Magento Config XML Path

Question

In my custom module I have added a tab to the admin configuration section to manage service providers for an external service. I have creted the following group in my system.xml of my module:

<section>
    <mymodule>
        <groups name="providers">
            <provider1>
                <label>Provider 1</label>
                <sort_order>100</sort_order>
                <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                <fields>
                    <name>
                        <label>Name</label>
                        <frontend_type>text</frontend_type>
                        <sort_order>10</sort_order>
                        <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                        <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                        <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                    </name>
                </fields>
            </provider1>
            <provider2>
                <label>Provider 2</label>
                <sort_order>320</sort_order>
                <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                <fields>
                    <name>
                        <label>Name</label>
                        <frontend_type>text</frontend_type>
                        <sort_order>10</sort_order>
                        <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                        <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                        <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                    </name>
                </fields>
            </provider2>
        </groups>
    </mymodule>
</section>

This results in my config using the following path:

mymodule/provider1/name or mymodule/provider2/name

What I would like to do is use the following path:

mymodule/providers/provider1/name etc

I thought that i might be able to just wrap the providers in a node bu tthis doesn't work. I appreciate that I am trying to massage the structure of the xml in order to get please the path, but in doing so it will help me to target just the providers which I need to do for the options used on drop-down select.

Answer 1

This is the right way to write system.xml

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<config>
    <tabs>
        <catalog translate="label" module="catalog">
            <label>Catalog</label>
            <sort_order>200</sort_order>
        </catalog>
    </tabs>
    <sections>
        <catalog translate="label" module="catalog">
            <class>separator-top</class>
            <label>Catalog</label>
            <tab>catalog</tab>
            <frontend_type>text</frontend_type>
            <sort_order>40</sort_order>
            <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
            <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
            <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
            <groups>
                <frontend translate="label">
                    <label>Frontend</label>
                    <frontend_type>text</frontend_type>
                    <sort_order>100</sort_order>
                    <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                    <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                    <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                    <fields>
                        <list_mode translate="label">
                            <label>List Mode</label>
                            <frontend_type>select</frontend_type>
                            <source_model>adminhtml/system_config_source_catalog_listMode</source_model>
                            <sort_order>1</sort_order>
                            <show_in_default>1</show_in_default>
                            <show_in_website>1</show_in_website>
                            <show_in_store>1</show_in_store>
                        </list_mode>
                    </fields>
                </frontend>
            </groups>
        </catalog>
    </sections>
</config>

You need to define tab, also use sections instead of section. You can get idea from default system.xml files.

Hope this help!