[3.x] Form handler refactor to allow more flexible and accurate status reporting in the manager UI by smg6511 · Pull Request #17023 · modxcms/revolution

smg6511 · 2026-09-09T15:49:45Z

What changed and why

Rewires the MODx.form.Handler (js) methods and associated backend methods to:

support reporting of intermediate statuses (i.e., warning and info) via customizable dialog titling and styling that matches each state (style is only minimally applied in this PR by assigning the associated icon for each status in the dialog body; more fine-tuned/elegant styling will be the job of a separate PR);
allow intermediate statuses to route to success or failure, depending on which is more appropriate;
allow HTML in dialog messages via a new MODx.form.Handler.showFormattedMessage method, which is opt-in and does not affect any of the current success/failure messaging unless explicitly changed in the back end logic by using the new Processor::status method [e.g., instead of $this->failure(...), one would use $this->status(...) with the messageIsFormatted param set to true]; and
in the case of HTML dialogs, match the front and back end sanitization rules via backend constants that are relayed to the front end in new MODx.config props.

In support of the HTML dialog option, two new php utilities were added as services (modStringSanitizer and modStringConverter). Note that:

Although these were purpose-built for this PR, they can be useful and are accessible for consumption outside the core.
Their classes were envisioned to house other related utils over time. Particularly, there are many util methods in the modX base class, the Processor class, and probably elsewhere that can be more appropriately located in these utility classes.

There are many instances where a failure is not a failure per se, but we've only had an unrealistic binary success or failure path for reporting the state of a process in the UI. That, along with the inability to format messages when needed was the motivation for this change.

How to test

This update touches many areas, so I advise a general run through of creating objects and purposely causing failures. One easy way is via any object emits a dialog on validation errors (Resource, Element, etc.).

A specific case in included in this PR to see how the change is applied and to verify it works. See the changes in the final commit of this PR for reference (Packages CheckForUpdates).*

Go to the Extras/Installer (Package Management page) and install a package or two if you have none in your testing install.
Before and after applying this PR, click the Check For Updates button on any of these packages to verify the old against the new behavior.

* To see the effects of the new behavior under different scenarios, make changes in CheckForUpdates ~L97-98+; play with the message itself and the $this->status (new) vs $this->failure (existing) statement. An example of what I used to test:

For checking support of html in message, and full stripping of it when not in formatted mode:

$msg = <<<HTML
    <strong>Special Message</strong><br>
    <span>It's a special intro:</span><br>
    <em>{$msg}</em>
    <script>return 'do something bad';</script>
HTML;
return $this->status(
    $msg,
    $this->modx->lexicon('package_status'), // <- change the window title
    Processor::STATUS_TYPE_WARN, // <- change for various status types (_ERROR, _INFO)
    true // <- change for formatted vs unformatted (false)
);

Related issue(s)/PR(s)

Although not specifically created for this, the included verification case (CheckForUpdates) illustrates this PR's way of handling what's addressed in #17000.

Compatibility notes

n/a

Breaking change assessment

No BC anticipated, as current behavior is preserved and handler methods marked as deprecated pass through to new methods at least until 3.4 when removal is suggested.

Test coverage

New UT for stripHTML method located in Tests/Utilities/Sanitizers.

Contributors

n/a

AI tool use

n/a

Revert to unchanged file

Remove remaining test logging and add more inline documentation

Remove errant space

Remove stray log

Add utils as a testsuite

Ensure plain text msg source is stripped and make dialog box consistent between html-formatted and plain message boxes.

Copilot

🟡 Changes recommended

Status routing currently causes compatibility regressions, incomplete package handling, and state leakage across processor responses.

Once you've addressed the issues Copilot identified, you can request another Copilot review.

Pull request overview

Refactors manager form handling to support typed status dialogs, optional sanitized HTML, and improved package update reporting.

Changes:

Adds configurable status responses and dialog routing.
Introduces string sanitization/conversion services.
Reports “package up to date” as informational and adds sanitizer tests.

