get('system.cron_last'); * // Set the cron run time to the current request time. * $state->set('system_cron_last', REQUEST_TIME); * @endcode * * For more on the State API, see https://drupal.org/developing/api/8/state * @} */ /** * @defgroup config_api Configuration API * @{ * Information about the Configuration API. * * The Configuration API is one of several methods in Drupal for storing * information. See the @link info_types Information types topic @endlink for * an overview of the different types of information. The sections below have * more information about the configuration API; see * https://drupal.org/developing/api/8/configuration for more details. * * @section sec_storage Configuration storage * In Drupal, there is a concept of the "active" configuration, which is the * configuration that is currently in use for a site. The storage used for the * active configuration is configurable: it could be in the database, in files * in a particular directory, or in other storage backends; the default storage * is in the database. Module developers must use the configuration API to * access the active configuration, rather than being concerned about the * details of where and how it is stored. * * Configuration is divided into individual objects, each of which has a * unique name or key. Some modules will have only one configuration object, * typically called 'mymodule.settings'; some modules will have many. Within * a configuration object, configuration settings have data types (integer, * string, Boolean, etc.) and settings can also exist in a nested hierarchy, * known as a "mapping". * * Configuration can also be overridden on a global, per-language, or * per-module basis. See https://www.drupal.org/node/1928898 for more * information. * * @section sec_yaml Configuration YAML files * Whether or not configuration files are being used for the active * configuration storage on a particular site, configuration files are always * used for: * - Defining the default configuration for a module, which is imported to the * active storage when the module is enabled. Note that changes to this * default configuration after a module is already enabled have no effect; * to make a configuration change after a module is enabled, you would need * to uninstall/reinstall or use a hook_update_N() function. * - Exporting and importing configuration. * * The file storage format for configuration information in Drupal is @link * http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YAML YAML files. @endlink Configuration is * divided into files, each containing one configuration object. The file name * for a configuration object is equal to the unique name of the configuration, * with a '.yml' extension. The default configuration files for each module are * placed in the config/install directory under the top-level module directory, * so look there in most Core modules for examples. * * Each configuration file has a specific structure, which is expressed as a * YAML-based configuration schema. The configuration schema details the * structure of the configuration, its data types, and which of its values need * to be translatable. Each module needs to define its configuration schema in * files in the config/schema directory under the top-level module directory, so * look there in most Core modules for examples. Note that data types label, * text, and data_format are translatable; string is non-translatable text. * * @section sec_simple Simple configuration * The simple configuration API should be used for information that will always * have exactly one copy or version. For instance, if your module has a * setting that is either on or off, then this is only defined once, and it * would be a Boolean-valued simple configuration setting. * * The first task in using the simple configuration API is to define the * configuration file structure, file name, and schema of your settings (see * @ref sec_yaml above). Once you have done that, you can retrieve the * active configuration object that corresponds to configuration file * mymodule.foo.yml with a call to: * @code * $config = \Drupal::config('mymodule.foo'); * @endcode * * This will be an object of class \Drupal\Core\Config\Config, which has methods * for getting and setting configuration information. For instance, if your * YAML file structure looks like this: * @code * enabled: '0' * bar: * baz: 'string1' * boo: 34 * @endcode * you can make calls such as: * @code * // Get a single value. * $enabled = $config->get('enabled'); * // Get an associative array. * $bar = $config->get('bar'); * // Get one element of the array. * $bar_baz = $config->get('bar.baz'); * // Update a value. Nesting works the same as get(). * $config->set('bar.baz', 'string2'); * // Nothing actually happens with set() until you call save(). * $config->save(); * @endcode * * @section sec_entity Configuration entities * In contrast to the simple configuration settings described in the previous * section, if your module allows users to create zero or more items (where * "items" are things like content type definitions, view definitions, and the * like), then you need to define a configuration entity type to store your * configuration. Creating an entity type, loading entites, and querying them * are outlined in the @link entity_api Entity API topic. @endlink Here are a * few additional steps and notes specific to configuration entities: * - For examples, look for classes that implement * \Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface -- one good example is * the \Drupal\user\Entity\Role entity type. * - In the entity type annotation, you will need to define a 'config_prefix' * string. When Drupal stores a configuration item, it will be given a name * composed of your module name, your chosen config prefix, and the ID of * the individual item, separated by '.'. For example, in the Role entity, * the config prefix is 'role', so one configuration item might be named * user.role.anonymous, with configuration file user.role.anonymous.yml. * - You will need to define the schema for your configuration in your * modulename.schema.yml file, with an entry for 'modulename.config_prefix.*'. * For example, for the Role entity, the file user.schema.yml has an entry * user.role.