J3.x:User Action Logs
From Joomla! Documentation
How to Use the New Action Logging System
As of Joomla 3.9, Joomla introduced an action logging system.
This system is the finalization of the "Recording Action Logs" project from GSoC 2016. This system provides an infrastructure to create an audit log of activity performed on a website and can be fine tuned to the site admin's preferences. Extensions are able to hook into this system to add custom messages or have the system process standard CRUD actions.
In this tutorial, you will find information on how to set up this new system.
Note: Only Super Users have access to the Action Logging system.
Component
User Actions Log Dashboard
Navigate to Users → User Actions Log to access the dashboard.
From this screen a Super User has a global overview of all activities performed on a site by users and has the ability to review, export, delete and purge entries.
To learn more, please see:
Plugin
System - User Actions Log
Once enabled, this plugin allows to define the number of days after which the logs will be deleted.
Action Log
Once enabled, this plugin allows to record the actions of users for the core extensions.
Privacy - Action Logs
Once enabled, this plugin allows to export the action log data for a user's privacy request.
Module
Action Logs - Latest Module
This admin module shows on the control panel a list of the latest actions performed on a site.
Note: The module is not displayed by default on sites upgrading to Joomla 3.9. In order to display it on your control panel, navigate to Extensions → Manage → Manage → Enable the System - User Actions Log plugin and then go to Extensions → Modules → Administrator → New → Action Logs-Latest
Please see also: Latest Actions Admin Module.
How to hook an extension to the system
Please feel free to edit this section by improving or correcting it.
Component Installation Script
Add the extension to the table (#__action_logs_extensions) so that it will appear in the configuration of User Action Logs.
$extension = 'com_mycomponent';
$db = Factory::getDbo();
$db->setQuery(' INSERT into #__action_logs_extensions (extension) VALUES ('.$db->Quote($extension).') ' );
try {
// If it fails, it will throw a RuntimeException
$result = $db->execute();
} catch (RuntimeException $e) {
Factory::getApplication()->enqueueMessage($e->getMessage());
return false;
}Add the extension configuration to the table (#__action_log_config) so that your actions data will be captured.
$logConf = new stdClass();
$logConf->id = 0;
$logConf->type_title = 'transaction';
$logConf->type_alias = $extension;
$logConf->id_holder = 'id';
$logConf->title_holder = 'trans_desc';
$logConf->table_name = '#__mycomponent_transaction';
$logConf->text_prefix = 'COM_MYCOMPONENT_TRANSACTION';
try {
// If it fails, it will throw a RuntimeException
// Insert the object into the table.
$result = Factory::getDbo()->insertObject('#__action_log_config', $logConf);
} catch (RuntimeException $e) {
Factory::getApplication()->enqueueMessage($e->getMessage());
return false;
}Of course it would be best to perform some checking to ensure that the record doesn't already exist.
Component Helper
In this example, the component helper is used to perform the storing of actions.
/**
* Record transaction details in log record
* @param object $user Saves getting the current user again.
* @param int $tran_id The transaction id just created or updated
* @param int $id Passed id reference from the form to identify if new record
* @return boolean True
*/
public static function recordActionLog($user = null, $tran_id = 0, $id = 0)
{
// get the component details such as the id
$extension = MycomponentHelper::getExtensionDetails('com_mycomponent');
// get the transaction details for use in the log for easy reference
$tran = MycomponentHelper::getTransaction($tran_id);
$con_type = "transaction";
if ($id === 0) { $type = 'New '; } else { $type = 'Update '; }
$message = array();
$message['action'] = $con_type;
$message['type'] = $type . $tran->tran_type . ' - '.$tran->tran_desc . ' $' . $tran->tran_amount;
$message['id'] = $tran->id;
$message['title'] = $extension->name;
$message['extension_name'] = $extension->name;
$message['itemlink'] = "index.php?option=com_mycomponent&task=transaction.edit&id=".$tran->id;
$message['userid'] = $user->id;
$message['username'] = $user->username;
$message['accountlink'] = "index.php?option=com_users&task=user.edit&id=".$user->id;
$messages = array($message);
$messageLanguageKey = Text::_('COM_MYCOMPONENT_TRANSACTION_LINK');
$context = $extension->name.'.'.$con_type;
$fmodel = MycomponentHelper::getForeignModel('Actionlog', 'ActionlogsModel');
$fmodel->addLog($messages, $messageLanguageKey, $context, $user->id);
return true;
}
/**
* Get the Model from another component for use
* @param string $name The model name. Optional. Default to my own for safety.
* @param string $prefix The class prefix. Optional
* @param array $config Configuration array for model. Optional
* @return object The model
*/
public function getForeignModel($name = 'Transaction', $prefix = 'MycomponentModel', $config = array('ignore_request' => true))
{
\Joomla\CMS\MVC\Model\ItemModel::addIncludePath(JPATH_ADMINISTRATOR . '/components/com_actionlogs/models', 'ActionlogsModelActionlog');
$fmodel = \Joomla\CMS\MVC\Model\ItemModel::getInstance($name, $prefix, $config);
return $fmodel;
}Front End Transaction Form
Now that the foundations are set, we just need to trigger the process. We're capturing information about a transaction that is created or update and we have a model called transactionform.php. It is in the Save method that we want to capture a log.
// So the code above this point checks and does what it should do and then after the successful save of the record, we check for the parameter setting to see if logging is required, we pass key elements to recordActionLog.
$table = $this->getTable();
if ($table->save($data) === true) {
/* ---------------------------------------------------------------- */
// trigger transaction log if required
$act_log = $params->get('act_log', 0);
if ($act_log && $table->id) {
// gather information and log in a new action log record
MycomponentHelper::recordActionLog($user, $table->id, $data['id']);
}
/* ---------------------------------------------------------------- */
return $table->id;
} else {
return false;
}Language File
Finally, to help with the Action Log Listing in the admin side of Joomla, we want to set some key elements of data to be displayed in the language file en-GB.com_mycomponent.ini.
COM_MYCOMPONENT_TRANSACTION_LINK="User <a href='{accountlink}'>{username}</a> created a transaction ( <a href='{itemlink}'>{type}</a> )"Hope this helps.