CiviCRM Community Forums (archive)

I'll ask my question first, and will then explain why (in case I'm being stupid and am asking the wrong question).  I did do some forum searching first...

Is there a way to make clicking the SAVE button write a timestamp to a custom data field?

Why: I have a profile set up to collect info for a printed telephone directory.  The problem is that the person who creates the directory will be frequently importing CiviCRM data into a master spreadsheet that includes data from other sources.  She doesn't want to wait until all of the CiviCRM data is collected and handed off to her -- she wants to divide-and-conquer and xfer the data in batches. 

I either need to lock users out of changing their data once they have entered it (requiring some kind of manual change process), or store modification date/time so that the exported spreadsheet can be sorted.

I did some nosing around here, but I'm not sure I'm on the right track.
http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/CiviCRM+hook+specification#CiviCRMhookspecification-hookcivicrmpostProcess
I know I won't get much further w/o some guidance, though.  Suggestions appreciated -- and I promise to post my completed solution so that others can benefit. 

Thank you!

      Mike

2. use the postProcess hook below to update the timestamp as needed

Thanks, lobo!  When you say "postProcess hook below", did you mean to include something else -- or were you referring to the link I posted above?

lobo and all,

What I seem to have the most trouble with re: CiviCRM is that I can only find 30,000 foot views and the most detailed of details.  I never seem to be able to find a cookbook recipe that goes from the 30,000 foot view all the way down to the details.  So, what I have done is set up Drupal and CiviCRM from scratch and kept a complete journal of every necessary step to get from nothing to where I am.  I'm hopeful that other CiviCRM newbies will find it useful, and I'll be posting it shortly on the documentation section of the forum.

Back to this topic.  lobo posted some *very* helpful info, but I can't quite figure out how to implement the structure that accomplishes the integration w/ my existing system.  After reading dozens (many dozens) of forum posts and documents, I think I have a general idea of what I need to do.  Would lobo or someone else please help me fill in the blanks?  I also installed mIRC if that is the preferred way to get help for this (I've never used IRC before, despite having been a programmer since 1978)...

--Create .info and .module files for my hooks module.  Where do they go?  drupalroot/sites/all/modules/civicrm/drupal/modules?

--I picked a short descriptive name like lobo's sfschool.  But, to borrow a punchline from an old joke about a Thermos' ability to keep hot things hot and cold things cold, how do CiviCRM know?  How will my installation of CiviCRM know to call, e.g., sfschool_civicrm_postProcess when my user clicks the SAVE button on a form?  [Update: OK, I think I understand -- Drupal/CiviCRM will automagically look for and call all *civicrm_postProcess routines in all modules stored in the modules directory.]

--Following lobo's example and using a tip from Dave Greenberg to get my custom field # from viewing the page source, I gather that I want to use sfschool_civicrm_postProcess to call sfschool_civicrm_postProcess_CRM_Profile_Form_Edit_3 to act on profile #3 field custom_47[M] and store the current timestamp. If that's right, can anyone give me the actual code to store the timestamp or point me to an example?  The only timestamp examples I could find are filling in a default value before initial form display -- I'm going the other way (i.e. before saving to the db).

--I need to enable the module in Drupal's control panel.  I'm pretty sure I can do that step!

I hate bothering people.  Again, I promise to give back by documenting the entire process and then supporting any newer newbies who read my instructions in the future.  But, in the mean time, I'm kinda stuck -- I know this is a fairly simple change, but it requires a lot of understanding re: the details of Drupal, CiviCRM and perhaps mySQL that I just don't yet have.  Thanks!!

Thanks, lobo!

OK, let's see if a guy who doesn't know php or sql can hack CiviCRM using hooks...  :-)

Is this the code to write a timestamp into field #47 when a user clicks "SAVE"?  Here is my .MODULE code:

<?php

function drupalptsav2_help( ) {
    switch ($section) { 
    case 'admin/modules#description': 
        return t('Implements hooks for CiviCRM to customize the PTSA site');
    default :
        return;
    } 
}


function drupalptsav2_civicrm_postProcess( $formName, &$form ) {
    if ( is_a( $form, 'CRM_Profile_Form_Edit' ) ) {
        $gid = $form->getVar( '_gid' );
        if ( $gid == 3 ) {
            drupalptsav2_civicrm_postProcess_CRM_Profile_Form_Edit_3( $formName, $form, $gid );
            return;
        }
    }
}


function drupalptsav2_civicrm_postProcess_CRM_Profile_Form_Edit_3( $formName, &$form, $gid ) {

// *****is this how to get the proper entity_id?*****
    $userID   = $form->getVar( '_id' );

// ***** Is this how to insert the timestamp into field #47, my last modified field? *****
    $query = "
INSERT INTO civicrm_value_directory_info_fields_2
( entity_id,  last_modified_47 )
VALUES
( %1, %2)
";
            
    $params = array( 1  => array( $userID, 'Integer' ),
                             2  => array( CRM_Utils_Date::getToday( null, 'YmdHis' ), 'Timestamp' ));
    CRM_Core_DAO::executeQuery( $query, $params );
}


looks good did u try running it?