*; see @ref sec_yaml above for more information. * - Your module may also provide a few configuration items to be installed by * default, by adding configuration files to the module's config/install * directory; see @ref sec_yaml above for more information. * - Some configuration entities have dependencies on other configuration * entities, and module developers need to consider this so that configuration * can be imported, uninstalled, and synchronized in the right order. For * example, a field display configuration entity would need to depend on * field instance configuration, which depends on field and bundle * configuration. Configuration entity classes expose dependencies by * overriding the * \Drupal\Core\Config\Entity\ConfigEntityInterface::calculateDependencies() * method. * * @see i18n * * @} */ /** * @defgroup cache Cache API * @{ * Information about the Drupal Cache API * * @section basics Basics * * Note: If not specified, all of the methods mentioned here belong to * \Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheBackendInterface. * * The Cache API is used to store data that takes a long time to * compute. Caching can be permanent, temporary, or valid for a certain * timespan, and the cache can contain any type of data. * * To use the Cache API: * - Request a cache object through \Drupal::cache() or by injecting a cache * service. * - Define a Cache ID (cid) value for your data. A cid is a string, which must * contain enough information to uniquely identify the data. For example, if * your data contains translated strings, then your cid value must include the * current interface language. * - Call the get() method to attempt a cache read, to see if the cache already * contains your data. * - If your data is not already in the cache, compute it and add it to the * cache using the set() method. The third argument of set() can be used to * control the lifetime of your cache item. * * Example: * @code * $cid = 'mymodule_example:' . \Drupal::languageManager()->getCurrentLanguage()->id(); * * $data = NULL; * if ($cache = \Drupal::cache()->get($cid)) { * $data = $cache->data; * } * else { * $data = my_module_complicated_calculation(); * \Drupal::cache()->set($cid, $data); * } * @endcode * * Note the use of $data and $cache->data in the above example. Calls to * \Drupal::cache()->get() return a record that contains the information stored * by \Drupal::cache()->set() in the data property as well as additional meta * information about the cached data. In order to make use of the cached data * you can access it via $cache->data. * * @section bins Cache bins * * Cache storage is separated into "bins", each containing various cache items. * Each bin can be configured separately; see @ref configuration. * * When you request a cache object, you can specify the bin name in your call to * \Drupal::cache(). Alternatively, you can request a bin by getting service * "cache.nameofbin" from the container. The default bin is called "default", with * service name "cache.default", it is used to store common and frequently used * caches. * * Other common cache bins are the following: * - bootstrap: Small caches needed for the bootstrap on every request. * - render: Contains cached HTML strings like cached pages and blocks, can * grow to large size. * - data: Contains data that can vary by path or similar context. * - discovery: Contains cached discovery data for things such as plugins, * views_data, or YAML discovered data such as library info. * * A module can define a cache bin by defining a service in its * modulename.services.yml file as follows (substituting the desired name for * "nameofbin"): * @code * cache.nameofbin: * class: Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheBackendInterface * tags: * - { name: cache.bin } * factory_method: get * factory_service: cache_factory * arguments: [nameofbin] * @endcode * * @section delete Deletion * * There are two ways to remove an item from the cache: * - Deletion (using delete(), deleteMultiple() or deleteAll()) permanently * removes the item from the cache. * - Invalidation (using invalidate(), invalidateMultiple() or invalidateAll()) * is a "soft" delete that only marks items as "invalid", meaning "not fresh" * or "not fresh enough". Invalid items are not usually returned from the * cache, so in most ways they behave as if they have been deleted. However, * it is possible to retrieve invalid items, if they have not yet been * permanently removed by the garbage collector, by passing TRUE as the second * argument for get($cid, $allow_invalid). * * Use deletion if a cache item is no longer useful; for instance, if the item * contains references to data that has been deleted. Use invalidation if the * cached item may still be useful to some callers until it has been updated * with fresh data. The fact that it was fresh a short while ago may often be * sufficient. * * Invalidation is particularly useful to protect against stampedes. Rather than * having multiple concurrent requests updating the same cache item when it * expires or is deleted, there can be one request updating the cache, while the * other requests can proceed using the stale value. As soon as the cache item * has been updated, all future requests will use the updated value. * * @section tags Cache Tags * * The fourth argument of the set() method can be used to specify cache tags, * which are used to identify what type of data is included in each cache item. * Each cache item can have multiple cache tags, and each cache tag has a string * key and a value. The value can be: * - TRUE, to indicate that this type of data is present in the cache item. * - An array of values. For example, the "node" tag indicates that particular * node's data is present in the cache item, so its value is an array of node * IDs. * Data that has been tagged can be deleted or invalidated as a group: no matter * the Cache ID (cid) of the cache item, no matter in which cache bin a cache * item lives; as long as it is tagged with a certain cache tag, it will be * deleted or invalidated. * * Because of that, cache tags are a solution to the cache invalidation problem: * - For caching to be effective, each cache item must only be invalidated when * absolutely necessary. (i.e. maximizing the cache hit ratio.) * - For caching to be correct, each cache item that depends on a certain thing * must be invalidated whenever that certain thing is modified. * * A typical scenario: a user has modified a node that appears in two views, * three blocks and on twelve pages. Without cache tags, we couldn't possibly * know which cache items to invalidate, so we'd have to invalidate everything: * we had to sacrifice effectiveness to achieve correctness. With cache tags, we * can have both. * * Example: * @code * // A cache item with nodes, users, and some custom module data. * $tags = array( * 'my_custom_tag' => TRUE, * 'node' => array(1, 3), * 'user' => array(7), * ); * \Drupal::cache()->set($cid, $data, CacheBackendInterface::CACHE_PERMANENT, $tags); * * // Delete or invalidate all cache items with certain tags. * \Drupal\Core\Cache\Cache::deleteTags(array('node' => array(1)); * \Drupal\Core\Cache\Cache::invalidateTags(array('user' => array(1))); * @endcode * * Drupal is a content management system, so naturally you want changes to your * content to be reflected everywhere, immediately. That's why we made sure that * every entity type in Drupal 8 automatically has support for cache tags: when * you save an entity, you can be sure that the cache items that have the * corresponding cache tags will be invalidated. * This also is the case when you define your own entity types: you'll get the * exact same cache tag invalidation as any of the built-in entity types, with * the ability to override any of the default behavior if needed. * See \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface::getCacheTag(), * \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityInterface::getListCacheTags(), * \Drupal\Core\Entity\Entity::invalidateTagsOnSave() and * \Drupal\Core\Entity\Entity::invalidateTagsOnDelete(). * * @todo Update cache tag deletion in https://drupal.org/node/918538 * * @section configuration Configuration * * By default cached data is stored in the database. This can be configured * though so that all cached data, or that of an individual cache bin, uses a * different cache backend, such as APC or Memcache, for storage. * * In a