As we learned in Configuration Data Types, simple configuration is suitable for storing module settings as boolean values, integers, or text strings in one or more key/value pairs. In this tutorial, we'll walk through creating a schema and providing default configuration to store initial settings that a module needs to function.
Not every environment or copy of a site you may be working on will be created equally. You may want to enable logging on a development site or need to use different API keys depending on the environment. But you also need to make sure that your instance-specific configuration overrides don't make it into the database, mistakenly get exported, or compromise security.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to:
- Override the global
$config
array in settings.php (or settings.local.php) - Retrieve overridden (immutable) configuration (read-only mode)
- Retrieve original (mutable) configuration for updating (read/write mode)
- Set dynamic values for configuration instead of overriding values
When you create a module for Drupal, it can be useful to provide default configuration. This can be settings for a form, the placement of a block, or something more complex like the default image styles provided by the Image module in core. A module can provide default configuration for simple configuration or configuration entities.
In this tutorial, we will cover:
- Possible locations for default configuration
- What happens with configuration when a module is installed or uninstalled
- Managing dependencies in configuration
- Where to find examples of default configuration
Configuration entities are suitable for creating user-defined configuration, such as image styles, views, content types, etc. A configuration entity type is defined by a module, default configuration is provided by that module as well as any other module, and then users can create zero or more configuration entities through Drupal's administrative UI.
In this tutorial, you will learn about:
- What configuration entities are
- Configuration entity types versus configuration entities
- An example in core: image style
- Overview of the process of creating your own configuration entity types in a module
When working on configuration in a module, whether as part of a migration that uses Migrate Plus configuration entities, or while developing custom configuration entities, you'll often need to re-import the configuration stored in the .yml files of the modules config/install/ or config/optional/ directories. This is tricky though, because Drupal only reads in those default configuration settings when the module is first enabled. So any changes you make to those files after the module has been installed will not be reflected without these workarounds.
Knowing how to do this can improve the developer experience of adding (or debugging) the default configuration that's provided with a module. Or for anyone using Migrate Plus configuration entities as part of a migration.
In this tutorial we'll:
- Learn about the Configuration Development module
- Look at how you can use Drush to perform a partial configuration import
- Write an implementation of
hook_uninstall()
to remove a module's configuration when it's uninstalled
By the end of this tutorial you should be able to re-import the configuration provided by a module without having to uninstall and then reinstall the module.
Now that we have some default simple configuration stored in a settings YAML file, let's utilize it in a form that our site administrators can use to update those values. We'll make use of some services and methods in Drupal's Configuration API in order to retrieve, update, and save simple configuration values with a form.
In this tutorial, we'll cover how to load configuration entity data in a module. We'll change the AdminSettingsForm.php we created and replace the simple textfield we were using with a dropdown select list. Then we'll use data from our Transcode Profile module's configuration entity, loaded by the EntityTypeManager
via the services container, to choose our preferred Transcode Profile.
By the end of this tutorial, you should be able to:
- Know how to load configuration entities using
EntityTypeManager
via the services container - Update the AdminSettingsForm.php to use a dropdown select list
- Save your preferred transcode profile from a list of transcode profile entities
- Update the default configuration provided with the demo module to include transcode profiles
Upgrading is the process of moving your site from a previous major version of Drupal to a newer version, for example from Drupal 7 to Drupal 11.
Modules are bundles of primarily PHP code that extend Drupal in order to add new features or alter existing functionality.
Entities are the fundamental building blocks that make up any Drupal site. Having a good understanding of the Entity system is an important part of ensuring the data model of your Drupal site is set up properly.
Patches are used to describe modifications made to one or more code files, and can be used to share those changes.
Testing in Drupal
TopicDrupal includes the PHPUnit testing framework. This enables us to write unit and functional tests to attempt to minimize the number of bugs in our application.
In order to run a Drupal site, the web server you are using must meet minimum technical requirements.
Drupal's vendor-agnostic database abstraction layer provides an API that can query different underlying databases.
Deployment Workflows
TopicTools and workflows for deploying code and configuration changes from one environment to another with Drupal-specific considerations.
Drupal Coding Standards
TopicCoding standards provide a set of rules for how your code should be formatted, and best practice guidelines for naming conventions and the location of files.
The process for keeping Drupal core and contributed modules and themes up to date with the latest security and minor version releases.
Learn about Drupal’s configuration system and how to manage configuration with both the administrative user interface and command-line tools.
PHP
TopicPHP: Hypertext Preprocessor (PHP) is a popular interpreted programming language that is especially suited for web development. Drupal core and all contributed modules are written in PHP.