W/o your blessing?  R u crazy? 

OK, I tried it!  Didn't work, but I gather it's b/c I shouldn't be using the sql INSERT statement?  Am I looking for REPLACE?   And, if so, can I just write one field (in this case "Last modified"), or do I need to first read in all of the columns so that I can rewrite them all into a new replacement record?  I spent some time in the mySQL docs, but I think I need to spend some more time...

Error Details:

Array
(
    [callback] => Array
        (
            [0] => CRM_Core_Error
            [1] => handle
        )

    [code] => -5
    [message] => DB Error: already exists
    [mode] => 16
    [debug_info] =>
INSERT INTO civicrm_value_directory_info_fields_2
( entity_id,  last_modified_47 )
VALUES
( 1, 20090817052618)
 [nativecode=1062 ** Duplicate entry '1' for key 2]
    [type] => DB_Error
    [user_info] =>
INSERT INTO civicrm_value_directory_info_fields_2
( entity_id,  last_modified_47 )
VALUES
( 1, 20090817052618)
 [nativecode=1062 ** Duplicate entry '1' for key 2]
    [to_string] => [db_error: message="DB Error: already exists" code=-5 mode=callback callback=CRM_Core_Error::handle prefix="" info="
INSERT INTO civicrm_value_directory_info_fields_2
( entity_id,  last_modified_47 )
VALUES
( 1, 20090817052618)
 [nativecode=1062 ** Duplicate entry '1' for key 2]"]
)

<?php

// drupalptsav2.module
// Stored last modified timestamp when user clicks SAVE button on a profile form.
// Modified:
// Created:  090816, Mike Stein


// General instructions for customizing this for your needs; see comments in code
// for specifics.
// --Select a name to replace drupalptsav2.
// --Create <your module name>.info and .module files, and store them in
//    <your drupal root>/sites/all/modules/civicrm/drupal/modules.  Once you
//    enable module in Drupal's Administer panel, Drupal will automagically
//    load them and civiCRM will call any hooks that have the proper suffix
//    (e.g. xxxxxxx_civicrm_postProcess).
//  --Follow the specific instructions in the code below.


function drupalptsav2_help( ) {
    switch ($section) { 
    case 'admin/modules#description': 
//      Put your module info here
        return t('Implements hooks for CiviCRM to customize the PTSA site');
    default :
        return;
    } 
}


function drupalptsav2_civicrm_postProcess( $formName, &$form ) {
    if ( is_a( $form, 'CRM_Profile_Form_Edit' ) ) {
        $gid = $form->getVar( '_gid' );
//      Get your profile id from Administer CiviCRM >> Profile; mine is 3
        if ( $gid == 3 ) {
//          Need your profile # in the call to the edit routine, too!
            drupalptsav2_civicrm_postProcess_CRM_Profile_Form_Edit_3( $formName, $form, $gid );
            return;
        }
    }
}


function drupalptsav2_civicrm_postProcess_CRM_Profile_Form_Edit_3( $formName, &$form, $gid ) {

    $userID   = $form->getVar( '_id' );

//  directory_info_fields_2 is the actual name of the sql record that holds my profile form
//  info.  Go into phpMyAdmin or however you browse your sql database to get the name
//  (look at the civicrm_value schema).
//  You can do the same thing to get the field name (mine is last_modified_47).  If you
//  multiple fields named something similar, you can determine which field your looking 
//  for by viewing the source code of the Web page that displays your form. 
    $query = "
INSERT INTO civicrm_value_directory_info_fields_2
( entity_id,  last_modified_47 )
VALUES
( %1, %2)
";
            
    $params = array( 1  => array( $userID, 'Integer' ),
                             2  => array( CRM_Utils_Date::getToday( null, 'YmdHis' ), 'Timestamp' ));
    CRM_Core_DAO::executeQuery( $query, $params );
}[/code]

Progress w/ REPLACE!  I now have a timestamp -- but the rest of the data in my profile form data was whacked.  After doing some research, I think maybe I'm looking to use the UPDATE command instead of REPLACE?  What do you think of this (trying not to be a lazy slug and letting you do all of the work)?

I tested it, and it seemed to work (but I'm still scared that I did something wrong and I'll lose data when this goes live).  I don't think I'm ready to put php and sql onto my resume yet... 

function drupalptsav2_civicrm_postProcess_CRM_Profile_Form_Edit_3( $formName, &$form, $gid ) {

    $userID   = $form->getVar( '_id' );

    $query = "
UPDATE civicrm_value_directory_info_fields_2
SET last_modified_47 = %1
WHERE entity_id = %2
";
           
    $params = array( 1  => array( CRM_Utils_Date::getToday( null, 'YmdHis' ), 'Timestamp' ),
                  2  => array( $userID, 'Integer' ));
    CRM_Core_DAO::executeQuery( $query, $params );
}