settings.php file, you can override the service used for a particular * cache bin. For example, if your service implementation of * \Drupal\Core\Cache\CacheBackendInterface was called cache.custom, the * following line would make Drupal use it for the 'cache_render' bin: * @code * $settings['cache']['bins']['render'] = 'cache.custom'; * @endcode * * Additionally, you can register your cache implementation to be used by * default for all cache bins with: * @code * $settings['cache']['default'] = 'cache.custom'; * @endcode * * @see https://drupal.org/node/1884796 * @} */ /** * @defgroup user_api User accounts, permissions, and roles * @{ * API for user accounts, access checking, roles, and permissions. * * @sec sec_overview Overview and terminology * Drupal's permission system is based on the concepts of accounts, roles, * and permissions. * * Users (site visitors) have accounts, which include a user name, an email * address, a password (or some other means of authentication), and possibly * other fields (if defined on the site). Anonymous users have an implicit * account that does not have a real user name or any account information. * * Each user account is assigned one or more roles. The anonymous user account * automatically has the anonymous user role; real user accounts * automatically have the authenticated user role, plus any roles defined on * the site that they have been assigned. * * Each role, including the special anonymous and authenticated user roles, is * granted one or more named permissions, which allow them to perform certain * tasks or view certain content on the site. It is possible to designate a * role to be the "administrator" role; if this is set up, this role is * automatically granted all available permissions whenever a module is * enabled that defines permissions. * * All code in Drupal that allows users to perform tasks or view content must * check that the current user has the correct permission before allowing the * action. In the standard case, access checking consists of answering the * question "Does the current user have permission 'foo'?", and allowing or * denying access based on the answer. Note that access checking should nearly * always be done at the permission level, not by checking for a particular role * or user ID, so that site administrators can set up user accounts and roles * appropriately for their particular sites. * * @section sec_define Defining permissions * Modules define permissions by implementing hook_permission(). The return * value defines machine names, human-readable names, and optionally * descriptions for each permission type. The machine names are the canonical * way to refer to permissions for access checking. * * @section sec_access Access permission checking * Depending on the situation, there are several methods for ensuring that * access checks are done properly in Drupal: * - Routes: When you register a route, include a 'requirements' section that * either gives the machine name of the permission that is needed to visit the * URL of the route, or tells Drupal to use an access check method or service * to check access. See the @link menu Routing topic @endlink for more * information. * - Entities: Access for various entity operations is designated either with * simple permissions or access controller classes in the entity annotation. * See the @link entity_api Entity API topic @endlink for more information. * - Other code: There is a 'current_user' service, which can be injected into * classes to provide access to the current user account (see the * @link container Services and Dependency Injection topic @endlink for more * information on dependency injection). In code that cannot use dependency * injection, you can access this service and retrieve the current user * account object by calling \Drupal::currentUser(). Once you have a user * object for the current user (implementing \Drupal\user\UserInterface), you * can call inherited method * \Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface::hasPermission() to check * permissions, or pass this object into other functions/methods. * - Forms: Each element of a form array can have a Boolean '#access' property, * which determines whether that element is visible and/or usable. This is a * common need in forms, so the current user service (described above) is * injected into the form base class as method * \Drupal\Core\Form\FormBase::currentUser(). * * @section sec_entities User and role objects * User objects in Drupal are entity items, implementing * \Drupal\user\UserInterface. Role objects in Drupal are also entity items, * implementing \Drupal\user\RoleInterface. See the * @link entity_api Entity API topic @endlink for more information about * entities in general (including how to load, create, modify, and query them). * * Roles often need to be manipulated in automated test code, such as to add * permissions to them. Here's an example: * @code * $role = \Drupal\user\Entity\Role::load('authenticated'); * $role->grantPermission('access comments'); * $role->save(); * @endcode * * Other important interfaces: * - \Drupal\Core\Session\AccountInterface: The part of UserInterface that * deals with access checking. In writing code that checks access, your * method parameters should use this interface, not UserInterface. * - \Drupal\Core\Session\AccountProxyInterface: The interface for the * current_user service (described above). * @} */ /** * @defgroup container Services and Dependency Injection Container * @{ * Overview of the Dependency Injection Container and Services. * * @todo write this * * Additional documentation paragraphs need to be written, and functions, * classes, and interfaces need to be added to this topic. * * See https://drupal.org/node/2133171 * @} */ /** * @defgroup typed_data Typed Data API * @{ * API for describing data based on a set of available data types. * * The Typed Data API was created to provide developers with a consistent * interface for interacting with data, as well as an API for metadata * (information about the data, such as the data type, whether it is * translatable, and who can access it). The Typed Data API is used in several * Drupal sub-systems, such as the Entity Field API and Configuration API. * * See https://drupal.org/node/1794140 for more information about the Typed * Data API. * * @section interfaces Interfaces and classes in the Typed Data API * There are several basic interfaces in the Typed Data API, representing * different types of data: * - \Drupal\Core\TypedData\PrimitiveInterface: Used for primitive data, such * as strings, numeric types, etc. Drupal provides primitive types for * integers, strings, etc. based on this interface, and you should * not ever need to create new primitive types. * - \Drupal\Core\TypedData\TypedDataInterface: Used for single pieces of data, * with some information about its context. Abstract base class * \Drupal\Core\TypedData\TypedData is a useful starting point, and contains * documentation on how to extend it. * - \Drupal\Core\TypedData\ComplexDataInterface: Used for complex data, which * contains named and typed properties; extends TypedDataInterface. Examples * of complex data include content entities and field items. See the * @link entity_api Entity API topic @endlink for more information about * entities; for most complex data, developers