eZContentClass and its attributes #

Part 8, reference 8. A content class (kernel/classes/ezcontentclass.php) describes a type of content: its identifier (article), its name, and its attributes, each an eZContentClassAttribute (kernel/classes/ezcontentclassattribute.php) with an identifier, a datatype and settings. Builders create classes in the administration (Content classes for builders); extensions read them.

Identifiers, not IDs #

A class's numeric ID differs between installations; its identifier does not. Write identifiers into code and settings, and look up the ID when you need it:

Reading a class #

For each class attribute:

<?php
$class = eZContentClass::fetchByIdentifier( 'folder' );
if ( $class instanceof eZContentClass )
{
    foreach ( $class->dataMap() as $identifier => $classAttribute )
    {
        echo $identifier, ': ', $classAttribute->attribute( 'data_type_string' ), "\n";
    }
}

Run read-only on a demo installation, this listed the seven attributes of the folder class.

The content of a class attribute is the right way to read a datatype's settings. Calling a datatype method such as classAttributeContent() statically is a fatal error on PHP 8; ask the class attribute instead, as se7enxweb/sevenx_themes_media did in commit f7d93c0 (PHP 8 errors that stop old code).

Creating classes #

Do not create classes with raw SQL. Use packages (Packages (.ezpkg) and the package creator), the administration, or the Content extension wizard of Setup > RAD, which writes a class as an install script.

Related pages #

• Previous: eZContentObjectTreeNode
• Next: eZUser and access checks
• Datatypes
• Free documentation: this page is free to copy, translate and improve under the GNU FDL 1.3.