Adapting Add-on from CS-Cart 2 to 3

Add-on scheme

In CS-Cart 3, the version 2.0 add-on scheme is used.

You should explicitly define the scheme version in the addon.xml file:

<addon scheme="2.0">

Generally, an add-on should be operational even with the old scheme, but some features may not work. Errors will occur with section title translations in settings dialog, edition-specific queries, add-on dependencies and conflicts.

Warning

All settings require the id attribute, otherwise they will not be imported to database.

Hooks

There are numerous modifications in the hooks to be taken into account. Use the hook base to expore and compare the hooks in different CS-Cart versions.

Skin Directory

The skin directory was renamed in CS-Cart 3.

The new skin directory in CS-Cart 3 is skins/basic/customer instead of skins/base/customer as it was before.

All the templates have to be moved to the new directory. Otherwise, these templates will not be detected.

Normally, the template path should not be explicitly mentioned anywhere in non-core files; all the template names are defined relatively, without absolute paths. Still, if there are any such occurances, they must be handled, and the path must be updated manually.

Block manager

Adapt the add-on for the new block manager scheme.

Use the detailed block scheme description in the Block manager section

Class auto-load

The new version introduces the class auto-load mechanism.

Classes are loaded automatically when requested by name. It is no longer necessary to connect them explicitly with the require or include instructions. It is sufficient just to name class in a certain way and place it in a certain place.

All classes must reside in the add-on directory, in the core/classes subdirectory.

Class reference convention is as follows:

  • Slashes are substituted with underscores (foo/bar → Foo_Bar)
  • CamelCase with the first capital letter is used (FooBar)

Examples

  • File: addons/my_addon/core/classes/my_class.php

    Class name: class MyClass {...}

  • File: addons/my_addon/core/classes/some_package/my_class.php

    Class name: class SomePackage_MyClass {...}

Ultimate Edition

It is necessary to plan how the add-ons settings should behave with the separate storefronts in the CS-Cart Ultimate edition.

A setting can be available for the root admin only, or also for every storefront admin and have different values for each storefront.

In the first case, the edition_type attribute must be specified as ULT:ROOT, in the second—as ULT:ROOT, ULT:VENDOR.

Note

A setting cannot be available for a storefront admin only. Root admin has the permission to view and change any setting in any storefront (that’s why they are called the root admin).