should use entities. * - \Drupal\Core\TypedData\ListInterface: Used for a sequential list of other * typed data. Class \Drupal\Core\TypedData\Plugin\DataType\ItemList is a * generic implementation of this interface, and it is used by default for * data declared as a list of some other data type. You can also define a * custom list class, in which case ItemList is a useful base class. * * @section defining Defining data types * To define a new data type: * - Create a class that implements one of the Typed Data interfaces. * Typically, you will want to extend one of the classes listed in the * section above as a starting point. * - Make your class into a DataType plugin. To do that, put it in namespace * \Drupal\yourmodule\Plugin\DataType (where "yourmodule" is your module's * short name), and add annotation of type * \Drupal\Core\TypedData\Annotation\DataType to the documentation header. * See the @link plugin_api Plugin API topic @endlink and the * @link annotation Annotations topic @endlink for more information. * * @section using Using data types * The data types of the Typed Data API can be used in several ways, once they * have been defined: * - In the Field API, data types can be used as the class in the property * definition of the field. See the @link field Field API topic @endlink for * more information. * - In configuration schema files, you can use the unique ID ('id' annotation) * from any DataType plugin class as the 'type' value for an entry. See the * @link config_api Confuration API topic @endlink for more information. * @} */ /** * @defgroup migration Migration API * @{ * Overview of the Migration API, which migrates data into Drupal. * * @todo write this * * Additional documentation paragraphs need to be written, and functions, * classes, and interfaces need to be added to this topic. * * See https://drupal.org/node/2127611 * @} */ /** * @defgroup testing Automated tests * @{ * Overview of PHPUnit tests and Simpletest tests. * * The Drupal project has embraced a philosophy of using automated tests, * consisting of both unit tests (which test the functionality of classes at a * low level) and functional tests (which test the functionality of Drupal * systems at a higher level, usually involving web output). The goal is to * have test coverage for all or most of the components and features, and to * run the automated tests before any code is changed or added, to make sure * it doesn't break any existing functionality (regression testing). * * In order to implement this philosophy, developers need to do the following: * - When making a patch to fix a bug, make sure that the bug fix patch includes * a test that fails without the code change and passes with the code change. * This helps reviewers understand what the bug is, demonstrates that the code * actually fixes the bug, and ensures the bug will not reappear due to later * code changes. * - When making a patch to implement a new feature, include new unit and/or * functional tests in the patch. This serves to both demonstrate that the * code actually works, and ensure that later changes do not break the new * functionality. * * @section write_unit Writing PHPUnit tests for classes * PHPUnit tests for classes are written using the industry-standard PHPUnit * framework. Use a PHPUnit test to test functionality of a class if the Drupal * environment (database, settings, etc.) and web browser are not needed for the * test, or if the Drupal environment can be replaced by a "mock" object. To * write a PHPUnit test: * - Define a class that extends \Drupal\Tests\UnitTestCase. * - The class name needs to end in the word Test. * - The namespace must be a subspace/subdirectory of \Drupal\yourmodule\Tests, * where yourmodule is your module's machine name. * - The test class file must be named and placed under the yourmodule/tests/src * directory, according to the PSR-4 standard. * - Your test class needs a getInfo() method, which gives information about * the test. * - Methods in your test class whose names start with 'test' are the actual * test cases. Each one should test a logical subset of the functionality. * For more details, see: * - https://drupal.org/phpunit for full documentation on how to write PHPUnit * tests for Drupal. * - http://phpunit.de for general information on the PHPUnit framework. * - @link oo_conventions Object-oriented programming topic @endlink for more * on PSR-4, namespaces, and where to place classes. * * @section write_functional Writing functional tests * Functional tests are written using a Drupal-specific framework that is, for * historical reasons, known as "Simpletest". Use a Simpletest test to test the * functionality of sub-system of Drupal, if the functionality depends on the * Drupal database and settings, or to test the web output of Drupal. To * write a Simpletest test: * - For functional tests of the web output of Drupal, define a class that * extends \Drupal\simpletest\WebTestBase, which contains an internal web * browser and defines many helpful test assertion methods that you can use * in your tests. You can specify modules to be enabled by defining a * $modules member variable -- keep in mind that by default, WebTestBase uses * a "testing" install profile, with a minimal set of modules enabled. * - For functional tests that do not test web output, define a class that * extends \Drupal\simpletest\KernelTestBase. This class is much faster * than WebTestBase, because instead of making a full install of Drupal, it * uses an in-memory pseudo-installation (similar to what the installer and * update scripts use). To use this test class, you will need to create the * database tables you need and install needed modules manually. * - The namespace must be a subspace/subdirectory of \Drupal\yourmodule\Tests, * where yourmodule is your module's machine name. * - The test class file must be named and placed under the yourmodule/src/Tests * directory, according to the PSR-4 standard. * - Your test class needs a getInfo() method, which gives information about * the test. * - You may also override the default setUp() method, which can set be used to * set up content types and similar procedures. * - In some cases, you may need to write a test module to support your test; * put such modules under the yourmodule/tests/modules directory. * - Methods in your test class whose names start with 'test', and which have * no arguments, are the actual test cases. Each one should test a logical * subset of the functionality, and each one runs in a new, isolated test * environment, so it can only rely on the setUp() method, not what has * been set up by other test methods. * For more details, see: * - https://drupal.org/simpletest for full documentation on how to write * functional tests for Drupal. * - @link oo_conventions Object-oriented programming topic @endlink for more * on PSR-4, namespaces, and where to place classes. * * @section running Running tests * You can run both Simpletest and PHPUnit tests by enabling the core Testing * module (core/modules/simpletest). Once that module is enabled, tests can be * run usin the core/scripts/run-tests.sh script, using * @link https://drupal.org/project/drush Drush @endlink, or from the Testing * module user interface. * * PHPUnit tests can also be run from the command line, using the PHPUnit * framework. See https://drupal.org/node/2116263 