A workflow event #

A workflow is a list of events the kernel runs when an operation happens (publishing, a sign-in, a checkout), connected to the operation by a trigger, before or after it. You write the event Log publishing (explogpublish): it writes one line per published object to var/log/expexample.log and lets the publishing go on. Then you build a workflow with it and connect it to After publishing content.

Prerequisites: the extension of An extension skeleton, switched on; the workflow and trigger policies (an administrator).

1. Where the kernel looks #

eZWorkflowType::loadAndRegisterType() includes <directory>/<group>/<type>/<type>type.php from workflow.ini [EventSettings] RepositoryDirectories[] and from eventtypes/ of each extension in ExtensionDirectories[]. The group of an event is event; AvailableEventTypes[] names <group>_<type>. extension/expexample/settings/workflow.ini.append.php:

<?php /* #?ini charset="utf-8"?

[EventSettings]
# Look for eventtypes/event/<type>/<type>type.php in this extension
ExtensionDirectories[]=expexample
AvailableEventTypes[]=event_explogpublish

*/ ?>

2. The event class #

extension/expexample/eventtypes/event/explogpublish/explogpublishtype.php:

<?php
/**
 * The workflow event "Log publishing": writes one line to var/log/expexample.log for every object published
 * through a workflow that contains the event, then lets the operation carry on.
 *
 * @copyright Copyright (C) 2026 Example Company
 * @license GNU General Public License v2.0 (or any later version)
 * @package expexample
 */

class expLogPublishType extends eZWorkflowEventType
{
    const WORKFLOW_TYPE_STRING = 'explogpublish';

    public function __construct()
    {
        parent::__construct( self::WORKFLOW_TYPE_STRING, ezpI18n::tr( 'extension/expexample', 'Log publishing' ) );
        // Offered only for these triggers: content/publish, before and after
        $this->setTriggerTypes( array( 'content' => array( 'publish' => array( 'before', 'after' ) ) ) );
    }

    /**
     * @param eZWorkflowProcess $process
     * @param eZWorkflowEvent $event
     * @return int an eZWorkflowType::STATUS_* constant
     */
    public function execute( $process, $event )
    {
        $parameters = $process->attribute( 'parameter_list' );
        $objectID = isset( $parameters['object_id'] ) ? (int)$parameters['object_id'] : 0;
        $version  = isset( $parameters['version'] ) ? (int)$parameters['version'] : 0;

        $object = eZContentObject::fetch( $objectID );
        if ( !$object instanceof eZContentObject )
            return eZWorkflowType::STATUS_WORKFLOW_CANCELLED;

        eZLog::write( sprintf( 'published object %d version %d (%s) by user %d',
                               $objectID, $version, $object->attribute( 'class_identifier' ),
                               eZUser::currentUserID() ),
                      'expexample.log' );

        // ACCEPTED: the next event of the workflow runs, then the operation itself
        return eZWorkflowType::STATUS_ACCEPTED;
    }
}

eZWorkflowEventType::registerEventType( expLogPublishType::WORKFLOW_TYPE_STRING, 'expLogPublishType' );

• parameter_list holds the parameters of the operation; for content/publish they are object_id and version (kernel/content/operation_definition.php).
• execute() returns one of the eZWorkflowType::STATUS_* constants:

Keep an event on the before side short: the editor waits for it. Slow work (a remote call, a mail) belongs after publishing, or deferred to the cronjob.

3. Its templates #

The workflow pages show each event with event_view_gui and event_edit_gui, which look for workflow/eventtype/view/<workflow type string>.tpl and .../edit/... (event_explogpublish.tpl). This event has no settings, so both are short. In extension/expexample/design/standard/templates/:

workflow/eventtype/view/event_explogpublish.tpl:

{* The event in the workflow view: it has no settings to show *}
<p>{'Writes a line to var/log/expexample.log for each published object.'|i18n( 'extension/expexample' )}</p>

workflow/eventtype/edit/event_explogpublish.tpl:

{* The event in the workflow edit form: no settings *}
<p>{'This event has no settings.'|i18n( 'extension/expexample' )}</p>

An event with settings stores them in the ezworkflow_event row (data_int1, data_text1 ...) through fetchHTTPInput() and validateHTTPInput(); kernel/classes/workflowtypes/event/ezwaituntildate/ is a complete example.

4. Switch it on #

php -l extension/expexample/eventtypes/event/explogpublish/explogpublishtype.php
php bin/php/ezcache.php --clear-tag=ini --allow-root-user
php bin/php/ezcache.php --clear-id=template-override --allow-root-user

Restart Velocity, or deploy, if it serves the site.

1. Setup > Workflows: open a group (or create one), New workflow, name it Log publishing.
2. Choose the event type Event / Log publishing, Add event, OK.
3. Setup > Triggers: in the row After publishing content (content/publish, after) choose Log publishing, Apply changes. One workflow per trigger: to run this beside another, put both in a workflow with a Multiplexer event.

5. Check it #

Publish any object, then:

tail -n 3 var/log/expexample.log

Expected: a line published object <id> version <n> (<class identifier>) by user <id>. With VarDir per site and UseGlobalLogDir=disabled the log is in the site's log directory instead.

Checked for this page (2026-10-18): php -l on the class; bin/php/eztemplatecheck.php reports both templates valid (syntax); the base class, the statuses and the template lookup are those of kernel/classes/ezworkfloweventtype.php, kernel/classes/ezworkflowtype.php and kernel/common/eztemplateautoload.php. The event was not run against a database for this page.

Common mistakes #

Derived from #

• kernel/classes/ezworkflowtype.php (loadAndRegisterType(), the STATUS_* constants, setTriggerTypes())
• kernel/classes/ezworkfloweventtype.php, kernel/classes/workflowtypes/event/ezfinishuserregister/ezfinishuserregistertype.php
• kernel/common/eztemplateautoload.php (event_view_gui, event_edit_gui), settings/workflow.ini
• doc/eng-us/guides/workflows.md, section 3

Related pages #

• Cookbook
• Workflows: approvals, triggers and the processes that wait
• Workflow events: the event types of the kernel
• A cronjob: the workflow cronjob resumes deferred events
• RAD tools: /setup/workflowevent writes an event skeleton
• The coding rules and the pattern catalogue: the standards
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve.