Custom Entity Type

This article gives information about how to create custom entity types manually (without using the UI).

In the example, the entity type will be defined in the custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule directory which corresponds to the Espo\Modules\MyModule namespace. You can also define in custom/Espo/Custom directory which corresponds to the Espo\Custom namespace.

The entity type name created in the example is MyEntity.

After all needed files are created, you need to run rebuild (Administration > Rebuild). It will clear cache and create a database tables.

Metadata

entityDefs

Reference

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/metadata/entityDefs/MyEntity.json

Defines entity definitions: fields, links, indexes and parameters.

Example:

{
    "fields": {
        "name": {
            "type": "varchar",
            "maxLength": 100,
            "required": true
        },
        "status": {
            "type": "enum",
            "maxLength": 9,
            "options": [
                "Draft",
                "Started",
                "Completed",
                "Canceled"
            ],
            "default": "Draft",
            "style": {
                "Started": "primary",
                "Completed": "success",
                "Canceled": "info"
            }
        },
        "assignedUser": {
            "type": "link"
        },
        "teams": {
            "type": "linkMultiple"
        },
        "createdAt": {
            "type": "datetime",
            "readOnly": true
        }
    },
    "links": {
        "assignedUser": {
            "type": "belongsTo",
            "entity": "User"
        },
        "teams": {
            "type": "hasMany",
            "entity": "Team",
            "relationName": "entityTeam"
        }
    },
    "indexes": {
        "name": {
            "columns": ["name"]
        }
    },
    "collection": {
        "textFilterFields": ["name"],
        "orderBy": "createdAt",
        "order": "desc"
    }
}

scopes

Reference

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/metadata/scopes/MyEntity.json

Defines scope parameters.

Example:

{
    "module": "MyModule",
    "entity": true,
    "object": true,
    "acl": true,
    "tab": true,
    "importable": true
}

clientDefs

Reference

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/metadata/clientDefs/MyEntity.json

Defines entity type parameters for the frontend.

Example:

{
    "controller": "controllers/record"
}

Without the controller parameter the entity type won't be available in the frontend. controllers/record is a build-in standard CRUD controller in the frontend.

Entity class

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Entities/MyEntity.php

Example:

<?php
namespace Espo\Modules\MyModule\Entities;

use Espo\Core\ORM\Entity;
use Espo\Core\Field\LinkMultiple;
use Espo\Core\Field\DateTime;

class MyEntity extends Entity
{
    // Highly recommended to define the name in the ENTITY_TYPE constant.
    public const ENTITY_TYPE = 'MyEntity';

    // Not necessary but may be useful for business logic code.
    public const STATUS_DRAFT = 'Draft';
    public const STATUS_STARTED = 'Started';
    public const STATUS_COMPLETED = 'Completed';
    public const STATUS_CANCELED = 'Canceled';

    // Getter and setters are not necessary
    // but may be useful for business logic code.

    public function getName(): string
    {
        return $this->get('name');
    }

    public function setName(string $name): self
    {
        $this->set('name', $name);

        return $this;
    }

    public function getStatus(): string
    {
        return $this->get('status');
    }

    public function setStatus(string $status): self
    {
        $this->set('status', $status);

        return $this;
    }

    public function getAssignedUserId(): ?string
    {
        $this->get('assignedUserId');

        return $this;
    }

    public function setAssignedUserId(?string $assignedUserId): self
    {
        $this->set('assignedUserId', $assignedUserId);

        return $this;
    }

    public function getTeams(): LinkMultiple
    {
        /** @var LinkMultiple */
        return $this->getValueObject('teams');
    }

    public function setTeams(LinkMultiple $teams): self
    {
        $this->setValueObject('teams', $teams);

        return $this;
    }

    public function getCreatedAt(): DateTime
    {
        /** @var DateTime */
        $this->getValueObject('createdAt');

        return $this;
    }
}

Controller class

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Controllers/MyEntity.php

A Controller class is needed if you need to have CRUD operations available via the API. That includes the frontend, as the frontend communicates with the backend via the API.

Example:

<?php
namespace Espo\Modules\MyModule\Controllers;

use Espo\Core\Controllers\Record;

// Just extend the standard CRUD controller.
// No more methods are needed.
class MyEntity extends Record
{}

Layouts

Location: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/layouts/MyEntity

detail

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/layouts/MyEntity/detail.json

Example:

[
    {
        "rows": [
            [
                {"name": "name"}, {"name": "status"}
            ]
        ]
    },
]

The same for detailSmall.json.

list

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/layouts/MyEntity/list.json

Example:

[
    {"name": "name", "link": true},
    {"name": "status", "width": 40}
]

The same for listSmall.json.

filters

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/layouts/MyEntity/filters.json

Example:

[
    "status",
    "assignedUser",
    "teams"
]

Translations

Global

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/i18n/en_US/Global.json

{
    "scopeNames": {
        "MyEntity": "My Entity"
    },
    "scopeNamesPlural": {
        "MyEntity": "My Entities"
    }
}

Entity

File: custom/Espo/Modules/MyModule/Resources/i18n/en_US/MyEntity.json

{
    "labels": {
        "Create MyEntity": "Create My Entity"
    },
    "fields": {
        "name": "Name",
        "status": "Status",
        "assignedUser": "Assigned User",
        "teams": "Teams",
        "createdAt": "Created At"
    },
    "links": {
        "assignedUser": "Assigned User",
        "teams": "Teams"
    },
    "options": {
        "status": {
            "Draft": "Draft",
            "Started": "Started",
            "Completed": "Completed",
            "Canceled": "Canceled"
        }
    }
}