Render TypoScript Objects in a CommandController - typo3

Question

tldr: How do I render a TypoScript COA Object with a GIFBUILDER image from inside a CommandController?
I'm currently developing an eCommerce platform for which I need to periodically import an excel file that holds the product catalog. After a product is created from a row of data in the excel file, a directory is searched for product images related to that item, and they are linked as FileReferences to the product. I've written an ImportCommandController that takes care of that.
This all works like a charm, with the only glaring problem being the performance of the image manipulation. The first call to a product list pages takes a good 30 seconds, the first request of a single view. I periodically need to recreate the whole catalog from scratch, and the source product images are huge files, I have no influence on that.
The product images of that catalog are being generated by a TypoScript that takes care of fitting these images inside a square white background, returning the IMG_RESOURCE url. I call that TypoScript from inside a Fluid template with the cObject ViewHelper.
I've been trying to call this bit of TypoScript from the ImportCommandController->importAction, so that the import cronjob would take care of creating these scaled images beforehand, with the same filename hash, so they're already processed when they're called by the single view. But I can't manage to do that.
The TypoScript in question ist this:
plugin.tx_productfinder_products {
// Productfinder-Produktbilder
// Bilder quadratisch auf weissen Hintergrund einpassen
productimage = COA
productimage {
// Daten der FileReference im Regsiter ablegen
10 = FILES
10 {
references.data = current
renderObj = COA
renderObj {
10 = LOAD_REGISTER
10 {
param = TEXT
param.data = file:current.uid
}
}
}
20 = IMG_RESOURCE
20 {
file = GIFBUILDER
file {
XY = 960,960
format = jpg
quality = 95
backColor = #ffffff
20 = IMAGE
20 {
offset = 960-[20.w]/2,960-[20.h]/2
file {
import.data = current
treatIdAsReference = 1
maxW = 960
maxH = 960
}
}
// // Text aus Daten der FileReference als Wasserzeichen ins Bild rendern
// 30 = TEXT
// 30 {
// //text.data = register:param
// text.data = current
// fontColor= #dddddd
// fontSize = 12
// offset = 20,[20.h]-20
// align = left
// antiAlias = 1
// }
}
}
}
}
And I call these from inside the Fluid template like so:
<img class="img-responsive" src="{f:cObject(typoscriptObjectPath:'plugin.tx_productfinder_products.productpreviewimage', data:'{image.uid}')}">
What have I tried so far? Pretty much everything.
I've first tried to call the ContentObjectRenderer directly,
/** #var \TYPO3\CMS\Frontend\ContentObject\ContentObjectRenderer $cObj */
$contentObject = GeneralUtility::makeInstance('TYPO3\\CMS\\Frontend\\ContentObject\\ContentObjectRenderer');
$contentObject->setCurrentVal($image->getUid());
$content = $contentObject->cObjGetSingle($this->settings['productimagetest'], $this->settings['productimagetest.']);
resulting in these weird errors.
Oops, an error occurred: PHP Warning: imagejpeg(typo3temp/GB/csm_8000424600_cbbd127be3_9cb1d3c8cc.jpg): failed to open stream: No such file or directory in /html/typo3/typo3_src-7.6.16/typo3/sysext/core/Classes/Imaging/GraphicalFunctions.php line 2912
It seems that the TYPO3 Configuration regarding the Grapics Processing isn't initialized in the same way as it is for the Frontend.
Next, I tried instanciate a StandaloneFluidView to render the whole SingleItem template per item, but I cant figure that out because the Request and Context are missing and so the partials being referenced in the template aren't being rendered.
Then I tired to just create the FrontendUrls per single item and request them from the CommandController,
/** #var \TYPO3\CMS\Frontend\ContentObject\ContentObjectRenderer $cObj */
$contentObject = GeneralUtility::makeInstance('TYPO3\\CMS\\Frontend\\ContentObject\\ContentObjectRenderer');
$test = $contentObject->typolink_URL(array(
'parameter' => 671,
'additionalParams' =>
'&tx_productfinder_products[product]='.$product->getUid().
'&tx_productfinder_products[action]=show'.
'&tx_productfinder_products[controller]=Product',
'returnLast' => 'url'
));
$this->outputLine(print_r($test,true));
but the URLs generated in this way are missing the cHash.
Can anybody offer help or a different approach to this?

Answer 1

Since these images are generated just once for the frontend output and are then available anyway, I don't see the advantage of generating them beforehand. The white square could be easily generated with CSS, so to me this does not even look like a use case for the GIFBUILDER.
That being said there's still something you could do: Since you are in the PHP context already, why don't you instanciate the GIFBUILDER directly or use even pure IM/GM commands instead of going for an IMG_RESOURCE which is actually meant to be output in the frontend?

Answer 2

I know this is an old question, but I had the same issue and had to invest some time to debug it, so maybe this this answer is useful for someone else in the future.
The CLI uses a different working directory than the frontend, therefore the relative path to typo3temp/ directory used in the GifBuilder class cannot be resolved, which results in the above mentioned warning.
To fix the relative path resolution, you have to change your working directory to the frontend one, this can be achieved by:
class AcmeCommand extends Command
{
protected static $cwdBackup;
protected function execute(InputInterface $input, OutputInterface $output)
{
if (Environment::isCli()) {
static::$cwdBackup = getcwd();
chdir(Environment::getPublicPath());
}
//
if (Environment::isCli()) {
chdir(static::$cwdBackup);
}
}
}