Get the current entry element in the CP (edit entry view)?

Question

You can listen to entries.onSaveEntry or entries.onDeleteEntry events and then get or modify the entry via $event->params['entry'];.

But how would I get the entry element and its properties in the event that a user starts editing an entry in the CP? I don't (necessarily) need to modify them, simple access is ok.

As far as I can see, there's no event available for this. And if I understand correctly, only P&T can add such an entries.onBeforeCpEditEntry event (which would probably go into Entries Controller actionEditEntry function).

If you do entry edits using front-end forms this is easy, but not so from within the CP it seems. Is there anything I overlooked, or is this simply not possible and maybe worth a feature request?

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This question is related to this one: "How to reference the current entry element in custom Control Panel templates?" but it's not quite the same. The solutions / workarounds I posted below have some drawbacks, so I'm still looking for a better solution!

Answer 1

I've been able to modify the entry editing form by creating a plugin that will include some javascript into CP layout. Then with javascript, I use some checks to make sure that I'm in the right place before doing any adjustments.

For example, in the following code, I checked if I'm editing an entry within section 32, then the label of postDate field will be changed, and also the expiryDate field will be hidden.

public function init()
{

    if (craft()->request->isCpRequest())
    {
        $postDateLabel = JsonHelper::encode(Craft::t('Issue Date'));

        $js = <<<EOT

if (document.getElementById('entry-form')) {
    \$(function() {
        if ( \$('input[name="sectionId"]').val() == 32 ) {
            \$('#postDate-field label').html($postDateLabel);
            \$('#expiryDate-field').addClass('hidden');
        }
    });
}

EOT;

        craft()->templates->includeJs($js);

    }

}

Hope that is what you're looking for.

Answer 2

Depending on what you're trying to acchieve, you could do certain things with Javascript.

var entrySection = $("#crumbs").find("li:last").text();
var entryEnabled = $("#enabled-field").find(".lightswitch").hasClass("on");

// do stuff...

Make sure to only parse the DOM for CP views (use craft()->request->isCpRequest()).

Answer 3

Another workaround would be to add a hidden Field Type with your plugin, a field that does not show in the CP's entry form.

The entry element is available in a Field Type via $this->element (→ "Field Types: Accessing Contextual Data")

Just make sure to add this field to all sections you need your plugin to work with!

/**
 * Workaround to get the entry element in the CP
 * Misuse of `getInputHtml`, make it return nothing.
 *
 * @param string $name
 * @param mixed $value
 *
 * @return null
 */
public function getInputHtml($name, $value)
{
    if ($this->element && $this->element->getElementType() == ElementType::Entry)
    {
        $entrySection = $this->element->getSection()->handle;
        $entryEnabled = $this->element->getStatus() != EntryModel::DISABLED;

        // do stuff...
    }
}