How to add a custom block to admin sales order shipment

Question

i've been trying to include a block in the sales_order_shipment form.

I already got the block to appear at the bottom of the page, but everytime i press the ship button the information related to my block isn't sent (because it's not part of the original form).

This is what I've done so far:

In my module config.xml i added:

<global>
....
<blocks>
        <modulename>
            <class>Companyname_Modulename_Block</class>
        </modulename>
</blocks>
.....
</global>
<adminhtml>
    <layout>
        <updates>
            <Companyname_Modulename>
                <file>modulename.xml</file>
            </Companyname_Modulename>
        </updates>
    </layout>
</adminhtml>

Added modulename.xml to layout in (app/design/adminhtml/default/defaul/layout):

<layout>
<adminhtml_sales_order_shipment_new>
    <reference name="content">
            <block type="modulename/sales_order_shipment_create_atinfo" name="atinfo" template="modulename/sales/order/shipment/create/atinfo.phtml"></block>
    </reference>
</adminhtml_sales_order_shipment_new>

Added my template, named atinfo.phtml to (app/design/adminhtml/default/default/template/modulename/sales/order/shipment/create) with some simple html.

The problem seems to be that, by adding my block this way, it doesn't go into:

<form id="edit_form" method="post" action="<?php echo $this->getSaveUrl() ?>">

That is defined in form.phtml.

Is it possible, on my modulename.xml, to insert the block (name=atinfo) inside the block (name=form) that is defined on sales.xml (located at /app/design/adminhtml/default/default/layout)?

Right now, if we insert the block (name=form) inside modulename.xml, it gets duplicated on the order new shipment page.

Any help would be appreciated, as i said before, my block appears in the page, but when i press the Ship button, my block information isn't sent.

Answer 1

I recommend that you take the form.phtml, copy it, then customize it inside your module.

Put customForm.phtml in design/adminhtml/default/default/template/modulename/. Next, you will need to enter the new customForm.phtml into your xml layout file. Copy over the Mage/core/adminhtml/etc/config.xml entry for

<adminhtml_sales_order_shipment_new>  

Copy that whole node. You're going to need all the block entries to do a succesful override. Then, change the specific form call to your custom form. The ... in the code below denotes all the other xml you will have copied over.

<layout>
    <adminhtml_sales_order_shipment_new>
        ...
        <reference name="content">
            ...
            <block type="adminhtml/sales_order_shipment_create_form" template="modulename/customForm.phtml">    
            </block>
            ...
        </reference>
    </adminhtml_sales_order_shipment_new>
</layout>

This way, you can customize the form to your hearts content, and the post action will include your variables.

Notice that I did not change the type. You do not need to change this specific block to do what you're doing. If you look at Mage_Adminhtml_Sales_Order_Shipment_Create_Form, you'll see all it does is execute layout calls, assign urls, child html, etc. You can probably leave it alone.