I continue my study of addons.

Frazatto

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 18:08:29 +0000

Hey guys,

I have been using the Skeleton addon as reference as previously suggested, also as expected it become easy enough to compare it to other addons and see what is what.
If I understood correctly, there are some function names that are expected by the platform (correlated to the file name) and, if existent, are called when appropriated.
But there are others that must be registered as hooks, which also have expected names.

So my most recent doubts:
- Is there a place where all the expected function names are listed?

- Why the distinction between the standard file named functions and the expected hook ones?

- I was not able to trigger uninstall () and init (), although other addons use them. Have I done something wrong or the functions are deprecated?

- Why is construct_page () called every time even when it is not installed? I'm supposing it's because some addons can change behavior outside its "sandbox" and it's my responsibility to control the context in this function.

- Which is the most complex addon that takes most advantage of the platform architecture? (for reference....)

I'm sorry for the long list of questions, but I don't seam to find any kind of specific documentation or code comments regarding this things.
For this reason I'm also trying to keep track of my shenanigans and expand the skeleton addon :D

Once again, thanks for the help.
The more I study the more impressed I get with what you guys have built so far.

show all 8 Comments

Mario Vavti

Tue, 28 Jul 2020 18:47:25 +0000

- Is there a place where all the expected function names are listed?

Here is a list of hooks: /help/en/hooklist#doco-top-toc-heading

In a nutshell: Addons can register hooks (must not - they can also be standalone modules). If an addon registers a hook it will receive data from core at a point where the hook is defined in core. This data can be changed by the addon before it is sent back to core for further processing.

- Is there a place where all the expected function names are listed?

A function can contain more than one hook.

- Which is the most complex addon that takes most advantage of the platform architecture?

Some of the more advanced addons are certainly the federation addons like pubcrawl (which implements activitypub) or the cart addon which provides basic e-commerce functionality.

- Why is construct_page () called every time even when it is not installed? I'm supposing it's because some addons can change behavior outside its "sandbox" and it's my responsibility to control the context in this function.

It constructs the page so it is called everytime a page is loaded.

- I was not able to trigger uninstall () and init (), although other addons use them. Have I done something wrong or the functions are deprecated?

What do you mean by trigger? addonname_uninstall() is called when a plugin is uninstalled.

Frazatto

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 13:43:03 +0000 last edited: Wed, 29 Jul 2020 13:44:45 +0000

Thanks @Mario Vavti

Damn....the hook list was in my face and I completely missed.....my game is really rusty........

Ok, so you are saying that creating a function like:
function skeleton_construct_page (&$a, &$s)

Have the same result as:
Hook::register ('construct_page', $PATH, 'my_construct_page');

Is that it? So It would be recommended that I choose one way and stick to it, okkkkk.
Do you guys have a preference?

Mario Vavti

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:13:46 +0000

What we usually do is to register the hook in the install function of the addon.

function myaddon_install() {
    Hook::register('construct_page', 'addon/myaddon/myaddon.php', 'myaddon_construct_page');
}

And then create a function for the hook with the name it is registered.

function myaddon_construct_page($s) {
    do something...
}

A note to your example: $a is deprecated. it is only required for compatibility if hooks are registered with the deprecated hook_register() function.

Frazatto

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 18:27:44 +0000

@Mario Vavti I think I chose my examples poorly than.....

But ok, centralize everything on the install function.

Frazatto

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 19:27:26 +0000

Wellll.....

What we usually do is to register the hook in the install function of the addon.

What is the difference between the install function and load??
I mean, if they are called in sequence of one another, what is expected for me to do on one and the other?

Mario Vavti

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 19:50:08 +0000

myaddon_install() is called once when the addon is installed. myaddon_load() is called each time the addon is loaded. myaddon_load() is also called at the end of myaddon_install().

what is expected for me to do on one and the other?

I'd say it depends on the addon...

Frazatto

Wed, 29 Jul 2020 21:22:39 +0000

Hum......somethings doesn't add up here.....
Because what you described is exactly what I expected it to be when I started.

But in the logs I set, myaddon_load() was only called after install and never again.

I'm sure this will make more sense once I try to build something more useful, thanks.

Mario Vavti

Thu, 30 Jul 2020 07:03:44 +0000

@Frazatto you are right, i stand corrected... myaddon_load() is called once at the end of the install routine...