Sort contextual

10. Sort & Contextual Filters (Arguments)

When to Use

When ordering results (sorts) or filtering based on URL parameters (contextual filters/arguments).

Sort Criteria Configuration

Basic Sort

sorts:
  changed:
    id: changed
    table: node_field_data
    field: changed
    entity_type: node
    entity_field: changed
    plugin_id: date
    order: DESC  # ASC or DESC
    expose:
      label: ''
    exposed: false
    granularity: second

Reference: core/modules/views/config/schema/views.data_types.schema.yml lines 283-303

Exposed Sort

sorts:
  title:
    order: ASC
    exposed: true
    expose:
      label: 'Sort by title'
      field_identifier: title

Exposed sorts appear in exposed form, allowing users to choose sort field and direction.

Contextual Filters (Arguments) Configuration

Core Argument Options

arguments:
  nid:
    id: nid
    table: node_field_data
    field: nid
    entity_type: node
    entity_field: nid
    plugin_id: numeric
    relationship: none
    default_action: ignore  # ignore, not found, summary, empty, default
    exception:
      value: all  # Exception value that triggers special handling
      title_enable: false
      title: ''
    title_enable: false  # Override page/block title
    title: ''  # Title pattern with tokens

Reference: views.data_types.schema.yml lines 366-462

Default Argument Behavior

default_action	Behavior
`ignore`	No argument → show all results (no filter applied)
`not found`	No argument → return 404
`summary`	No argument → show summary list
`empty`	No argument → show empty text
`default`	No argument → use default argument plugin

Default Argument Plugins

arguments:
  nid:
    default_action: default
    default_argument_type: node  # Plugin ID
    default_argument_options:
      # Plugin-specific options (e.g., 'node' uses current node)

Common default argument plugins: - node: Current node ID from route - user: Current user ID - raw: Raw value from URL - fixed: Fixed value

Argument Validation

arguments:
  nid:
    specify_validation: true
    validate:
      type: entity:node  # Validator plugin
      fail: 'not found'  # not found, empty, ignore
    validate_options:
      # Validator-specific options
      bundles: {}  # For entity validator
      access: true  # Check entity access
      operation: view

Pattern

Contextual filter for user content:

arguments:
  uid:
    id: uid
    table: node_field_data
    field: uid
    entity_type: node
    entity_field: uid
    plugin_id: numeric
    default_action: default
    default_argument_type: user
    default_argument_options:
      user: false  # false = current user
    summary:
      sort_order: asc
      number_of_records: 0
      format: default_summary
    specify_validation: true
    validate:
      type: 'entity:user'
      fail: 'not found'
    validate_options:
      access: true
      operation: view
    title_enable: true
    title: 'Content by {{ arguments.uid }}'

Pattern: URL Structure with Arguments

Path: /user/%/articles/%/comments Arguments: 1. uid (position 0) from first % 2. nid (position 1) from second %

Configure two arguments in order:

arguments:
  uid:
    # First % in path
  nid:
    # Second % in path

Common Mistakes

Argument order doesn't match path wildcards → Argument 1 maps to first %, argument 2 to second %, etc.; order matters
Using default_action: not found too liberally → 404s instead of empty results; usually ignore is safer
Not validating arguments → Arbitrary input can cause query errors; always use specify_validation: true for user-provided arguments
Validation type mismatch → Using entity:node validator on taxonomy term argument fails validation
Forgetting access: true in validation → Users can see content they shouldn't access; always check entity access
Not handling multiple values → By default, arguments accept single value; enable break_phrase: true for comma-separated values