Attention

TYPO3 v8 has reached its end-of-life March 31st, 2020 and is not maintained by the community anymore. Looking for a stable version? Use the version switch on the top left.

There is no further ELTS support. It is recommended that you upgrade your project and use a supported version of TYPO3.

System log

Note

A new logging API was introduced in TYPO3 CMS 6.0. It is far more flexible than the old one described here, but is not yet in use in the Core. Thus this section remains valid if you want to write to the "sys_log" table. Otherwise please consider using the new API.

Writing to the system log is done using the backend user object, which writes to the "sys_log" table:

$this->BE_USER->writelog($type, $action, $error, $details_nr, $details, $data, $table, $recuid, $recpid,$event_pid, $NEWid);

Here is a description of the arguments to this function call, and corresponding database fields in table "sys_log":

Field

Type

Var

Description

type

tinyint

$type

Value telling which module in TYPO3 set the log entry. The type values are paired with an action-integer which is telling in more detail what the event was. Here type and action values are arranged hierarchically (type on first level, action on second level):


  • 1 : \TYPO3\CMS\Core\DataHandling\DataHandler ("TYPO3 Core Engine" where database records are manipulated)

    • Action values are:

      • 0 = no category

      • 1 = new record

      • 2 = update record

      • 3 = delete record

      • 4 = move record

      • 5 = check/evaluate

  • 2 : "tce_file" (File handling in fileadmin/ and absolute filemounts)

    • Action values are for various file handling types like upload, rename, edit etc.

  • 3 : System (e.g. sys_history save)

  • 4 : Modules: This is the mode you may use for extensions having backend module functionality. Probably you would like to use BE_USER->simplelog() for your extensions.

  • 254 : Personal settings changed

  • 255 : Login or Logout action

    • 1 = login

    • 2 = logout

    • 3 = failed login (+ errorcode 3)

    • 4 = failure_warning_email sent

action

tinyint

$action

See "type" above

When not available, use value "0"

error

tinyint

$error

Error level:

  • 0 = message, a notice of an action that happened.

  • 1 = error, typically a permission problem for the user

  • 2 = System Error, something which should not happen for technical reasons.

  • 3 = Security notice, like login failures

details_nr

tinyint

$details_nr

Number of "detail" message. This number should be unique for the combination of type/action

-1 is a temporary detail number you can use while developing and error messages are not fixed yet.

0 is a value that means the message is not supposed to be translated

>= 1 means the message is fixed and ready for translation.

details

tinytext

$details

The log message text (in english). By identification through type/action/details_nr this can be translated through the localization system.

If you insert "%s" markers in the details message and set $data to an array the first 5 entries (keys 0-4) from $data will substitute the markers sequentially (using sprintf).

log_data

tinyblob

$data

Data that follows the log entry. Can be an array. See "details" for more info.

tablename

varchar(40)

$table

Table name. Special field used by tce_main.php.

recuid

int

$recuid

Record UID. Special field used by tce_main.php.

recpid

int

$recpid

Record PID. Special field used by tce_main.php. [OBSOLETE; not used anymore.]

event_pid

int

$event_pid

The page ID (pid) where the event occurred. Used to select log-content for specific pages.

NEWid

varchar(20)

$NEWid

Special field used by tce_main.php. NEWid string of newly created records.

tstamp

int

-

EXEC_TIME of event, UNIX time in seconds.

uid

int

-

Unique ID for log entry, automatically inserted

userid

int

-

User ID of backend user, automatically set for you

IP

varchar(39)

-

REMOTE_ADDR of client

workspace

int

-

Workspace ID

Making logging simple

While it is nice to have log message categorized and numbered during development and sometimes beyond that point a simpler logging API is necessary. Therefore you can also call this function:

BE_USER->simplelog($message, $extKey='', $error=0);

All you need is to set $message to store a log message. If you call it from an extension it is good practice to also supply the extension key. Finally you can add the error number (according to the table above) if you need to signal an error.