Deprecated features

FE_USER_LOGGED_IN

The constant FE_USER_LOGGED_IN has been deprecated and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Use the token checker service instead:

$hasFrontendUser = System::getContainer()->get('contao.security.token_checker')->hasFrontendUser();

kernel.packages

The kernel.packages parameter has been deprecated in Contao 4.5 and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Use PackageUtil::getVersion() instead.

$coreVersion = PackageUtil::getVersion('contao/core-bundle');

TL_ASSETS_URL and TL_FILES_URL

The constants TL_ASSETS_URL and TL_FILES_URL have been deprecated in Contao 4.5 and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Use the assets or files context instead:

// Old syntax
echo TL_ASSETS_URL;
echo TL_FILES_URL;

// New syntax
$container = System::getContainer();
echo $container->get('contao.assets.assets_context')->getStaticUrl();
echo $container->get('contao.assets.files_context')->getStaticUrl();

Image service

The Image and Picture classes have been deprecated in favor of the image and picture services. Here are three examples of how to use the services:

Image::get()

// Old syntax
$image = Image::get($objSubfiles->path, 80, 60, 'center_center');

// New syntax
$container = System::getContainer();
$rootDir = $container->getParameter('kernel.project_dir');

$image = $container
    ->get('contao.image.image_factory')
    ->create($rootDir.'/'.$objSubfiles->path, [80, 60, 'center_center'])
    ->getUrl($rootDir)
;

Image::create()

// Old syntax
$image = Image::create($path, [400, 50, 'box'])
    ->executeResize()
    ->getResizedPath()
;

// New syntax
$container = System::getContainer();
$rootDir = $container->getParameter('kernel.project_dir');

$image = $container
    ->get('contao.image.image_factory')
    ->create(
        $rootDir.'/'.$path,
        (new ResizeConfiguration())
            ->setWidth(400)
            ->setHeight(50)
            ->setMode(ResizeConfiguration::MODE_BOX)
    )
    ->getUrl($rootDir)
;

Picture::create()

// Old syntax
$data = Picture::create($path, $imageSize)->getTemplateData();

// New syntax
$container = System::getContainer();
$rootDir = $container->getParameter('kernel.project_dir');

$picture = $container
    ->get('contao.image.picture_factory')
    ->create($rootDir.'/'.$path, $imageSize)
;

$data = [
    'img' => $picture->getImg($rootDir),
    'sources' => $picture->getSources($rootDir),
];

More information: https://github.com/contao/image/blob/master/README.md

FORM_FIELDS

Using the FORM_FIELDS mechanism to determine which form fields have been submitted has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0. Make sure to always submit at least an empty string in your widget.

<!-- Wrong: the input will only be submitted if checked -->
<input type="checkbox" name="foo" value="bar">

<!-- Right: the input will always be submitted -->
<input type="hidden" name="foo" value=""><input type="checkbox" name="foo" value="bar">

Page handler without getResponse()

Using a custom page handler without a getResponse() method has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0.

VERSION and BUILD

The VERSION and BUILD constants have been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Use the kernel.packages parameter instead.

$packages = System::getContainer()->getParameter('kernel.packages');
$coreVersion = $packages['contao/core-bundle'];

member_grouped.html5

Accessing the field groups via one of the following properties in the member_grouped.html5 template has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0:

$this->personal
$this->address
$this->contact
$this->login
$this->captcha

Use $this->categories instead.

"channel" token

Using the simple token "channel" in newsletter subscription mails has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0. Use the "channels" token instead.

$this->arrCache

Using $this->arrCache, which is defined in the System class, has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0. If you are using it in your class, make sure to define it as property.

$this->items in pagination templates

Using $this->items in pagination templates has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0. Use $this->pages instead.

TL_SCRIPT_URL and TL_PLUGINS_URL

The constants TL_SCRIPT_URL and TL_PLUGINS_URL have been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Use TL_ASSETS_URL instead.

UnresolvableDependenciesException

The UnresolvableDependenciesException class has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will be removed in Contao 5.0.

$this->language in TinyMCE config files

Using $this->language in TinyMCE configuration files has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0. Use the static method Backend::getTinyMceLanguage() instead.

$GLOBALS['TL_LANGUAGE'] and $_SESSION['TL_LANGUAGE']

Using the globals $GLOBALS['TL_LANGUAGE'] and $_SESSION['TL_LANGUAGE'] has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0. Use the locale from the request object instead:

$locale = System::getContainer()->get('request_stack')->getCurrentRequest()->getLocale();

Request.Mixed (JavaScript)

Using the old Request.Mixed class instead of Request.Contao has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0.

"subpalette" event (JavaScript)

The "subpalette" event, which is currently fired when a subpalette is toggled via Ajax, has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Subscribe to the "ajax_change" event instead.

Session class

The Session class has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Use the session service instead:

$session = System::getContainer()->get('session');

Widget::addSubmit()

The Widget::addSubmit() method has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will be removed in Contao 5.0. It already does not add a submit button anymore.

Content elements

For reasons of backwards compatibility, it is currently not required to set the tl_content.ptable column; it will treat an empty column like it had been set to tl_article.

This behavior has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer be supported in Contao 5.0. If you have developed an extension which creates content elements, make sure to always set the ptable column.

Contao class loader

Even though we are still using the Contao class loader, it has been deprecated in favor of the Composer class loader. You should no longer use it and you can no longer use it to override arbitrary core classes.

