Executing code at extension activation

marikka

Hey. Where should I place some code I want to execute when my extension is activated/installed? I've written some code to check if a role and a user exists and to create those if they don't exist yet. At the moment I have the code in my default.php and it executes every time, which is a bit stupid :P Thanks in advance :)

Minisweeper

You mean you want to make a kinda installation routine for a script? What most people do is add a configuration key (such as EXTENSIONNAME_INSTALLED) when the extension first runs (and does the user creation or whatever), then every time the script runs just use if ($Configuration['EXTENSIONNAME_INSTALLED'] != 1) { do the install routine } There are a couple of extensions out there using that general theory..I'm pretty sure attachments is one of them if you want to check it in more detail.

ithcy

one way to do it, like mini said:

if (!array_key_exists('YOUR_SPECIAL_EXTENSION_VARIABLE', $Configuration)) { //do your installation stuff here //and when it's all successfully completed, do the next step: AddConfigurationSetting($Context, 'YOUR_SPECIAL_EXTENSION_VARIABLE', 'SOME_VALUE'); }

marikka

Thanks to both of you! That was just what I needed.

marikka

It just occured to me that if I needed to do some cleaning up when uninstalling an extension I can't really use code from my extension.. or can I? Is there some hook to run code just before deactivating the extension?

Minisweeper

There used to be but I think it got taken out cause some extensions are causing problems, so no, I dont think you can do cleanup. I guess the only thing you could do is release a seperate cleanup script for users to run if they wanted.

ithcy

or you could add a custom uninstall feature to your extension which cleans up and then runs the "standard" uninstall code.

i hope mark has more time for vanilla soon. i think extension developers need a few more tools in the vanilla core. cleanup, a global "extension settings" standard (Attachments and JQThickbox handle this perfectly), etc.

Minisweeper

Ahh that's a good idea ithcy.