Updating Add On Modules for v5.0

Applies to: v5.0.0 and later

web2project v5.0 removes code that has been deprecated since the v2.x and v3.x releases. Most of it has logged “has been deprecated” notices for years. An Add On module that still uses any of it will stop with an error such as Call to undefined function db_exec() or Class "CAppUI" not found.

This page lists what was removed and what to use instead, plus the other v5.0 changes that affect modules.

Find what your module uses

From your module’s folder, these searches find the most common problems:

grep -rnE "\b(db_[a-z_]+|w2Psession[A-Za-z]+|showtask(_pd|_pr)?|findchild(_pd|_pr)?|w2PgetUsername(FromID)?|getProjects|canTaskAccess)\s*\(" .
grep -rnE "\b(CAppUI|CDate|DBQuery|CTitleBlock|CTabBox_core|CInfoTabBox|CConfig|CPreferences|CustomFields|CW2pObject|Mail|w2Pacl|CTaskLog|CForumMessage|CFileFolder|CRole|CSysKey|CSysVal|CCalendar|CAdmin_User)\b" .
grep -rn "w2p_Core_\(Config\|Dispatcher\|Event\|EventQueue\|HookHandler\|Module\|Preferences\|Setup\|UpgradeManager\)\|w2p_API_iCalendar" .

Then replace each match using the tables below.

Removed class names

The file classes/deprecated.class.php held 37 aliases that extended the current classes. Use the class on the right.

If your setup.php names a removed class in $config['mod_main_class'] or $config['mod_setup_class'], update it there too.

Removed functions

The file includes/deprecated_functions.php held 66 functions. Use the replacement on the right; where there is none, the feature is gone from the core system.

Database

w2p_Database_Connection replaces the db_* helpers. Create one from the global ADODB connection:

$connection = new w2p_Database_Connection($GLOBALS['db']);
$connection->exec($sql);
$id = $connection->insert_id();

Better still, build queries with w2p_Database_Query inside your module’s class, as the Module Building Guide recommends.

Sessions

Projects, tasks and users

Display and helpers

Removed with no replacement

w2p_check_url(), findchilddept_comp(), showchilddept_comp(), show_st_project(), find_proj_child(), contextHelp(), w2PcontextHelp(), cleanText(), showFVar(), resource_presave(), resource_postsave(), the clash_* functions (clash_process(), clash_mail(), clash_accept(), clear_clash(), clash_cancel()) and __extract_from_tasks6().

Other changes that affect modules

One theme: Bootstrap 5.3

The w2p-snowball and wps-redmond themes, the per-user “User Interface Style” preference and the system host_style setting are gone. The interface style is always bootstrap (the W2P_UISTYLE constant in base.php).

• Templates still resolve in two steps: style/bootstrap/<template>.php first, then style/_common/<template>.php. Put your module’s HTML in templates and include them with $AppUI->getTheme()->resolveTemplate('yourmodule/view').
• The core pages no longer use tables for layout. w2p_Theme_TitleBlock and w2p_Theme_TabBox render Bootstrap markup, and the theme maps the existing class names (std, tbl, list, button, addedit and others) onto Bootstrap styles. Use Bootstrap’s own classes (d-flex, btn btn-primary btn-sm, form-control) for new markup.
• jQuery 1.7 and tipTip are still loaded on every page.

PDF output is gone

The reports, Gantt charts and forums no longer produce PDFs; their old entry points show a message and redirect. Don’t build on w2p_Output_PDFRenderer or the ezpdf library: both are scheduled for removal. Users can print to PDF from the browser.

Translation files must be plain arrays

locales/*/*.inc and modules/<module>/locales/*.inc files are no longer run with eval(). A small parser reads them, and it accepts only quoted strings, =>, commas, whitespace and comments. An entry that contains anything else (a variable, a function call, concatenation) is skipped, not run, so that string falls back to English.

"Todo List"=>"Todo List",
"Add a Todo"=>"Add a Todo",

Delete hooks only run when the delete is allowed

w2p_Core_BaseObject::delete() now calls canDelete() before it publishes preDeleteEvent. Your hook_preDelete() no longer runs, and can no longer remove related rows, when the delete is refused. Always call parent::hook_preDelete() and parent::hook_postDelete() from your overrides: the first records the id of the object being deleted, and the second uses it to remove the object’s custom field values and write the history entry.

Copies run their own hooks

w2p_Core_BaseObject::duplicate() returns a clone with its own query object and event dispatcher. Storing the copy now runs the copy’s hook_preCreate(), hook_postStore() and the other hooks. Before, they ran on the original object.

Database

• web2project removes ONLY_FULL_GROUP_BY from the session sql_mode when it connects, so queries written for MySQL 5 keep working on MySQL 8. New queries should still group correctly.
• The upgrader now reports SQL errors from the core migrations instead of hiding them. Test your module’s setup.php install and upgrade on a strict-mode server.

Custom fields

The Custom Field Editor offers Companies, Projects, Tasks, Calendar (events), Contacts and Users. Custom fields are looked up by module directory (events, not Calendar). Add On modules can’t add their own custom fields through the editor yet.

Task trees

CTask::getTaskTree($project_id, $task_id = 0, $task_status = 0) takes a status. Pass null for tasks of every status.