How to get page categories in Typoscript (and use with tx_news) - typo3

Question

I would like to read out a page's system categories for further use with tx_news (to display news that have the same categories as the page - as tx_news is using system categories).
I was looking for a native solution, hopefully via getText, something like:
plugin.tx_news.settings.categories.data = page:categories
but that doesn't seem to exist yet
Also, I tried to simplify the query by using sys_category_records_mm, which contains all the information needed for that case, but TYPO3 complains that "there is no entry in the $TCA array":
lib.categoryUid = CONTENT
lib.categoryUid {
wrap = kategorien:|
table = sys_category_record_mm
select {
selectFields = uid
where = uid_foreign = {TSFE:id}
where.insertData = 1
}
renderObj = TEXT
renderObj {
field = uid
wrap = |,
}
}
So that would be nice, but it's not allowed.

Answer 1

Here's a solution that works in my setup. The editor chooses categories for the page, and gets all news items that belong to the category.
temp.categoryUid = CONTENT
temp.categoryUid {
table = pages
select {
// dontCheckPid doesn't exist for CONTENT objects, so make it recursive from root page (or pidInList.data = leveluid:-2
pidInList = {$pidRoot}
recursive = 99
selectFields = sys_category.uid as catUid
join = sys_category_record_mm ON pages.uid = sys_category_record_mm.uid_foreign JOIN sys_category ON sys_category.uid = sys_category_record_mm.uid_local
where = sys_category_record_mm.tablenames = 'pages' AND sys_category_record_mm.uid_foreign = {TSFE:id}
where.insertData = 1
// not necessary for this use case
// orderBy = sys_category.sorting
}
renderObj = TEXT
renderObj {
field = catUid
// Hack: if there are no cats selected for a page, all news are displayed
// so I just pass a catUid that's quite unlikely
wrap = 999999,|,
}
}
lib.newstest = USER
lib.newstest {
userFunc = tx_extbase_core_bootstrap->run
extensionName = News
pluginName = Pi1
switchableControllerActions {
News {
1 = list
}
}
settings < plugin.tx_news.settings
settings {
limit = 5
orderBy = datetime
orderDirection = desc
detailPid = {$pidNachrichtenDetail}
overrideFlexformSettingsIfEmpty := addToList(detailPid)
startingpoint = {$pidNachrichtenRecords}
// for use in my fluid template
// pluginTitle = {$llAktuell}
// latest = 0
// recordType = aktuell
// https://forge.typo3.org/issues/52978
useStdWrap = categories
categories.override.cObject < temp.categoryUid
categoryConjunction = or
}
view =< plugin.tx_news.view
}
What is unclear to me still is if recursive = 1 in the select has no setback. Actually, I don't want to check for the current page's parent uid at all, but WHERE pages.pid IN ({current pid}) is always inserted automatically. Therefore the recursive = 1.

Answer 2

I found this example (in German) and modified it to display the category UIDs.
The following TypoScript will display the UIDs of all categories for the current page seperated by a comma.
10 = CONTENT
10 {
table = pages
select {
uidInList.field = uid
pidInList = 1 # UID or list of UIDs, where your categories are saved
selectFields = sys_category.uid as catUid
join = sys_category_record_mm ON pages.uid = sys_category_record_mm.uid_foreign JOIN sys_category ON sys_category.uid = sys_category_record_mm.uid_local
where = sys_category_record_mm.tablenames = 'pages' AND sys_category_record_mm.uid_foreign = {field:uid}
where.insertData = 1
orderBy = sys_category.sorting
}
renderObj = TEXT
renderObj {
field = catUid
wrap = |,
}
# HACK
# If category is empty, the mechanism below won't work
# As long as I don't know how to query if this is empty or not,
# just add an imaginary extra category!
wrap = 12345,|
}
Unfortunately you have to set pidInList manually to a list of UIDs, where your categories are stored.

Answer 3

Looking for the cat-id of a page:
I did it this way:
lib.cat = CONTENT
lib.cat {
wrap = |
table = sys_category
select {
pidInList = 1
selectFields = sys_category.uid, sys_category.title
max = 1
join = sys_category_record_mm ON(sys_category_record_mm.uid_local = sys_category.uid)
where = sys_category_record_mm.tablenames='pages'
andWhere.dataWrap = sys_category_record_mm.uid_foreign = {TSFE:id}
}
renderObj = COA
renderObj {
10 = TEXT
10 {
field = uid
wrap = class="category|
}
20 = TEXT
20 {
field = title
case = lower
stdWrap.noTrimWrap = | |"|
}
}
}