Show Number of Color Options in Product Category Listings

Question

On the category listing pages, I need to show the number of color options for each product in the list. How can I output that count?

I am using configurable products with the color options as simple products. The attribute ID of "color" is 80. The code would go inside this loop: <?php foreach ($_productCollection as $_product): ?>

Answer 1

I have found a solution:

$childIds = $_product->getTypeInstance(true)->getChildrenIds($_product->getId(), false); //$_product is defined in the loop
$colors = count($childIds[0]); //getChildrenIds() returns an encapsulated array
echo $colors.' Color';
if ($colors != 1) echo 's'; //make "Color" plural

This assumes that the color attribute is the only determining attribute for the configurable product.