for more information. * @} */ /** * @defgroup info_types Information types * @{ * Types of information in Drupal. * * Drupal has several distinct types of information, each with its own methods * for storage and retrieval: * - Content: Information meant to be displayed on your site: articles, basic * pages, images, files, custom blocks, etc. Content is stored and accessed * using @link entity_api Entities @endlink. * - Session: Information about individual users' interactions with the site, * such as whether they are logged in. This is really "state" information, but * it is not stored the same way so it's a separate type here. Session * information is managed via the session_manager service in Drupal, which * implements \Drupal\Core\Session\SessionManagerInterface. See the * @link container Services topic @endlink for more information about * services. * - State: Information of a temporary nature, generally machine-generated and * not human-edited, about the current state of your site. Examples: the time * when Cron was last run, whether node access permissions need rebuilding, * etc. See @link state_api the State API topic @endlink for more information. * - Configuration: Information about your site that is generally (or at least * can be) human-edited, but is not Content, and is meant to be relatively * permanent. Examples: the name of your site, the content types and views * you have defined, etc. See * @link config_api the Configuration API topic @endlink for more information. * * @see cache * @see i18n * @} */ /** * @defgroup extending Extending and altering Drupal * @{ * Overview of add-ons and alteration methods for Drupal. * * Drupal's core behavior can be extended and altered via these three basic * types of add-ons: * - Themes: Themes alter the appearance of Drupal sites. They can include * template files, which alter the HTML markup and other raw output of the * site; CSS files, which alter the styling applied to the HTML; and * JavaScript, Flash, images, and other files. For more information, see the * @link theme_render Theme system and render API topic @endlink and * https://drupal.org/theme-guide/8 * - Modules: Modules add to or alter the behavior and functionality of Drupal, * by using one or more of the methods listed below. For more information * about creating modules, see https://drupal.org/developing/modules/8 * - Installation profiles: Installation profiles can be used to * create distributions, which are complete specific-purpose packages of * Drupal including additional modules, themes, and data. For more * information, see https://drupal.org/documentation/build/distributions. * * Here is a list of the ways that modules can alter or extend Drupal's core * behavior, or the behavior of other modules: * - Hooks: Specially-named functions that a module defines, which are * discovered and called at specific times, usually to alter behavior or data. * See the @link hooks Hooks topic @endlink for more information. * - Plugins: Classes that a module defines, which are discovered and * instantiated at specific times to add functionality. See the * @link plugin_api Plugin API topic @endlink for more information. * - Entities: Special plugins that define entity types for storing new types * of content or configuration in Drupal. See the * @link entity_api Entity API topic @endlink for more information. * - Services: Classes that perform basic operations within Drupal, such as * accessing the database and sending email. See the * @link container Dependency Injection Container and Services topic @endlink * for more information. * - Routing: Providing or altering "routes", which are URLs that Drupal * responds to, or altering routing behavior with event listener classes. * See the @link menu Routing and menu topic @endlink for more information. * @} */ /** * @defgroup plugin_api Plugin API * @{ * Using the Plugin API * * @section sec_overview Overview and terminology * The basic idea of plugins is to allow a particular module or subsystem of * Drupal to provide functionality in an extensible, object-oriented way. The * controlling module or subsystem defines the basic framework (interface) for * the functionality, and other modules can create plugins (implementing the * interface) with particular behaviors. The controlling module instantiates * existing plugins as needed, and calls methods to invoke their functionality. * Examples of functionality in Drupal Core that use plugins include: the block * system (block types are plugins), the entity/field system (entity types, * field types, field formatters, and field widgets are plugins), the image * manipulation system (image effects and image toolkits are plugins), and the * search system (search page types are plugins). * * Plugins are grouped into plugin types, each generally defined by an * interface. Each plugin type is managed by a plugin manager service, which * uses a plugin discovery method to discover provided plugins of that type and * instantiate them using a plugin factory. * * Some plugin types make use of the following concepts or components: * - Plugin derivatives: Allows a single plugin class to present itself as * multiple plugins. Example: the Menu module provides a block for each * defined menu via a block plugin derivative. * - Plugin mapping: Allows a plugin class to map a configuration string to an * instance, and have the plugin automatically instantiated without writing * additional code. * - Plugin bags: Provide a way to lazily instantiate a set of plugin * instances from a single plugin definition. * * There are several things a module developer may need to do with plugins: * - Define a completely new plugin type: see @ref sec_define below. * - Create a plugin of an existing plugin type: see @ref sec_create below. * - Perform tasks that involve plugins: see @ref sec_use below. * * See https://drupal.org/developing/api/8/plugins for more detailed * documentation on the plugin system. There are also topics for a few * of the many existing types of plugins: * - @link block_api Block API @endlink * - @link entity_api Entity API @endlink * - @link field Various types of field-related plugins @endlink * - @link views_plugins Views plugins @endlink (has links to topics covering * various specific types of Views plugins). * - @link search Search page plugins @endlink * * @section sec_define Defining a new plugin type * To define a new plugin type: * - Define an interface for the plugin. This describes the common set of * behavior, and the methods you will call on each plugin class that is * instantiated. Usually this interface will extend one or more of the * following interfaces: * - \Drupal\Component\Plugin\PluginInspectionInterface * - \Drupal\Component\Plugin\ConfigurablePluginInterface * - \Drupal\Component\Plugin\ContextAwarePluginInterface * - \Drupal\Core\Plugin\PluginFormInterface * - \Drupal\Core\Executable\ExecutableInterface * - (optional) Create a base class that provides a partial implementation of * the interface, for the convenience of developers wishing to create plugins * of your type. The base class usually extends * \Drupal\Core\Plugin\PluginBase, or one of the base classes that extends * this class. * - Choose a method for plugin discovery, and define classes as necessary. * See @ref sub_discovery below. * - Create a plugin