Feature: #104311 - Auto created system TCA columns

Introduction

There are various TCA table ctrl settings that define fields used to enable certain TYPO3 table capabilities and to specify the database column to store this row state.

An example is $GLOBALS['TCA']['ctrl']['enablecolumns']['starttime'] = 'starttime' , which makes the table "start time aware", resulting in the automatic exclusion of a record if the given start time is in the future, when rendered in the frontend.

Such ctrl settings require TCA columns definitions. Default definitions of such columns are now automatically added to TCA if not manually configured. Extension developers can now remove and avoid a significant amount of boilerplate field definitions in columns and rely on TYPO3 Core to create them automatically. Note the Core does not automatically add such columns to TCA types or palettes definitions: Developers still need to place them, to show the columns when editing record rows, and need to add according access permissions.

Let us have a quick look on what happened within TCA and its surrounding code lately, to see how this feature embeds within the general TYPO3 Core strategy in this area and why the above feature has been implemented at this point in time:

TCA has always been a central cornerstone of TYPO3. The TYPO3 Core strives to maintain this central part while simplifying and streamlining less desirable details.

TYPO3 version v12 aimed to simplify single column definitions by implementing new column types like file, category, email, and more. These are much easier to understand and require far fewer single property definitions than previous solutions. With this in place, auto-creation of database column definitions derived from TCA has been established with TYPO3 v13, making the manual definition of database table schemas in ext_tables.sql largely unnecessary. Additionally, an object-oriented approach called TcaSchema has been introduced to harmonize and simplify information retrieval from TCA.

With the step described in this document - the auto-creation of TCA columns from ctrl properties - the amount of manual boilerplate definitions is significantly reduced, and the TYPO3 Core gains more control over these columns to harmonize these fields throughout the system. Note that the TYPO3 Core has not yet altered the structure of TCA types and palettes. This will be one of the next steps in this area, but details have not been decided upon yet.

All these steps streamline TCA and its surrounding areas, simplify the system, and reduce the amount of details developers need to be aware of when defining their own tables and fields.

This document details the "column auto-creation from 'ctrl' fields" feature: It first lists all affected settings with their derived default definitions. It concludes with a section relevant for instances that still need to override certain defaults of these columns by explaining the order of files and classes involved in building TCA and the available options to change defaults and where to place these changes.

Auto-created columns from 'ctrl'

The configuration settings below enable single table capabilities. Their values are a database column name responsible for storing the row data of the capability.

If a setting is defined in a "base" TCA table file (Configuration/TCA, not in Configuration/TCA/Overrides), the TYPO3 Core will add default columns definition for this field name if no definition exists in a base file.

'ctrl' => [
    'enablecolumns' => [
        'disabled' => 'disabled',
    ],
],

'disabled' => [
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.enabled',
    'exclude' => true,
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'check',
        'renderType' => 'checkboxToggle',
        'default' => 0,
        'items' => [
            [
                'label' => '',
                'invertStateDisplay' => true,
            ],
        ],
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'enablecolumns' => [
        'starttime' => 'starttime',
    ],
],

'starttime' => [
    'exclude' => true,
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.starttime',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'datetime',
        'default' => 0,
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'enablecolumns' => [
        'endtime' => 'endtime',
    ],
],

'endtime' => [
    'exclude' => true,
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.endtime',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'datetime',
        'default' => 0,
        'range' => [
            'upper' => mktime(0, 0, 0, 1, 1, 2106),
        ],
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'enablecolumns' => [
        'fe_group' => 'fe_group',
    ],
],

'fe_group' => [
    'exclude' => true,
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.fe_group',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'select',
        'renderType' => 'selectMultipleSideBySide',
        'size' => 5,
        'maxitems' => 20,
        'items' => [
            [
                'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.hide_at_login',
                'value' => -1,
            ],
            [
                'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.any_login',
                'value' => -2,
            ],
            [
                'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.usergroups',
                'value' => '--div--',
            ],
        ],
        'exclusiveKeys' => '-1,-2',
        'foreign_table' => 'fe_groups',
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'editlock' => 'editlock',
],

'endtime' => [
    'displayCond' => 'HIDE_FOR_NON_ADMINS',
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_tca.xlf:editlock',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'check',
        'renderType' => 'checkboxToggle',
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'descriptionColumn' => 'description',
],

'description' => [
    'exclude' => true,
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.description',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'text',
        'rows' => 5,
        'cols' => 30,
        'max' => 2000,
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'languageField' => 'sys_language_uid',
    'transOrigPointerField' => 'l10n_parent',
],

'sys_language_uid' => [
    'exclude' => true,
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.language',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'language',
    ],
],
'l10n_parent' => [
    'displayCond' => 'FIELD:sys_language_uid:>:0',
    'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.l18n_parent',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'select',
        'renderType' => 'selectSingle',
        'items' => [
            [
                'label' => '',
                'value' => 0,
            ],
        ],
        'foreign_table' => $table,
        'foreign_table_where' => 'AND {#' . $table . '}.{#pid}=###CURRENT_PID### AND {#' . $table . '}.{#' . $languageFieldName . '} IN (-1,0)',
        'default' => 0,
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'transOrigDiffSourceField' = 'l10n_diffsource',
],

'l10n_diffsource' => [
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'passthrough',
        'default' => '',
    ],
],

'ctrl' => [
    'translationSource' = 'l10n_source',
],

'l10n_source' => [
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'passthrough',
        'default' => '',
    ],
],

Load order when building TCA

To understand if and when TCA column auto-creation from ctrl definitions kicks in, it is important to have an overview of the order of the single loading steps:

1. Load single files from extension Configuration/TCA files
2. NEW - Enrich columns from ctrl settings
3. Load single files from extension Configuration/TCA/Overrides files
4. Apply TCA migrations
5. Apply TCA preparations

As a result of this strategy, columns fields are not auto-created, when a ctrl capability is added in a Configuration/TCA/Overrides file, and not in a Configuration/TCA "base" file. In general, such capabilities should be set in base files only: Adding them at a later point - for example in a different extension - is brittle and there is a risk the main extension can not deal with such an added capability properly.

Overriding definitions from auto-created TCA columns

I most cases, developers do not need to change definitions of columns auto-created by the TYPO3 Core. In general, it is advisable to not actively do this. Developers who still want to change detail properties of such columns should generally stick to "display" related details only.

There are two options to have own definitions: When a column is already defined in a "base" TCA file (Configuration/TCA), the TYPO3 Core will not override it. Alternatively, a developer can decide to let the TYPO3 Core auto-create a column, to then override single properties in Configuration/TCA/Overrides files.

As example, "base" pages file defines this (step 1 above):

'ctrl' => [
    'enablecolumns' => [
        'disabled' => 'disabled',
    ],
],

The TYPO3 Core thus creates this columns definition (step 2 above):

'columns' => [
    'disabled' => [
        'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.enabled',
        'exclude' => true,
        'config' => [
            'type' => 'check',
            'renderType' => 'checkboxToggle',
            'default' => 0,
            'items' => [
                [
                    'label' => '',
                    'invertStateDisplay' => true,
                ],
            ],
        ],
    ],
],

When an editor creates a new page, it should be "disabled" by default to avoid having a new page online in the website before it is set up completely. A Configuration/TCA/Overrides/pages.php file does this:

<?php
// New pages are disabled by default
$GLOBALS['TCA']['pages']['columns']['hidden']['config']['default'] = 1;