left`/`right` inside `data`

lib.content.select.where = colPos NOT IN (201, 202)

tt_content.b13_2_columns_container.fields.data.dataProcessing.10 {
    dataProcessing {
        10 = nb-container-json
        10 {
            colPos = 201
            as = left
        }

        20 = nb-container-json
        20 {
            colPos = 202
            as = right
        }
    }
}

This is the sub data processor pattern from Add sub data processors — the columns land as keys inside data.

How it works

nb-container-json (ContainerJsonDataProcessor) fetches the container's children for the given colPos via b13/container's ContainerProcessor and renders each child through the same conversion as nb-content-blocks-json — field identifiers as keys, same JSON contract.

Both variants are covered end-to-end by Tests/Functional/Frontend/ContentBlocksJsonResponseTest.php.

Container as Content Block (variant 2): keep your own fields

When the container itself is a Content Block (variant 2), do not register it with Registry::configureContainer(): b13/container would overwrite the types[<cType>]['showitem'] of the Content Block, and the resolved record (and thereby data) would lose the Content Block's own fields. Write the containerConfiguration directly into TCA instead — this keeps the Content Block's showitem while b13/container still recognizes the container:

$configuration = new \B13\Container\Tca\ContainerConfiguration(
    'vendor_mycontainer',
    'My Container',
    '',
    [[['name' => 'main', 'colPos' => 201]]]
);
$GLOBALS['TCA']['tt_content']['containerConfiguration']['vendor_mycontainer']
    = $configuration->toArray();

The `colPos` exclusion matters

lib.content.select.where = colPos NOT IN (201, 202) keeps the container children out of the regular page content query. Without it, children appear twice: once in the page's content array and once in their column.

Options

The processor accepts colPos (container column to fetch, required) and as (key of the children array). Children are rendered through their own tt_content.<CType> mapping, so their conversion options (processor options like options.processing or options.dateTimeFormat) are configured there, not on nb-container-json.

If the container cannot be built (e.g. the record is hidden), as is an empty list. Children without a renderedContent key — e.g. with b13's skipRenderingChildContent and no substitute data processor — become null entries.