manager/factory class and service, which will discover and * instantiate plugins. See @ref sub_manager below. * - Use the plugin manager to instantiate plugins. Call methods on your plugin * interface to perform the tasks of your plugin type. * - (optional) If appropriate, define a plugin bag. See @ref sub_bag below * for more information. * * @subsection sub_discovery Plugin discovery * Plugin discovery is the process your plugin manager uses to discover the * individual plugins of your type that have been defined by your module and * other modules. Plugin discovery methods are classes that implement * \Drupal\Component\Plugin\Discovery\DiscoveryInterface. Most plugin types use * one of the following discovery mechanisms: * - Annotation: Plugin classes are annotated and placed in a defined namespace * subdirectory. Most Drupal Core plugins use this method of discovery. * - Hook: Plugin modules need to implement a hook to tell the manager about * their plugins. * - YAML: Plugins are listd in YAML files. Drupal Core uses this method for * discovering local tasks and local actions. This is mainly useful if all * plugins use the same class, so it is kind of like a global derivative. * - Static: Plugin classes are registered within the plugin manager class * itself. Static discovery is only useful if modules cannot define new * plugins of this type (if the list of available plugins is static). * * It is also possible to define your own custom discovery mechanism or mix * methods together. And there are many more details, such as annotation * decorators, that apply to some of the discovery methods. See * https://drupal.org/developing/api/8/plugins for more details. * * The remainder of this documentation will assume Annotation-based discovery, * since this is the most common method. * * @subsection sub_manager Defining a plugin manager class and service * To define an annotation-based plugin manager: * - Choose a namespace subdirectory for your plugin. For example, search page * plugins go in directory Plugin/Search under the module namespace. * - Define an annotation class for your plugin type. This class should extend * \Drupal\Component\Annotation\Plugin, and for most plugin types, it should * contain member variables corresponding to the annotations plugins will * need to provide. All plugins have at least $id: a unique string * identifier. * - Define an alter hook for altering the discovered plugin definitions. You * should document the hook in a *.api.php file. * - Define a plugin manager class. This class should implement * \Drupal\Component\Plugin\PluginManagerInterface; most plugin managers do * this by extending \Drupal\Core\Plugin\DefaultPluginManager. If you do * extend the default plugin manager, the only method you will probably need * to define is the class constructor, which will need to call the parent * constructor to provide information about the annotation class and plugin * namespace for discovery, set up the alter hook, and possibly set up * caching. See classes that extend DefaultPluginManager for examples. * - Define a service for your plugin manager. See the * @link container Services topic for more information. @endlink Your service * definition should look something like this, referencing your manager * class and the parent (default) plugin manager service to inherit * constructor arguments: * @code * plugin.manager.mymodule: * class: Drupal\mymodule\MyPluginManager * parent: default_plugin_manager * @endcode * - If your plugin is configurable, you will also need to define the * configuration schema and possibly a configuration entity type. See the * @link config_api Configuration API topic @endlink for more information. * * @subsection sub_bag Defining a plugin bag * Some configurable plugin types allow administrators to create zero or more * instances of each plugin, each with its own configuration. For example, * a single block plugin can be configured several times, to display in * different regions of a theme, with different visibility settings, a * different title, or other plugin-specific settings. To make this possible, * a plugin type can make use of what's known as a plugin bag. * * A plugin bag is a class that extends \Drupal\Component\Plugin\PluginBag or * one of its subclasses; there are several examples in Drupal Core. If your * plugin type uses a plugin bag, it will usually also have a configuration * entity, and the entity class should implement * \Drupal\Core\Entity\EntityWithPluginBagsInterface. Again, * there are several examples in Drupal Core; see also the * @link config_api Configuration API topic @endlink for more information about * configuration entities. * * @section sec_create Creating a plugin of an existing type * Assuming the plugin type uses annotation-based discovery, in order to create * a plugin of an existing type, you will be creating a class. This class must: * - Implement the plugin interface, so that it has the required methods * defined. Usually, you'll want to extend the plugin base class, if one has * been provided. * - Have the right annotation in its documentation header. See the * @link annotation Annotation topic @endlink for more information about * annotation. * - Be in the right plugin namespace, in order to be discovered. * Often, the easiest way to make sure this happens is to find an existing * example of a working plugin class of the desired type, and copy it into your * module as a starting point. * * You can also create a plugin derivative, which allows your plugin class * to present itself to the user interface as multiple plugins. To do this, * in addition to the plugin class, you'll need to create a separate plugin * derivative class implementing * \Drupal\Component\Plugin\Derivative\DerivativeInterface. The classes * \Drupal\system\Plugin\Block\SystemMenuBlock (plugin class) and * \Drupal\system\Plugin\Derivative\SystemMenuBlock (derivative class) are a * good example to look at. * * @section sec_use Performing tasks involving plugins * Here are the steps to follow to perform a task that involves plugins: * - Locate the machine name of the plugin manager service, and instantiate the * service. See the @link container Services topic @endlink for more * information on how to do this. * - On the plugin manager class, use methods like getDefinition(), * getDefinitions(), or other methods specific to particular plugin managers * to retrieve information about either specific plugins or the entire list of * defined plugins. * - Call the createInstance() method on the plugin manager to instantiate * individual plugin objects. * - Call methods on the plugin objects to perform the desired tasks. * * @see annotation * @} */ /** * @defgroup oo_conventions Objected-oriented programming conventions * @{ * PSR-4, namespaces, class naming, and other conventions. * * A lot of the PHP code in Drupal is object oriented (OO), making use of * @link http://php.net/manual/language.oop5.php PHP classes, interfaces, and traits @endlink * (which are loosely referred to as "classes" in the rest of this topic). The * following conventions and standards apply to this version of Drupal: * - Each class must be in its own file. * - Classes must be namespaced. If a module defines a class, the namespace * must start with \Drupal\module_name. If it is defined by Drupal Core for * use across many modules, the