Plugin: Outputting content to static PHP file

Development
1

I’m trying to write a plugin that when a specific resource (Privacy Policy) is saved, a static file is overwritten (or created if doesn’t exist) with everything from the resource’s [[*content]] field. The point here is that this content will be included and loaded from other sites as well, but I’d rather be able to edit it once by this main resource.

I thought that file_put_contents() or fopen/fwrite/fclose would work, but I’m doing something wrong.

if ( ($resource->get( ‘template’ ) == 57) && ($modx->event->name == ‘OnDocFormSave’) ) :

//$file = '/assets/elements/shared/privacypolicy.php';
$file = fopen( "/assets/elements/shared/privacypolicy.php" ) or die("unable to open file!");

$newContent = $resource->get( 'content' );

//$resource->file_put_contents( $file, $newContent );
fwrite( $file, $newContent );
fclose( $file );

endif;

Any help would be appreciated.

thanks

2

Try using Modx service class: https://docs.modx.com/current/en/extending-modx/services/modfilehandler

Also, just check that you have the right permissions. If you’re creating a PHP file you might need to add php file extension to the upload_file_types setting (although, please don’t do this on production as that’s asking to get hacked). Do you get an error in the log when the write fails?

3

Your fopen call is missing the mode parameter:

$file = fopen( "/assets/elements/shared/privacypolicy.php" , 'w') or die("unable to open file!");

FYI, if OnDocFormSave is the only event the plugin is attached to, checking $modx->event->name is unnecessary.

Also, you probably don’t want to just die() if the file won’t open:

$file = fopen( "/assets/elements/shared/privacypolicy.php" , 'w');
if (!$file) {
  $modx->log(modX::LOG_LEVEL_ERROR, 'Could not open file');
}
4

I’m still having trouble getting this to work. I even changed the file type to html rather than PHP for security reasons.

I think part of the problem is my inexperience with writing plugins. Is there a better resource with examples than the MODX documentation on plugins? It doesn’t have much info there.

I’ve tried each of these with no success:

if ( $resource->get( ‘template’ ) == 57 ) :

$file = fopen( "/assets/elements/shared/privacy-test.html", 'w' );
if (!$file) {
  $modx->log(modX::LOG_LEVEL_ERROR, 'Could not open file');
}
$newContent = $resource->get( 'content' );

fwrite( $file, $newContent );
fclose( $file );

endif;

$modx->getService(‘fileHandler’,‘modFileHandler’);
$file = $modx->fileHandler->make(‘/assets/elements/shared/privacy-test.html’);
if (!$file->create(‘Hello!’)) {
return ‘File not written.’;
}
return ‘File written.’;

if ($modx->event->name != ‘OnDocFormSave’) {return false;}

if($resource->get('template') == 57) :
    if($resource->get('content')) :
        
        $modx->getService('fileHandler','modFileHandler');
        $file = $modx->fileHandler->make('/assets/elements/shared/privacy-test.html');  
        
        if (!$file->create('Hello!')) :
           return 'File not written.';
        endif;
        
        return 'File written.';
        
        
    endif;
endif;

Thanks

5

Try putting a return statement at the end of your plugin. Also, don’t return messages, write them to the Error log.

It might help to write your plugin as a snippet first, with $modx->resource->getContent().

If you turn on error reporting, you may get an immediate error message.

6

Where would I put that snippet at in my template then? Does it matter? Or should it go at the end of the body like some scripts?

7

Usually, the snippet tag would go in the Content field of a test resource, which you’d view in the front end to execute the snippet.

Did you try my first two suggestions? You may not need the snippet.

8

Yes, i tried them and it didn’t work. I’ve tried something new to see if i’m doing this right and it looks like I’m probably not.

I made a snippet called privpolTest and it includes:

$file = fopen( "/assets/elements/shared/test.txt" , 'w');
if (!$file) {
  $modx->log(modX::LOG_LEVEL_ERROR, 'Could not open file');
}
$newContent = 'hello world';

fwrite( $file, $newContent );
fclose( $file );

Then, I created a new resource (without rich text) and just included the snippet [[privpolTest]]. Loaded that page in the browser, refreshed the files tab in the CMS, checked for the file but the file doesn’t exist.

Nothing in the error log either.

9

Found this from an ancient article in the old forums.

Had to prepend the /assets/ directory with:

$modx->getOption(’base_path’).

Now it writes the content to the file.