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< 3.9. Context Sensitive Help (CSH)  Table Of Content 3.9.2. The locallang files for CSH >

3.9.1. The $TCA_DESCR array

The global array $TCA_DESCR is reserved to contain CSH labels. CSH labels are loaded as they are needed. Thus the class rendering the form will make an API call to the $LANG object to have the CSH labels loaded - if any - for the table "pages".

In this process the $TCA_DESCR array will look like this before the API call:

 


Notice that the key ["pages"]["refs"] has a file reference pointing to a locallang file which contains the labels we need. Nothing more. These default values found in $TCA_DESCR is set by API calls in t3lib/stddb/tables.php: 

  /**

   * Setting up TCA_DESCR - Context Sensitive Help

   */

  t3lib_extMgm::addLLrefForTCAdescr('pages','EXT:lang/locallang_csh_pages.php');

  t3lib_extMgm::addLLrefForTCAdescr('be_users','EXT:lang/locallang_csh_be_users.php');

  t3lib_extMgm::addLLrefForTCAdescr('be_groups','EXT:lang/locallang_csh_be_groups.php');

  t3lib_extMgm::addLLrefForTCAdescr('sys_filemounts','EXT:lang/locallang_csh_sysfilem.php');

  t3lib_extMgm::addLLrefForTCAdescr('_MOD_tools_em','EXT:lang/locallang_csh_em.php');

 

The red line above is the line setting the file for the "pages" table. Notice that other extensions might supply additional files and add additional files to be includes after the defaults ones above! In that case those will override/add to the existing values. The extension "context_help" is doing just that - it includes a whole bunch of locallang files with description of basically the whole "cms" extension.

Well, inside of the class t3lib_TCEforms an API call is made to load the actual labels for the pages table: 

              if ($this->edit_showFieldHelp || $this->doLoadTableDescr($table))    {

                  $GLOBALS['LANG']->loadSingleTableDescription($table);

              }

 

So labels for $table is loaded - and if table is "pages" then this will be the result back in $TCA_DESCR:

 

 

 

As you can see labels are loaded from the file sysext/lang/locallang_csh_pages.php. The content of this file looks like this (partly): 

  

 <?php
 

 /**

* Default  TCA_DESCR for "pages"

*/


 

 $LOCAL_LANG  

 = Array (

     

 'default'  

 => Array (

         

 'title.description'  

 =>  

 'Enter the title of the page or folder.' 

 ,

         

 'title.syntax'  

 =>  

 'You must enter a page title. The field is required.' 

 ,



         

 'doktype.description'  

 =>  

 'Select the page type. This affects . . . ses.' 

 ,

         

 'doktype.details'  

 =>  

 'The \'Standard\' type represents a . . . any problems).' 

 ,



         

 'TSconfig.description'  

 =>  

 'Page TypoScript configuration.' 

 ,

         

 'TSconfig.details'  

 =>  

 'Basically \'TypoScript\' is a . . . alled).

' 

 ,

         

 'TSconfig.syntax'  

 =>  

 'Basic TypoScr. . . \'Conditions\' and \'Constants\'.' 

 ,

    )

);
 

 ?>

 

Notice how the actual labels in the locallang file contains periods (.) which defines [fieldname].[type-key].[special options]

  1. Fieldname is the field from the table in question

  2. Type-key is one of these values:

    1. description : A short description of the field (as shown in the editing form)

    2. details : A more lengthy description adding some details. Only visible in the external popup window.

    3. syntax : A description of the syntax of the content in the field in question. Use this if the field must have some special code format entered.

    4. image : A reference to an image

    5. image_descr : Description for the image

    6. seeAlso : References to other relevant CSH entries.

    7. alttitle : Alternative title for field/table

  3. special options : Here you can add for example a plus-sign '+'. Means the value of the label is not substituting any existing value but rather adding to it (separated with a single line break). This makes sense only if you are supplying overriding values for existing previously loaded values.

Notice:

A field key can be prefixed with "_" which will prevent it from being shown in the translation tools. This is useful for "seeAlso" and "image" since they should not be translated to other languages!

HTML in CSH

Currently "description", "details" and "syntax" fields accept limited XHTML content: <strong>, <em>, <b>, <i>. However, don't use important markup for the "description" field since it will stripped when shown in TCEforms.

Example

Looking at the "context_help" extension you will see many "locallang_csh_*.php" files. One is named "locallang_csh_pages.php" and the first lines from that looks like this: 

  <?php

  /**

  * Default  TCA_DESCR for "pages"

  */



  $LOCAL_LANG = Array (

      'default' => Array (

          'title.description.+' => 'This is normally shown in the website navigation.',

          'layout.description' => 'Select a layout for the page. Any effect depends on the website template.',

 

Notice the red plus-sign in the "title.description" label - this value is added to the existing title.

The other key, "layout.description", is an addition which did not previously exist in the $TCA_DESCR for the pages-table - but that makes sense here since the "context_help" depends on the "cms" extension being loaded which would have added the field "layout" to the database on beforehand! (the "layout" field in the pages-table is not a part of the core as you might have guessed by now...)

Keys in $TCA_DESCR

The keys in $TCA_DESCR is by default pointing to database tables, for example "pages". However if you wish to use CSH in your modules you can use keys name by this syntax: 

      _MOD_[module_name] - Placed in the "Backend module" category

      xMOD_[extension key with tx_ infront] - Placed in the "Other" category

      xEXT_[extension key] - for description of extensions.

      xGLOSSARY_[group] - for glossaries, will be marked up in other CSH.

 

Normally modules will have their name in the $MCONF variable. That would allow you to load the available labels for your module by this API call: 

  $key = '_MOD_'.$MCONF['name'];

  $LANG->loadSingleTableDescription($key);

... and you would now have your labels loaded in $TCA_DESCR[$key]['columns'].

Notice: You will still have to set up the locallang file with the CSH labels by a API call to t3lib_extMgm::addLLrefForTCAdescr(), possibly in a "ext_tables.php" file.

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