get_product_variation_image_ids: fetch image ids directly from meta #60210

mreishus · 2025-08-05T20:39:40Z

Changes proposed in this Pull Request:

Refactor get_product_variation_image_ids() to directly query image IDs via get_post_meta instead of instantiating full WC_Product_Variation objects.

I was inspired after profiling showing this function being called multiple times per page (/product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/) and seeing a long loop/tail of function calls each time:

If we look at the bottom up view of this function, we can see a lot of time is spent in the chain of creating objects and data stores filling out information that isn't the image id:

Ultimately, the function is fetching one bit of meta:

class WC_Product_Variation extends WC_Product_Simple {
	public function get_image_id( $context = 'view' ) {
		$image_id = $this->get_prop( 'image_id', $context );

		if ( 'view' === $context && ! $image_id ) {
			$image_id = apply_filters( $this->get_hook_prefix() . 'image_id', $this->parent_data['image_id'], $this );
		}

		return $image_id;
	}
}

And the data class it inherits from calls a filter when we ->get_prop( 'image_id'

abstract class WC_Data {
	protected function get_prop( $prop, $context = 'view' ) {
		$value = null;

		if ( array_key_exists( $prop, $this->data ) ) {
			$value = array_key_exists( $prop, $this->changes ) ? $this->changes[ $prop ] : $this->data[ $prop ];

			if ( 'view' === $context ) {
				$value = apply_filters( $this->get_hook_prefix() . $prop, $value, $this );
			}
		}

		return $value;
	}
}

There are two complexities:

If there's not an image , it falls back to the parent's image
It runs the woocommerce_product_variation_get_image_id filter on the ids
- Crucially, this passes a fully filled out object ($this) as the second parameter
- This means if I bypass the work of filling out the object, then I am now violating the filter contract

Therefore, we can apply this optimization, but only if there's nothing on the filter. Note that since we're in a class that's designed as a helper for the product gallery block, we're always in "view" context.

How to test the changes in this Pull Request:

Goal 1: Seeing a gallery of variable products

Generate some global attributes and terms, then make some variable products that use these.
You may use wc-smooth-generator (https://github.com/woocommerce/wc-smooth-generator)
- (option 1) use wp wc generate products 50 --type=variable
- (option 2) use my branch, then wp wc generate attributes 36 --terms=200 and wp wc generate products 50 --type=variable --num-attributes=7 --max-terms=20 --max-variations=35 --use-existing-terms
You might have to make some extra variations on a product, so you can have a product with a lot of variations - maybe give some of the variations images
create a category and mass edit them to be in the category page
Visit the category page on the frontend, like /product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/

Goal 2: Observing the current results and timing on trunk

Use something like:

	public static function get_product_variation_image_ids( $product ) {
		$actual_link = "https://$_SERVER[HTTP_HOST]$_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]";
		$t0 = microtime( true );

		$variation_image_ids = array();

		if ( ! $product instanceof \WC_Product ) {
			wc_doing_it_wrong( __FUNCTION__, __( 'Invalid product object.', 'woocommerce' ), '9.8.0' );
			return $variation_image_ids;
		}

		try {
			if ( $product->is_type( 'variable' ) ) {
				$variations = $product->get_children();
				foreach ( $variations as $variation_id ) {
					$variation = wc_get_product( $variation_id );
					if ( $variation ) {
						$variation_image_id = $variation->get_image_id();
						if ( ! empty( $variation_image_id ) && ! in_array( strval( $variation_image_id ), $variation_image_ids, true ) ) {
							$variation_image_ids[] = strval( $variation_image_id );
						}
					}
				}
			}
		} catch ( \Exception $e ) {
			// Log the error but continue execution.
			error_log( 'Error getting product variation image IDs: ' . $e->getMessage() );
		}

		$t1 = microtime( true );
		$execution_ms = ( $t1 - $t0 ) * 1000;
		error_log( "[$actual_link] get_product_variation_image_ids: {$execution_ms} ms | " . json_encode( $variation_image_ids ) );

		return $variation_image_ids;
	}

See some times over 10ms like:

