Change node-type mechanism

I have a project I'll be releasing next week on Drupal.org that provides a simple way of switching content types among other things. (see my proposal here: http://groups.drupal.org/node/9896 for a SoC version) What I do is change the association in the node table so naturally all the other attributes will still map. The revision doesn't change so body, text, and any fields with the same definition map over directly just because of the way Drupal already works. It would be cool to have a batch conversion processes and a way of mapping fields if the field types don't match up perfectly. Though I think this should be part of a larger project (not saying mine, just in general) taking the idea further to be able mapping data from one destination to another instead of just nodes

See http://drupal.org/project/nodetype

Released over a year ago. Could use a little love and a port to Drupal 6, but is probably not a large enough project for SoC.

However, the current module does not enable field-type mapping, which is a great feature, as is the batch conversion.

You should try to enlist the module maintainer in support of your proposal(s).

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I have seen the Nodetype module in the project list, but all that's there is a development snapshot for Drupal 5 that hasn't been updated in over a year. Truthfully, I haven't tried it myself, but if as you say it doesn't support field mapping or batch conversion, then it seems there is still a great deal of work that could be done. I expect it is complex enough for a SoC project.

I have submitted an issue to the Nodetype project, notifying the maintainer of my posting here and requesting his comment.

I am neither able to participate in SoC, nor do I feel competent to mentor an SoC project (other than commenting on user experience issues). I am just pointing out what I see as a gaping hole in Drupal's usability, in hopes that an enterprising student will choose to take up the cause. I expect said student will want to contact the maintainer of Nodetype (himself a 2006 SoC participant) when devising a more precise proposal.

@btopro, if you think the creation of a data mapping API, or something of the like, is a necessary (or desirable) precursor to the node type change mechanism I've described, then I'm all for it! I would still like to see a full-featured node type module come out of this, of course. Even if it is just a test case for the broader functionality being developed.

This has been labeled as a "Student Proposal," but I am not a student and did not propose it for myself to complete. I was hoping it would find its way onto the official project ideas list, where a student might pick it up and run with it. Has a student taken up the challenge and I am just not aware of it?