use helper function to set the <title> of magento admin menu item

Question

I'm using magento 1.9.1. I want to add dynamic value beside admin menu items to represent the state. for example: under catalog, I want to add number representing the unapproved products beside manage products. so my question is: can I use a function defined in the helper of my module in the adminhtml.xml file within the node

Answer 1

To understand how menu title is rendered you should look at _getHelperValue() method inside Mage_Adminhtml_Block_Page_Menu class.

protected function _getHelperValue(Varien_Simplexml_Element $child)
{
    $helperName         = 'adminhtml';
    $titleNodeName      = 'title';
    $childAttributes    = $child->attributes();
    if (isset($childAttributes['module'])) {
        $helperName     = (string)$childAttributes['module'];
    }

    return Mage::helper($helperName)->__((string)$child->$titleNodeName);
}

First it checks if your menu item has module property and then uses that to translate text in <title> node by calling __() method. If module property is not set, it will use adminhtml helper.

So I guess you can either set module property on your menu xml and do something funky with __() method in your helper, which seems kinda odd btw, or rewrite admin menu block and add your custom logic.