How to reliably determine if an entry is being duplicated?

Question

On a Craft 3.7 site, I need to make some changes when duplicating an element:

• set the dateCreated, dateUpdate & postDate to the current date
• ensure the entry is disabled
• clear the value of an asset custom field (documentsFile)

Theses actions should be executed when using:

• the Duplicate element action available when selecting entries in the element index
• the Save as a new entry action available in the dropdown of the Save button of an entry edit page

I tried with the following code in a module's init() method:

Event::on(Entry::class, 'Entry::EVENT_BEFORE_SAVE', static function (ModelEvent $event) {
    /** @var Entry $entry */
    $entry = $event->sender;
    if (
        !$entry->duplicateOf
        || !$entry->sectionId
        || $entry->getSection()->handle !== 'documents'
    ) {
        Craft::$app->getSession()->setFlash('cp-error', 'OUT');
        return;
    }

    $now = new DateTime('now', new DateTimeZone('UTC'));
    $entry->dateCreated = $now;
    $entry->dateUpdated = $now;
    $entry->postDate = $now;
    $entry->setFieldValue('documentsFile', null);
    $entry->enabled = false;
});

It works a little too well: it gets executed everytime I save a draft (and maybe even when Craft saves a provisional draft).

I'm aware of the $entry->firstSave property and of the ElementHelper::isDraftOrRevision($entry) method, but I'm not sure how to assemble everything to achieve what I want. The whole entry publication workflow seems really complex.

What is the reliable way to determine when an element is being duplicated?

Answer 1

If you don't mind me rearranging your code a bit, I might go with something more like this...

Event::on(Entry::class, Entry::EVENT_BEFORE_SAVE, static function (ModelEvent $event) {

    /** @var Entry $entry */
    $entry = $event->sender;

    // Filter out all Drafts and Revisions
    if (ElementHelper::isDraftOrRevision($entry)) {
        Craft::$app->getSession()->setFlash('app', 'Skipped Draft/Revision');
        return;
    }

    // Filter out non-duplicates
    if (!$entry->duplicateOf) {
        Craft::$app->getSession()->setFlash('app', 'Skipped Non-Duplicate');
        return;
    }

    // Filter out missing section IDs
    if (!$entry->sectionId) {
        Craft::$app->getSession()->setFlash('app', 'Skipped Missing Section ID');
        return;
    }

    // Filter out non-documents
    if ($entry->getSection()->handle !== 'documents') {
        Craft::$app->getSession()->setFlash('app', 'Skipped Non-Document');
        return;
    }

    // ... the rest of your logic

});

Most importantly, these edits spread out the happy path to be a bit clearer.

And as I noted on my answer to a related question, it's important to filter out Drafts and Revisions almost immediately (unless you are explicitly trying to use them).

Hope that helps!

Answer 2

I found a simple solution: exclude elements already having an id.

Here's my final code:

Event::on(Entry::class, Entry::EVENT_BEFORE_SAVE, static function (ModelEvent $event) {
    /** @var Entry $entry */
    $entry = $event->sender;

    // Filter out existing elements
    if ($entry->id) {
        Craft::warning('Skipped existing element', 'Custom duplication');
        return;
    }

    // Filter out all Drafts and Revisions
    if (ElementHelper::isDraftOrRevision($entry)) {
        Craft::warning('Skipped Draft/Revision', 'Custom duplication');
        return;
    }

    // Filter out non-duplicates
    if (!$entry->duplicateOf) {
        Craft::warning('Skipped Non-Duplicate', 'Custom duplication');
        return;
    }

    // Filter out non-documents
    if (!$entry->sectionId || $entry->getSection()->handle !== 'documents') {
        Craft::warning('Skipped Non-Document', 'Custom duplication');
        return;
    }

    Craft::warning('Duplication customization applied', 'Custom duplication');
    $now = new DateTime('now', new DateTimeZone('UTC'));
    $entry->dateCreated = $now;
    $entry->dateUpdated = $now;
    $entry->postDate = $now;
    $entry->setFieldValue('documentsFile', null);
    $entry->enabled = false;
});