nerdfisch: DevBits

Kleine, aber feine Code-Snippets, nützliche Tweaks und elegante Lösungsansätze aus dem Entwickler-Alltag

13.08.2026 | Henjo Völker

Jira: Prevent customers from reopening closed software tickets

Restricting transitions in Jira is possible. Open the DevBit for a full guide.

A Jira workflow with a clicked transition and the restrict option in the sidebar.
project management
tickets and issues
Jira
workflow
client
06.08.2026 | Michael Ebert

Enable XDebug syntax highlighting in PHP

php.ini
// Default, only plaintext.
xdebug.cli_color=0
// Coloured if your terminal will support it.
xdebug.cli_color=1
// Forced coloured output.
xdebug.cli_color=2

xdebug
sh
terminal
coding
06.08.2026 | Lothar Ferreira Neumann

Change custom text field sizes in Gin Backend Theme using Asset Injector

To alter the node ID field (nid) of our content view we add this to the file:

asset_injector.css.gin.yml
/* Views exposed filter: appropriate field widths */
.views-exposed-form #edit-nid {
  max-width: 10ch;
}
views
css
asset injection
Gin backend theme
fields
30.07.2026 | Lothar Ferreira Neumann

Merge multidimensional arrays in Drupal

nested_array_merge_deep.php
use Drupal\Component\Utility\NestedArray;

// Parent array with default settings.
$parent_array = [
    'config' => [
        'theme' => 'dark',
        'layout' => [
            'width' => 800,
            'height' => 600,
        ],
    ],
];

// Child array adds more nested data but doesn't override existing values.
$child_array = [
    'config' => [
        'layout' => [
            'depth' => 300, // New nested key
        ],
        'features' => [
            'animations' => true, // New section
        ],
    ],
];

// Merge both arrays.
$merged_array = NestedArray::mergeDeep($parent_array, $child_array);
nested_array_result.php
[
    'config' => [
        // Unchanged (not overridden)
        'theme' => 'dark', 
        'layout' => [
            // Keeps parent value
            'width' => 800, 
            // Keeps parent value  
            'height' => 600,
            // New nested key added
            'depth' => 300,   
        ],
        'features' => [
            // New section added
            'animations' => true, 
        ],
    ],
]
php
array manipulation
arrays
drupal
30.07.2026 | Michael Ebert

Formatting Dates programmatically with the Drupal date formatter service

Example for a single datetime field

my_single_datetime_field.php
use Drupal\Core\Datetime\DrupalDateTime;

/** @var Drupal\Core\Datetime\DateFormatterInterface $date_formatter */
$date_formatter = \Drupal::service('date.formatter');

// Get DateTime object from stored date from a DateTimeFieldItemList field.
$my_date = $node->field_my_date->date;

// Get unix timestamp.
$my_date_timestamp = $my_date->getTimestamp();

// For formatting your DateTime object all other arguments are optional:
// See DateFormatterInterface for built-in options, or use machine name of a date format in config.
$type = 'medium';
// Custom PHP date format if $type="custom".
$format = '';

$formatted = $date_formatter->format($my_date_timestamp, $type, $format, $timezone = NULL, $langcode = NULL);

 

Example for a daterange field

my_datetime_range_field.php
use Drupal\Core\Datetime\DrupalDateTime;

/** @var Drupal\Core\Datetime\DateFormatterInterface $date_formatter */
$date_formatter = \Drupal::service('date.formatter');

// Get DateTime objects from stored date from a DateTimeFieldItemList field.
$start_date = $node->field_my_date->start_date;
$end_date = $node->field_my_date->end_date;

// For formatting your DateTime object all other arguments are optional:
// See DateFormatterInterface for built-in options, or use machine name of a date format in config.
$type = 'medium';
// Custom PHP date format if $type="custom".
$format = '';

$start_date_formatted = $date_formatter->format($start_date, $type, $format, $timezone = NULL, $langcode = NULL);
$end_date_formatted = $date_formatter->format($end_date, $type, $format, $timezone = NULL, $langcode = NULL);
php
time and date
services