extra_comment - Comments on files

I've built a module that harnesses the comment system to attach comments to filefield files as displayed by views. In this case the file is an imagefield image from a multiple field.

It seems like something others might use, but it's slightly tricky to set up at this point. (And I'm not sure I have time to support it.)

In my case, the base node has a multiple imagefield. That field is themed to link image thumbs to a paging view showing the full sized image. The imagefield in the view is themed to call extra_comment_comment_render(), which displays the comments and form. Comments are stored normally in the comments table, and a record is also made in a new table storing the comment ID, base node ID and XID, which is this case is the file ID.

Along the way various db_rewriting, form_altering and other hooking is done to keep the extra comments separated from regular comments and to add the xid to the various commenting forms. The base node still accepts regular comments.

It starts to get tricky when comments are displayed in blocks, views, etc. How to link to the extra comment when the comment system thinks it belongs to the base node? For now I've got extra_comment_link(), which returns the path, query and fragment necessary to build a link to the extra comment. I'm using that in some custom blocks, but search results and other lists for now will just link to the base node, where the extra comment is not displayed.

That's what I've got so far. I'm looking for suggestions to improve it or about what to do with it. You can see it working in production here: http://nyvelocity.com/content/gallery/race-photos/2009/harlem-women. It's a live site, so test with discretion.

Thanks.