namespace should be \Drupal\Core or * \Drupal\Component, with the exception of the global class \Drupal. See * https://www.drupal.org/node/1353118 for more about namespaces. * - In order for the PSR-4-based class auto-loader to find the class, it must * be located in a directory corresponding to the namespace. For * module-defined classes, if the namespace is \Drupal\module_name\foo\bar, * then the class goes under the main module directory in directory * src/foo/bar. For Drupal-wide classes, if the namespace is * \Drupal\Core\foo\bar, then it goes in directory * core/lib/Drupal/Core/foo/bar. See https://www.drupal.org/node/2156625 for * more information about PSR-4. * - Some classes have annotations added to their documentation headers. See * the @link annotation Annotation topic @endlink for more information. * - Standard plugin discovery requires particular namespaces and annotation * for most plugin classes. See the * @link plugin_api Plugin API topic @endlink for more information. * - There are project-wide coding standards for OO code, including naming: * https://drupal.org/node/608152 * - Documentation standards for classes are covered on: * https://www.drupal.org/coding-standards/docs#classes * @} */ /** * @defgroup best_practices Best practices for developers * @{ * Overview of standards and best practices for developers * * Ideally, all code that is included in Drupal Core and contributed modules, * themes, and distributions will be secure, internationalized, maintainable, * and efficient. In order to facilitate this, the Drupal community has * developed a set of guidelines and standards for developers to follow. Most of * these standards can be found under * @link https://drupal.org/developing/best-practices Best practices on Drupal.org @endlink * * Standards and best practices that developers should be aware of include: * - Security: https://drupal.org/writing-secure-code and the * @link sanitization Sanitization functions topic @endlink * - Coding standards: https://drupal.org/coding-standards * and https://drupal.org/coding-standards/docs * - Accessibility: https://drupal.org/node/1637990 (modules) and * https://drupal.org/node/464472 (themes) * - Usability: https://drupal.org/ui-standards * - Internationalization: @link i18n Internationalization topic @endlink * - Automated testing: @link testing Automated tests topic @endlink * @} */ /** * @defgroup utility Utility classes and functions * @{ * Overview of utility classes and functions for developers. * * Drupal provides developers with a variety of utility functions that make it * easier and more efficient to perform tasks that are either really common, * tedious, or difficult. Utility functions help to reduce code duplication and * should be used in place of one-off code whenever possible. * * @see common.inc * @see file * @see format * @see mail.inc * @see php_wrappers * @see sanitization * @see transliteration * @see validation * @} */ /** * @defgroup hooks Hooks * @{ * Define functions that alter the behavior of Drupal core. * * One way for modules to alter the core behavior of Drupal (or another module) * is to use hooks. Hooks are specially-named functions that a module defines * (this is known as "implementing the hook"), which are discovered and called * at specific times to alter or add to the base behavior or data (this is * known as "invoking the hook"). Each hook has a name (example: * hook_batch_alter()), a defined set of parameters, and a defined return value. * Your modules can implement hooks that are defined by Drupal core or other * modules that they interact with. Your modules can also define their own * hooks, in order to let other modules interact with them. * * To implement a hook: * - Locate the documentation for the hook. Hooks are documented in *.api.php * files, by defining functions whose name starts with "hook_" (these * files and their functions are never loaded by Drupal -- they exist solely * for documentation). The function should have a documentation header, as * well as a sample function body. For example, in the core file * system.api.php, you can find hooks such as hook_batch_alter(). Also, if * you are viewing this documentation on an API reference site, the Core * hooks will be listed in this topic. * - Copy the function to your module's .module file. * - Change the name of the function, substituting your module's short name * (name of the module's directory, and .info.yml file without the extension) * for the "hook" part of the sample function name. For instance, to implemnt * hook_batch_alter(), you would rename it to my_module_batch_alter(). * - Edit the documentation for the function (normally, your implementation * should just have one line saying "Implements hook_batch_alter()."). * - Edit the body of the function, substituting in what you need your module * to do. * * To define a hook: * - Choose a unique name for your hook. It should start with "hook_", followed * by your module's short name. * - Provide documentation in a *.api.php file in your module's main * directory. See the "implementing" section above for details of what this * should contain (parameters, return value, and sample function body). * - Invoke the hook in your module's code. * * To invoke a hook, use methods on * \Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface such as alter(), invoke(), * and invokeAll(). You can obtain a module handler by calling * \Drupal::moduleHandler(), or getting the 'module_handler' service on an * injected container. * * @see extending * @see themeable * @see callbacks * @see \Drupal\Core\Extension\ModuleHandlerInterface * @see \Drupal::moduleHandler() * * @} */ /** * @defgroup callbacks Callbacks * @{ * Callback function signatures. * * Drupal's API sometimes uses callback functions to allow you to define how * some type of processing happens. A callback is a function with a defined * signature, which you define in a module. Then you pass the function name as * a parameter to a Drupal API function or return it as part of a hook * implementation return value, and your function is called at an appropriate * time. For instance, when setting up batch processing you might need to * provide a callback function for each processing step and/or a callback for * when processing is finished; you would do that by defining these functions * and passing their names into the batch setup function. * * Callback function signatures, like hook definitions, are described by * creating and documenting dummy functions in a *.api.php file; normally, the * dummy callback function's name should start with "callback_", and you should * document the parameters and return value and provide a sample function body. * Then your API documentation can refer to this callback function in its * documentation. A user of your API can usually name their callback function * anything they want, although a standard name would be to replace "callback_" * with the module name. * * @see hooks * @see themeable * * @} */ /** * @defgroup form_api Form generation * @{ * Describes how to generate and manipulate forms and process form submissions. * * Drupal provides a Form API in order to achieve consistency in its form * processing and presentation, while simplifying code and reducing the amount * of HTML that must be explicitly generated by a module. * * @section