Preface
This is the first book in English to cover TYPO3 extension development in detail. The author is a member of the TYPO3 core team and developer of many popular TYPO3 extensions. Both novice and experienced TYPO3 programmers can use this book to build the extension they need following best practices and saving a lot of time that would otherwise have been spent pouring though the documentation.
The book is structured so that following the chapters in order builds a TYPO3 extension from the ground up. Experienced developers can use individual chapters independently to get only the information that they need.
Each chapter is divided so that the first part contains a description and discussion of the topic covered followed by a coding example with an explanation of how principles and techniques from the first part are followed in the code.
The reader is encouraged not only to read the book but also to look into the discussed classes and actually code the extension while reading the book.
What This Book Covers
Chapter 1 gives an overview of the TYPO3 API and tells about the most important classes in TYPO3.
Chapter 2 describes files in the TYPO3 extension, what role they play and how to use them.
Chapter 3 focuses on planning. Planning makes extensions better. It makes the project successful.
Chapter 4 walks the reader through the process of extension generation. All options are explained, several issues are pointed out, and useful tips provided.
Chapter 5 focuses on the Frontend plugin theory. It also provides a lot of tips to make extensions effective.
Chapter 6 is dedicated to practical progamming. The reader will see how to make list, search, and single views, use AJAX from the Frontend plugin, and create useful TypoScript for the plugin.
Chapter 7 focuses on the Backend module programming.
Chapter 8 describes how to write documentation for the extension and polish the code before releasing it to TER.
What You Need for This Book
The author assumes that the reader has the following knowledge:
PHP programming The reader is expected to have some experience with PHP and knowledge about PHP classes in general. No prior TYPO3 programming experience is needed.
TYPO3 as an administrator Basic knowledge of TYPO3, TypoScript, and TYPO3 extension idea.
TYPO3 documentation The reader should know what is TSRef, TSConfig, TYPO3 Core API. The reader should be able to find these documents in the Documentation section of the http://typo3.org/ website.
Basic knowledge about phpDoc.
Who is This Book For
This book is for PHP developers who want to develop a TYPO3 extension. It assumes the reader has experience with PHP, XML, and HTML. No prior knowledge about TYPO3 extension programming or the TYPO3 API is presumed.
Conventions
In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.
Code words in text are shown as follows: " Notice how param1 is passed as a value first and then as an array by using a dot."
A block of code will be set as follows:
plugin.tx_myext_pi1 = USER
plugin.tx_myext_pi1 {
userFunc = tx_myext_pi1->main
}
When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items will be made bold:
plugin.tx_myext_pi1 = USER
plugin.tx_myext_pi1 {
includeLibs = EXT:myext/pi1/class.tx_myext_pi1.php
userFunc = tx_myext_pi1->main
}
New terms and important words are introduced in a bold-type font. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in our text like this: "To finish this step, press the Update... button".
Note
Warnings or important notes appear in a box like this.
Note
Tips and tricks appear like this.
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