Magento - Remove tab from product view using local.xml

Question

A really simple question with (I bet) a very simple answer... I want to remove one of the product info tabs from my product view page. I want to remove the tab which shows the attributes, but rather than commenting it out in catalog.xml I want to remove it properly through local.xml.

<action method="addTab" translate="title" module="catalog">
<alias>additional</alias><title>Additional Information</title>
<block>catalog/product_view_attributes</block>
<template>catalog/product/view/attributes.phtml</template>
</action>

I thought there may be a removeTab method, but that didn't work. There's also method="unsetChild", but I cannot see how I would target that specific element as there's no defined name in the XML.

Any ideas would be much appreciated.

Solution 1

Based on my reading of Mage_Catalog_Block_Product_View_Tabs::addTabs(), you should be able to remove the block from being rendered with one of the following:

<!-- language: xml -->
<catalog_product_view>
    <reference name="product.info.tabs">
        <action method="unsetChild">
            <child>additional</child>
        </action>
    </reference>
</catalog_product_view>

Or:

<catalog_product_view>
    <remove name="additional" />
</catalog_product_view>

The reason that I believe these will work is that addTab() simply takes the arguments and uses them to create a block instance as a child of the tab parent block.

Zyava's comment is incorrect, as I assume you know. There is a difference between app/etc/local.xml (a config file) and the explicitly last-loaded local.xml from your design settings.

Solution 2

I am using my module adminhtml layout xml to add or remove tabs (you could use your theme's local.xml, based on these steps with a bit of tweakking.)

Firstly you will need to declare your layout updates (in your module config.xml) like the following:

<adminhtml>
    <layout>
        <updates>
            <mymodule>
                <file>mymodule.xml</file>
            </mymodule>
        </updates>
    </layout>
</adminhtml>

Then in mymodule.xml, add the following (here, I am using the admin order view page handle)

<adminhtml_sales_order_view>
    <reference name="sales_order_tabs">
        <action method="removeTab">
            <name>order_shipments</name>
        </action>
        <action method="addTabAfter">
            <name>order_shipments_mymodule</name>
            <block>mymodule/adminhtml_order_shipments</block>
            <after>order_creditmemos</after>
        </action>
        <action method="addTab">
            <name>order_receipts</name>
            <block>mymoduled/adminhtml_order_recp</block>
        </action>
    </reference>
</adminhtml_sales_order_view>

Hope this helps!! (Don't forget to upvote this solution)