generating_forms Creating forms * Forms are defined as classes that implement the * \Drupal\Core\Form\FormInterface and are built using the * \Drupal\Core\Form\FormBuilder class. Drupal provides a couple of utility * classes that can be extended as a starting point for most basic forms, the * most commonly used of which is \Drupal\Core\Form\FormBase. FormBuilder * handles the low level processing of forms such as rendering the necessary * HTML, initial processing of incoming $_POST data, and delegating to your * implementation of FormInterface for validation and processing of submitted * data. * * Here is an example of a Form class: * @code * namespace Drupal\mymodule\Form; * * use Drupal\Core\Form\FormBase; * * class ExampleForm extends FormBase { * public function getFormId() { * // Unique ID of the form. * return 'example_form'; * } * * public function buildForm(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_state) { * // Create a $form API array. * $form['phone_number'] = array( * '#type' => 'tel', * '#title' => $this->t('Your phone number') * ); * return $form; * } * * public function validateForm(array &$form, FormStateInterface $form_state) { * // Validate submitted form data. * } * * public function submitForm(array &$form, FormStateInterface $form_state) { * // Handle submitted form data. * } * } * @endcode * * @section retrieving_forms Retrieving and displaying forms * \Drupal::formBuilder()->getForm() should be used to handle retrieving, * processing, and displaying a rendered HTML form. Given the ExampleForm * defined above, * \Drupal::formBuilder()->getForm('Drupal\mymodule\Form\ExampleForm') would * return the rendered HTML of the form defined by ExampleForm::buildForm(), or * call the validateForm() and submitForm(), methods depending on the current * processing state. * * The argument to \Drupal::formBuilder()->getForm() is the name of a class that * implements FormBuilderInterface. Any additional arguments passed to the * getForm() method will be passed along as additional arguments to the * ExampleForm::buildForm() method. * * For example: * @code * $extra = '612-123-4567'; * $form = \Drupal::formBuilder()->getForm('Drupal\mymodule\Form\ExampleForm', $extra); * ... * public function buildForm(array $form, FormStateInterface $form_state, $extra = NULL) * $form['phone_number'] = array( * '#type' => 'tel', * '#title' => $this->t('Your phone number'), * '#value' => $extra, * ); * return $form; * } * @endcode * * Alternatively, forms can be built directly via the routing system which will * take care of calling \Drupal::formBuilder()->getForm(). The following example * demonstrates the use of a routing.yml file to display a form at the the * given route. * * @code * example.form: * path: '/example-form' * defaults: * _title: 'Example form' * _form: '\Drupal\mymodule\Form\ExampleForm' * @endcode * * The $form argument to form-related functions is a structured array containing * the elements and properties of the form. For information on the array * components and format, and more detailed explanations of the Form API * workflow, see the * @link forms_api_reference.html Form API reference @endlink * and the * @link https://drupal.org/node/2117411 Form API documentation section. @endlink * In addition, there is a set of Form API tutorials in * @link form_example_tutorial.inc the Form Example Tutorial @endlink which * provide basics all the way up through multistep forms. * * In the form builder, validation, submission, and other form methods, * $form_state is the primary influence on the processing of the form and is * passed by reference to most methods, so they can use it to communicate with * the form system and each other. * * See \Drupal\Core\Form\FormBuilder::buildForm() for documentation of * $form_state keys. */ /** * @} End of "defgroup form_api". */ /** * @defgroup queue Queue operations * @{ * Queue items to allow later processing. * * The queue system allows placing items in a queue and processing them later. * The system tries to ensure that only one consumer can process an item. * * Before a queue can be used it needs to be created by * Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::createQueue(). * * Items can be added to the queue by passing an arbitrary data object to * Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::createItem(). * * To process an item, call Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::claimItem() and * specify how long you want to have a lease for working on that item. * When finished processing, the item needs to be deleted by calling * Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::deleteItem(). If the consumer dies, the * item will be made available again by the Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface * implementation once the lease expires. Another consumer will then be able to * receive it when calling Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::claimItem(). * Due to this, the processing code should be aware that an item might be handed * over for processing more than once. * * The $item object used by the Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface can contain * arbitrary metadata depending on the implementation. Systems using the * interface should only rely on the data property which will contain the * information passed to Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::createItem(). * The full queue item returned by Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::claimItem() * needs to be passed to Drupal\Core\Queue\QueueInterface::deleteItem() once * processing is completed. * * There are two kinds of queue backends available: reliable, which preserves * the order of messages and guarantees that every item will be executed at * least once. The non-reliable kind only does a best effort to preserve order * in messages and to execute them at least once but there is a small chance * that some items get lost. For example, some distributed back-ends like * Amazon SQS will be managing jobs for a large set of producers and consumers * where a strict FIFO ordering will likely not be preserved. Another example * would be an in-memory queue backend which might lose items if it crashes. * However, such a backend would be able to deal with significantly more writes * than a reliable queue and for many tasks this is more important. See * aggregator_cron() for an example of how to effectively utilize a * non-reliable queue. Another example is doing Twitter statistics -- the small * possibility of losing a few items is insignificant next to power of the * queue being able to keep up with writes. As described in the processing * section, regardless of the queue being reliable or not, the processing code * should be aware that an item might be handed over for processing more than * once (because the processing code might time out before it finishes). */ /** * @} End of "defgroup queue". */ /** * @addtogroup hooks * @{ */ /** * Alter display variant plugin definitions. * * @param array $definitions * The array of display variant definitions, keyed by plugin ID. * * @see \Drupal\Core\Display\VariantManager * @see \Drupal\Core\Display\Annotation\DisplayVariant */ function hook_display_variant_plugin_alter(array &$definitions) { $definitions['full_page']['admin_label'] = t('Block layout'); } /** * @} End of "addtogroup hooks". */