How to use enablecolumns in the ctrl section of TCA 

Migration 

Migration: Remove enable column definitions (hidden, starttime, endtime, fe_groups) from TCA On dropping TYPO3 v12.4 support extensions authors can drop the column definitions of the enable fields. They need to keep the Grouping fields (palettes) and Record types definitions, however:

EXT:my_extension/Configuration/TCA/tx_myextension_domain_model_something.php 
 return [
     'ctrl' => [
         'enablecolumns' => [
             'disabled' => 'hidden',
             'starttime' => 'starttime',
             'endtime' => 'endtime',
         ],
         // ...
     ],
-    'columns' => [
-        'hidden' => [
-            'exclude' => true,
-            'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.enabled',
-            'config' => [
-                'type' => 'check',
-                'renderType' => 'checkboxToggle',
-                'items' => [
-                    [
-                        'label' => '',
-                        'invertStateDisplay' => true,
-                    ],
-                ],
-            ],
-        ],
-        'starttime' => [
-            'exclude' => true,
-            'label' => 'LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_general.xlf:LGL.starttime',
-            'config' => [
-                'type' => 'datetime',
-                'default' => 0,
-            ],
-            'l10n_mode' => 'exclude',
-            'l10n_display' => 'defaultAsReadonly',
-        ],
-        '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, 2038),
-                ],
-            ],
-            'l10n_mode' => 'exclude',
-            'l10n_display' => 'defaultAsReadonly',
-        ],
-        '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',
-            ],
-        ],
-        // ...
-    ],
     'palettes' => [
         'paletteHidden' => [
             'showitem' => '
                 hidden
             ',
         ],
         'paletteAccess' => [
             'label' => 'LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:palette.access',
             'showitem' => '
                 starttime;LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:starttime_formlabel,
                 endtime;LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:endtime_formlabel,
                 --linebreak--,
                 fe_group;LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:fe_group_formlabel,
             ',
         ],
     ],
     'types' => [
         0 => [
             'showitem' => '
                 --div--;LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/Form/locallang_tabs.xlf:general,
                     [...],
                 --div--;LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/Form/locallang_tabs.xlf:access,
                     --palette--;;paletteHidden,
                     --palette--;;paletteAccess,
             ',
         ],
     ],
 ];
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Examples of column enable configurations 

EXT:my_extension/Configuration/TCA/tx_myextension_domain_model_something.php 
<?php

return [
    'ctrl' => [
        'enablecolumns' => [
            'disabled' => 'hidden',
            'starttime' => 'starttime',
            'endtime' => 'endtime',
        ],
        // ...
    ],
    'palettes' => [
        'paletteHidden' => [
            'showitem' => '
                hidden
            ',
        ],
        'paletteAccess' => [
            'label' => 'LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:palette.access',
            'showitem' => '
                starttime;LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:starttime_formlabel,
                endtime;LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:endtime_formlabel,
                --linebreak--,
                fe_group;LLL:EXT:frontend/Resources/Private/Language/locallang_ttc.xlf:fe_group_formlabel,
            ',
        ],
    ],
    'types' => [
        0 => [
            'showitem' => '
                --div--;LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/Form/locallang_tabs.xlf:general,
                    [...],
                --div--;LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/Form/locallang_tabs.xlf:access,
                    --palette--;;paletteHidden,
                    --palette--;;paletteAccess,
            ',
        ],
    ],
];
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Define all enablecolumn fields 

Make table hideable 

EXT:my_extension/Configuration/TCA/tx_myextension_domain_model_something.php 
<?php

return [
    'ctrl' => [
        'enablecolumns' => [
            'disabled' => 'hidden',
        ],
        // ...
    ],
    'palettes' => [
        'visibility' => [
            'showitem' => 'hidden',
        ],
    ],
    'types' => [
        0 => [
            'showitem' => '
                --div--;LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/Form/locallang_tabs.xlf:general,
                    [...],
                --div--;LLL:EXT:core/Resources/Private/Language/Form/locallang_tabs.xlf:access,
                    --palette--;;visibility,
            ',
        ],
    ],
];
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Common enable fields 

Record information shown editing an example record
EXT:styleguide/Configuration/TCA/tx_styleguide_ctrl_common.php 
[
    'ctrl' => [
        'title' => 'Form engine - Common table control',
        'label' => 'title',
        'descriptionColumn' => 'description',
        'tstamp' => 'tstamp',
        'crdate' => 'crdate',
        'delete' => 'deleted',
        'sortby' => 'sorting',
        'default_sortby' => 'title',
        'versioningWS' => true,
        'rootLevel' => -1,
        'iconfile' => 'EXT:styleguide/Resources/Public/Icons/tx_styleguide.svg',
        'languageField' => 'sys_language_uid',
        'transOrigPointerField' => 'l10n_parent',
        'transOrigDiffSourceField' => 'l10n_diffsource',
        'translationSource' => 'l10n_source',
        'searchFields' => 'title,description',
        'enablecolumns' => [
            'disabled' => 'hidden',
            'starttime' => 'starttime',
            'endtime' => 'endtime',
        ],
        'security' => [
            'ignorePageTypeRestriction' => true,
        ],
    ],
]
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Enablecolumns / enablefields usage 

Most ways of retrieving records in the frontend automatically respect the ctrl->enablecolumns settings:

Enablecolumns in TypoScript 

Records retrieved in TypoScript via the objects RECORDS, CONTENT automatically respect the settings in section ctrl->enablecolumns.

Enablecolumns / enablefields in Extbase 

In Extbase repositories the records are hidden in the frontend by default, however this behaviour can be disabled by setting $querySettings->setIgnoreEnableFields(true) in the repository.

Enablecolumns in queries 

Using the QueryBuilder enable columns restrictions are automatically applied.

The same is true when select() is called on the connection.

See the Restriction builder for details.