Skip to content

The codebase

This chapter provides a general overview of the codebase organisation.

Tip

In order to explore the directories inside the CiviCRM repository it is generally quickest to make a local clone of CiviCRM from GitHub, or better yet install the buildkit.

Tip

The CiviCRM codebase is object oriented. If you aren't familiar with object oriented programming, spend a little time reading some beginner tutorials on the net.

Namespaces

Classes in CiviCRM must be placed in one of two folders:

CRM (e.g.: CRM_Core_Invoke) classes use PEAR-style class-naming conventions that were common up until PHP 5.2. Class names include underscores and MUST NOT use the PHP "namespace" directive. Use CRM style when creating classes that plug into existing CRM subsystems such as payment processors (CRM_Core_Payment) and reports (CRM_Report).

Civi (e.g.: \Civi\API\Kernel) "Civi" classes use PHP 5.3 namespaces. They MUST use the "namespace" directive. Namespaces are designated with "\".

Tip

The Civi namespace uses composer's PSR-0 autoloader. This autoloader does not support custom PHP overrides. Use Civi when creating new object-oriented subsystems (like \Civi\API).

Business logic

Most of the business logic of CiviCRM, is found in the CRM directory (CIVICRM_ROOT/CRM). This logic is the part of CiviCRM that defines what it does and how it behaves (e.g. that allows people to register on events). In this directory, you will find directories for core CiviCRM functions like contacts, groups, profiles, deduping, importing, and the CiviCRM components like CiviCampaign, CiviMail, Pledges, etc.

Each of these directories is slightly different depending on their purpose, but there are some common subdirectories: BAO, DAO, Form and Page.

DAO

The CiviCRM data access objects (DAOs) are PHP classes that (e.g. CRM/Pledge/DAO) expose the contents of the database. The release script generates each DAO automatically based on the matching XML file in the data schema. DAO objects tend to be instantiated in BAO classes.

The DAO classes all extend the core DAO base class which itself is an extension of the external DataObject class. These base classes provide standard CRUD (create, retrieve, update and delete) methods, etc.

The generated DAO object has:

  • A property for each field using the actual field name, not the unique name
  • A links() method which retrieves the links to other tables (off the foreign keys)
  • An import() method and an export() method for ?
  • A fields() method which returns an array of fields for that object keyed by the field's unique name.
  • A couple of functions to define the labels for enumerated fields

Looking at the field 'pledge.amount' we see

  'pledge_amount' => array(
    'name' => 'amount',
    'type' => CRM_Utils_Type::T_MONEY,
    'title' => ts('Total Pledged') ,
    'required' => true,
    'import' => true,
    'where' => 'civicrm_pledge.amount',
    'headerPattern' => '',
    'dataPattern' => '',
    'export' => true,
    'bao' => 'CRM_Pledge_BAO_Pledge',
    'table_name' => 'civicrm_pledge',
    'entity' => 'Pledge',
  ),

The key is the unique name but the 'name' field is the field's name and the 'where' field shows the MySQL description of it. We also see the data type and whether it is available for search or export.

Generally fields should be exportable unless there is a security reason or they are weird and confusing as the search builder is also driven by this setting.

Fields whose option values can be calculated will also have a pseudoconstant section.

BAO

BAO stands for business access object (example). BAOs map to DAOs and extend them with the business logic of CiviCRM. The core logic of CiviCRM belongs in the BAOs, for example they have the code that creates follow up activities when an activity is created, or create activities and populating custom fields when a pledge is created.

Note

Historically some BAOs had both add() and create() methods. Current practice is to favour a single create() method.

Form

In general each form page in CiviCRM maps to a file in one of the form directories. Form files contain a class that extends CRM_Core_Form. This class has different methods that the core calls before display to check permissions, retrieve information (preProcess), display the form (buildForm), validate the form (formRule) and carry out tasks once the form is submitted (postProcess). Forms can display information from the BAO to users and then call the BAO on submission. Generally each form has an associated template (see below) which defines the form's html.

Note

Logic in forms should support friendly user-interfaces but core application logic belongs in the BAO layer. Moving logic to BAO layer facilitates unit testing and developing modernised front-end applications in the future.

Tip

Perhaps the best way to get to grips with the Forms is by experience and experimentation.

Page

If a CiviCRM screen is not a Form, it is probably a Page. Pages files contain a class that extend CRM_Core_Page. Similar to the form class, Pages have methods that are called before the page is displayed to control access, set the title, etc. (preProcess), and when the page is displayed (run). Pages tend to take information from the BAO to be displayed to users. In general, each page has an associated template (see below) which is used to create the html of the page.

xml

This directory contains a menu directory which maps urls to CRM form or page classes and controls access to these URLs using permissions.

Templates

The templates directory contains all the HTML for pages and forms. Directly inside the templates directory is a CRM directory. In general, all templates map to a form or page class. CiviCRM chooses a template for the form or page based on the class name.

For example, the class CRM_Member_Form_MembershipRenewal looks for a template in templates/CRM/Member/Form/MembershipRenewal.tpl.

Templates are written in smarty, a common PHP template engine. Variables can be passed to smarty using the assign() method which is available to all Form and Page classes.

Customising templates is discussed in more detail in 'Techniques'

The API

The application programming interface (API) is stored in the /api directory. Best practice for using the API is discussed in more detail in 'Techniques'

bin scripts

The bin directory contains a variety of scripts that can be run to carry out specific functions. Some of these scripts are run on a regular basis, for example the CiviMail 'send' and 'process' scripts. Others are run on a one-off or occasional basis, e.g. update geo-coding.

SQL

The SQL directory is automatically generated as part of a release. It contains useful files like the SQL to create the database and insert demo data. Most developers will not need to edit files in this directory.

l10n

This directory contains lots of automatically generated localisation files. You should not need to edit this directory directly. You should instead use CiviCRM's online translation tool transifex.

packages

CiviCRM makes use of a lot of 3rd party packages for things like the database, form, javascript and pdf libraries, wysiwyg editors and so on. You shouldn't need to edit files under the packages directory.