[https://localhost:8081/product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/] get_product_variation_image_ids: 29.88 ms | ["147","154","146","149","134","161","137","157","153","148","138","158","151","145","141","156","160","143","159","152","162","150","155","140"]
[https://localhost:8081/product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/] get_product_variation_image_ids: 14.52 ms | ["148","153","156","154","157","151"]
[https://localhost:8081/product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/] get_product_variation_image_ids: 8.16 ms | ["95","159","103","77","152","79","138","123","121","145","133"]

Goal 2: Observing the propsed results and timing on this branch

Like above. Add:

		$actual_link = "https://$_SERVER[HTTP_HOST]$_SERVER[REQUEST_URI]";
		$t0 = microtime( true );

To the top of the function and

		$t1 = microtime( true );
		$execution_ms = ( $t1 - $t0 ) * 1000;
		$execution_ms = round( $execution_ms, 2 );
		error_log( "[$actual_link] get_product_variation_image_ids: {$execution_ms} ms | " . json_encode( $variation_image_ids ) );

to the bottom. You should see the same results, but faster.

For me, for example:

[https://localhost:8081/product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/] get_product_variation_image_ids: 2.38 ms | ["147","154","146","149","134","161","137","157","153","148","138","158","151","145","141","156","160","143","159","152","162","150","155","140"]
[https://localhost:8081/product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/] get_product_variation_image_ids: 0.45 ms | ["148","153","156","154","157","151"]
[https://localhost:8081/product-category/clothing-grocery-garden/] get_product_variation_image_ids: 0.55 ms | ["95","159","103","77","152","79","138","123","121","145","133"]

Testing that has already taken place:

coderabbitai · 2025-08-05T22:41:17Z

📝 Walkthrough

Walkthrough

A performance optimization was implemented in the WooCommerce plugin's get_product_variation_image_ids method. The function now retrieves variation image IDs directly from post metadata unless a specific filter is active, reducing unnecessary product object instantiations. A changelog entry documents this patch and its focus on performance improvement.

Changes

Cohort / File(s)	Change Summary
Changelog Update `plugins/woocommerce/changelog/update-get-product-variation-image-ids`	Added a changelog entry describing a patch update that improves performance by optimizing how variation image IDs are fetched in the WooCommerce plugin.
Product Gallery Utils Optimization `plugins/woocommerce/src/Blocks/Utils/ProductGalleryUtils.php`	Refactored `get_product_variation_image_ids` to fetch image IDs directly from post meta when possible, avoiding product object creation unless a relevant filter is present; preserves filter extensibility and adds fallback logic.

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📒 Files selected for processing (2)

plugins/woocommerce/changelog/update-get-product-variation-image-ids (1 hunks)
plugins/woocommerce/src/Blocks/Utils/ProductGalleryUtils.php (1 hunks)

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plugins/woocommerce/changelog/update-get-product-variation-image-ids
plugins/woocommerce/src/Blocks/Utils/ProductGalleryUtils.php

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github-actions · 2025-08-05T22:46:07Z

Test using WordPress Playground

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Note that this URL is valid for 30 days from when this comment was last updated. You can update it by closing/reopening the PR or pushing a new commit.

This reverts commit 0cd27dc.

mreishus self-assigned this Aug 5, 2025

github-actions bot added the plugin: woocommerce Issues related to the WooCommerce Core plugin. label Aug 5, 2025

mreishus added the Performance label Aug 5, 2025

mreishus marked this pull request as ready for review August 5, 2025 22:38

mreishus added 8 commits August 7, 2025 13:54

get_product_variation_image_ids: fetch image ids directly from meta

e9d4ad2

add changelog file

f627735

remove .gitignore change

1e42c58

lint

9b2d35f

honor the woocommerce_product_variation_get_image_id filter

87a13dc

Revert "honor the woocommerce_product_variation_get_image_id filter"

b72a83e

This reverts commit 0cd27dc.

always run the filter

49ab52c

fall back to original method

8f6871a

mreishus force-pushed the reish20250805/update-get-product-variation-image-ids branch from 94cb3b7 to 8f6871a Compare August 7, 2025 18:54

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