From Data Container Array to Data Container Class

Define data container configuration with classes/services instead of plain PHP files.

Why?

• Real Dependency Injection
• Don't deal with DCA files and wild names because of the prefixes like tl_vendor_bundle_tablename. Just define your table names one time and forget about it later. See advanced usage below.
• Define private callbacks and logic methods in class scope like in Contao 2 or 3.
• Define whatever you need, it's your class.
• It's still possible to override definitions with dca files.

How?

A compiler pass tag all classes which implement Tastaturberuf\ContaoDataContainerBundle\DataContainerInterface with the tag tastaturberuf.datacontainer.autoload. An event listener with the iterable classes listen to the loadDataContainer hook and recursive merge the array if the table name matches.

Litte bit of magic: On migrations the table name is unknown if the are no DCA files present. The hook sqlGetFromDca take care that the definitions get loaded properly.

All logic happen in this file: https://github.com/Tastaturberuf/contao-datacontainer-bundle/blob/main/src/EventListener/DataContainerListener.php

Install

via Composer

composer require tastaturberuf/contao-datacontainer-bundle

Basic usage

Define a class and implement DataContainerInterface.

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App;

use Contao\DC_Table;
use Tastaturberuf\ContaoDataContainerBundle\DataContainerInterface;


class DataContainer implements DataContainerInterface
{

    // return the table name
    public function getTable(): string
    {
        return 'tl_data_container';
    }

    // return the DCA config
    public function getConfig(): array
    {
        return [
            'config' => [
                'container' => DC_Table::class
            ]
            // ...
        ];
    }

}

Advanced usage

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App;

use Ausi\SlugGenerator\SlugGenerator;
use Contao\CoreBundle\DependencyInjection\Attribute\AsCallback;
use Contao\CoreBundle\Intl\Countries;
use Contao\DC_Table;
use Contao\Model;
use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Attribute\Autowire;
use Tastaturberuf\ContaoDataContainerBundle\DataContainerInterface;


// App/Contao/Model/DataContainerModel.php
class DataContainerModel extends Model
{
    // Every time you need the table name use this public constant!
    public const TABLE = 'tl_data_container';

    protected static $strTable = self::TABLE;
    
    //...
}

// App/Contao/DataContainer/MyDataContainer.php
class MyDataContainer implements DataContainerInterface
{
    /**
     * Now you can use real dependency injection in DCC 
     */
    public function __construct(
        private readonly SlugGenerator $slugGenerator,
        private readonly Countries $countries,
        #[Autowire(param: 'contao.image.valid_extensions')] // since Contao 5 / Symfony 6 
        privare readonly string $validImages
    ) {}

    public function getTable(): string
    {
        // DRY: Use the model constant here
        return DataContainerModel::TABLE;
    }

    /**
     * Return the same array you would do in `dca/tl_i_hate_remember_prefixes_table.php`
     */
    public function getConfig(): array
    {
        return [
            'config' => [
                'container' => DC_Table::class
            ]
            // ...
            'fields' => [
                'alias' =>  [
                    'inputType' => 'text',
                    'save_callback' => $this->saveCallback(...)
                    //...
                ],
                'country' => [
                    'inputType' => 'select'
                    //...
                ]
            ]
        ];
    }
    
    
    /**
     * You can define private callbacks
     */
    private function saveCallback(string $value): string
    {
        return $this->slugGenerator->generate($value);
    }
    
    /**
     * You can define public callbacks (and may use the TABLE constant from the model)
     */
    #[AsCallback(DataContainerModel::TABLE, 'fields.country.options')]
    public function publicCallback(): array 
    {
        return $this->countries->getCountries();
    }

}

Maintainer

Tastaturberuf with ♥ and Contao