Intercepting Data Before and After Saving in CRUDBooster

Hey everyone! If you've ever worked with admin panels, you know that sometimes you need to run custom logic right when a user saves a form. Maybe you need to generate a unique slug, send a notification, or log an action to an audit trail. Hacking the core logic is messy and a big no-no.

Luckily, CRUDBooster gives us a super clean way to hook into the form-saving process using simple event attributes. Today, we'll dive into two of the most useful ones: #[OnFormSaving] and #[OnFormSaved]. Let's get into it!

What You'll Need

Before we start, you just need one thing:

• A CRUDBooster module that you've already created. We'll be working inside the Form Component file for that module (e.g., app/Cb/Modules/YourModule/Livewire/YourModuleForm.php).

That's it! No complex setup required.

Running Code Before Data Hits the Database with #[OnFormSaving]

The #[OnFormSaving] attribute is your go-to when you need to do something before the data is written to your database. This is the perfect place for last-minute data validation, modification, or preparation.

How to Use It

Inside your Form Component class, you simply create a public function and add the #[OnFormSaving] attribute right above it. CRUDBooster will automatically find it and run it at the right time.

PHP

use CrudBooster\Attributes\OnFormSaving;
// Make sure you are in your Form Component class, e.g., ProductsForm.php

class ProductsForm extends BaseFormComponent
{
    public function init() 
    {
        // Your form fields are defined here...
    }

    #[OnFormSaving]
    public function beforeSave($model, $data, $uuid = null)
    {
        // Your custom logic goes here!
        // This code will run right before the data is saved.
    }
}

CRUDBooster passes three arguments to your function:

• $model: The model class for the module.

• $data: An array containing all the data submitted from the form.

• $uuid: The unique ID of the record (this will be null if you're creating a new record).

Use Case: Custom Validation

Imagine you want to prevent a user from creating a product if another product with a similar name already exists. This is a perfect job for #[OnFormSaving].

PHP

use App\Cb\Modules\Products\Models\Products;
use CrudBooster\Attributes\OnFormSaving;
use Illuminate\Support\Str;

//... inside your form component

#[OnFormSaving]
public function beforeSave($model, $data, $uuid = null)
{
    // Let's check for a similar product name
    $similarProduct = Products::where('name', 'like', $data['name'].'%')->first();

    // If we're creating a new product and a similar one exists...
    if (!$uuid && $similarProduct) {
        // Stop the process and throw an error!
        throw new \Exception("A product with a very similar name already exists. Please choose a different name.");
    }
}

With this simple function, the save operation will be halted if our condition is met, and the user will see an error message. Clean and effective!

Taking Action After a Successful Save with #[OnFormSaved]

Once your data is safely stored in the database, you might want to trigger a follow-up action. That's where #[OnFormSaved] comes in. It runs after the INSERT or UPDATE query has successfully completed.

How to Use It

Just like before, you define a public function in your Form Component and add the #[OnFormSaved] attribute.

PHP

use CrudBooster\Attributes\OnFormSaved;
// Make sure you are in your Form Component class

class ProductsForm extends BaseFormComponent
{
    public function init() 
    {
        // Your form fields are defined here...
    }

    #[OnFormSaved]
    public function afterSave($model, $data, $uuid = null)
    {
        // Your custom logic goes here!
        // This code will run right after the data has been successfully saved.
    }
}

The arguments are the same, giving you full context about the data that was just saved.

Use Case: Sending a Notification Email

A classic example is sending a notification when a new record is created. Let's say we want to email an admin every time a new product is added to the catalog.

PHP

use CrudBooster\Attributes\OnFormSaved;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;

//... inside your form component

#[OnFormSaved]
public function afterSave($model, $data, $uuid = null)
{
    // Check if it's a new record. The $uuid is only available after saving a new entry.
    // If $data['id'] is present, it's an update, so we can also check that.
    $isCreating = empty($data['id']);

    if ($isCreating) {
        $productName = $data['name'];
        $adminEmail = 'admin@yourapp.com';
        
        // Send an email
        // Mail::to($adminEmail)->send(new NewProductNotification($productName));

        // Or just log a message for demonstration
        Log::info("A new product '{$productName}' has been added with UUID: {$uuid}");
    }
}

Now, every time a new product is created, your application can automatically fire off an email or log the event. Other great use cases include clearing a specific cache, updating a related model, or pushing data to an external API.

Wrap-Up

These two simple attributes, #[OnFormSaving] and #[OnFormSaved], give you incredible power to extend CRUDBooster's functionality. They allow you to add complex business logic directly into your modules in a way that is clean, maintainable, and upgrade-safe.