Using $this in configuration files

Using $this in configuration files such as config/config.php or dca/*.php has been deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer work in Contao 5.0.

You can use the static helper methods such as System::loadLanguageFile() or Controller::loadDataContainer() instead.

Constants

The constants TL_ROOT, TL_MODE, TL_START, TL_SCRIPT and TL_REFERER_ID have been deprecated and will be removed in Contao 5.0.

Use the kernel.project_dir instead of TL_ROOT:

$rootDir = System::getContainer()->getParameter('kernel.project_dir');

Use the ScopeMatcher service instead of using TL_MODE:

use Contao\CoreBundle\Routing\ScopeMatcher;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\RequestStack;

class Test {
    private $requestStack;
    private $scopeMatcher;

    public function __construct(RequestStack $requestStack, ScopeMatcher $scopeMatcher) {
        $this->requestStack = $requestStack;
        $this->scopeMatcher = $scopeMatcher;
    }

    public function isBackend() {
        return $this->scopeMatcher->isBackendRequest($this->requestStack->getCurrentRequest());
    }

    public function isFrontend() {
        return $this->scopeMatcher->isFrontendRequest($this->requestStack->getCurrentRequest());
    }
}

Use the kernel start time instead of TL_START:

$startTime = System::getContainer()->get('kernel')->getStartTime();

Use the request stack to get the route instead of using TL_SCRIPT:

$route = System::getContainer()->get('request_stack')->getCurrentRequest()->get('_route');

if ('contao_backend' === $route) {
    // Do something
}

Use the the request attribute _contao_referer_id instead of TL_REFERER_ID:

$refererId = System::getContainer()->get('request_stack')->getCurrentRequest()->get('_contao_referer_id');

PHP entry points

Contao 4 only uses a single PHP entry point, namely the index.php or preview.php file. The previous PHP entry points have been removed and a route has been set up for each one instead (see UPGRADE.md).

Using the old paths is deprecated and will no longer work in Contao 5.0.

ModuleLoader

The ModuleLoader class is no longer used and only kept for reasons of backwards compatibility. It is deprecated and will be removed in Contao 5.0. Use the container parameter kernel.bundles instead:

$bundles = System::getContainer()->getParameter('kernel.bundles');

database.sql files

Using database.sql files to set up tables is deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer be supported in Contao 5.0. Use DCA files instead:

$GLOBALS['TL_DCA']['tl_example'] = array
(
	'config' => array
	(
		'sql' => array
		(
			'keys' => array
			(
				'id' => 'primary',
				'name' => 'unique'
			)
		)
	),
	'fields' => array
	(
		'id' => array
		(
			'sql' => "int(10) unsigned NOT NULL auto_increment"
		),
		'name' => array
		(
			'sql' => "varchar(32) NULL"
		),
		'value' => array
		(
			'sql' => "varchar(32) NOT NULL default ''"
		)
	)
);

dcaconfig.php

Using the dcaconfig.php file to adjust a data container is deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer be supported in Contao 5.0. Add the DCA files with your modifications to the contao/dca folder instead.

initconfig.php

Using the initconfig.php file to customize the initialization process is deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer be supported in Contao 5.0. Subscribe to one of the Symfony events instead (e.g. kernel.request).

langconfig.php

Using the langconfig.php file to adjust translations is deprecated in Contao 4.0 and will no longer be supported in Contao 5.0. Add the language files with your modifications to the contao/languages folder instead.

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DEPRECATED.md

DEPRECATED.md

Deprecated features

FE_USER_LOGGED_IN

kernel.packages

TL_ASSETS_URL and TL_FILES_URL

Image service

Image::get()

Image::create()

Picture::create()

FORM_FIELDS

Page handler without getResponse()

VERSION and BUILD

member_grouped.html5

"channel" token

$this->arrCache

$this->items in pagination templates

TL_SCRIPT_URL and TL_PLUGINS_URL

UnresolvableDependenciesException

$this->language in TinyMCE config files

$GLOBALS['TL_LANGUAGE'] and $_SESSION['TL_LANGUAGE']

Request.Mixed (JavaScript)

"subpalette" event (JavaScript)

Session class

Widget::addSubmit()

Content elements

Contao class loader

Using $this in configuration files

Constants

PHP entry points

ModuleLoader

database.sql files

dcaconfig.php

initconfig.php

langconfig.php

Files

DEPRECATED.md

Latest commit

History

DEPRECATED.md

File metadata and controls

Deprecated features

FE_USER_LOGGED_IN

kernel.packages

TL_ASSETS_URL and TL_FILES_URL

Image service

Image::get()

Image::create()

Picture::create()

FORM_FIELDS

Page handler without getResponse()

VERSION and BUILD

member_grouped.html5

"channel" token

$this->arrCache

$this->items in pagination templates

TL_SCRIPT_URL and TL_PLUGINS_URL

UnresolvableDependenciesException

$this->language in TinyMCE config files

$GLOBALS['TL_LANGUAGE'] and $_SESSION['TL_LANGUAGE']

Request.Mixed (JavaScript)

"subpalette" event (JavaScript)

Session class

Widget::addSubmit()

Content elements

Contao class loader

Using $this in configuration files

Constants

PHP entry points

ModuleLoader

database.sql files

dcaconfig.php

initconfig.php

langconfig.php