File summaries

File	Description
`manager/assets/modext/workspace/package.grid.js`	Handles empty update results.
`manager/assets/modext/core/modx.js`	Adds status-dialog routing and formatting.
`core/src/Revolution/Utilities/Sanitizers/modStringSanitizer.php`	Adds HTML sanitization.
`core/src/Revolution/Utilities/Converters/modStringConverter.php`	Adds HTML-to-JSON conversion.
`core/src/Revolution/Processors/Workspace/Packages/CheckForUpdates.php`	Returns informational up-to-date status.
`core/src/Revolution/Processors/Processor.php`	Adds status response API.
`core/src/Revolution/modX.php`	Registers utilities and sanitization configuration.
`core/src/Revolution/modConnectorResponse.php`	Exposes message configuration.
`core/src/Revolution/Error/modError.php`	Stores message configuration in responses.
`core/lexicon/en/workspace.inc.php`	Adds package status title.
`core/lexicon/en/default.inc.php`	Adds dialog-related messages.
`_build/test/Tests/Utilities/modStringSanitizerTest.php`	Tests HTML sanitization.
`_build/test/phpunit.xml`	Registers utility tests.

Review details

Files reviewed: 13/13 changed files
Comments generated: 11
Review effort level: Balanced

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+        $this->stringSanitizers = $this->modx->services->get(modStringSanitizer::class);
+        $this->stringConverters = $this->modx->services->get(modStringConverter::class);


-            'object' => $objarray,
-        ];
+            'object' => $objarray
+        ], $this->messageConfig);


+    /** Status message type: Success */
+    public const STATUS_TYPE_SUCCESS = 'success';


+            case !empty($windowTitle):
+                $options['messageConfig']['messageWindowTitle'] = $windowTitle;


+            return $this->status(
+                $msg,
+                $this->modx->lexicon('package_status'),
+                Processor::STATUS_TYPE_INFO
+            );


+                        and info messages will typically be sent via a success
+                        rather than failure response.
+                    */
+                    if (r.message || !Ext.isEmpty(r.messageConfig)) {


+        const data = {};
+        data.title = Object.hasOwn(response.messageConfig, 'messageWindowTitle')
+            ? Ext.util.Format.stripTags(response.messageConfig.messageWindowTitle)
+            : _('error')
+        ;


+     * @param string $string The unencoded html string
+     * @return string The JSON-encoded string
+     */
+    public function htmlToJSON(string $string): string


smg6511 added 11 commits August 27, 2026 10:32

Initial WIP

190295e

WIP round 2

e9b81a5

Update CheckForUpdates.php

b97ee9a

Revert to unchanged file

Minor clean up

4d74b11

Remove remaining test logging and add more inline documentation

Update CheckForUpdates.php

3fc47c8

Remove errant space

Update modx.js

0b1bc12

Remove stray log

Rename util classes

9eea3a8

Pre-submission tweaks and unit test

a9a9caa

Update phpunit.xml

1b3b95b

Add utils as a testsuite

Example usage in package update

4363121

Final processor and message box config tweaks

76a8e0c

Ensure plain text msg source is stripped and make dialog box consistent between html-formatted and plain message boxes.

smg6511 marked this pull request as ready for review September 10, 2026 04:36

smg6511 requested review from Mark-H and opengeek as code owners September 10, 2026 04:36

smg6511 changed the title ~~[3.x] Form handler refactor to allow more flexible and accurate reporting~~ [3.x] Form handler refactor to allow more flexible and accurate status reporting in the UI Sep 10, 2026

smg6511 changed the title ~~[3.x] Form handler refactor to allow more flexible and accurate status reporting in the UI~~ [3.x] Form handler refactor to allow more flexible and accurate status reporting in the manager UI Sep 10, 2026

smg6511 requested a balanced review from Copilot September 10, 2026 22:59

Copilot started reviewing on behalf of smg6511 September 10, 2026 22:59 View session

Copilot AI reviewed Sep 10, 2026

View reviewed changes

smg6511 marked this pull request as draft September 11, 2026 14:43

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[3.x] Form handler refactor to allow more flexible and accurate status reporting in the manager UI - #17023

[3.x] Form handler refactor to allow more flexible and accurate status reporting in the manager UI#17023
smg6511 wants to merge 11 commits into
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smg6511:3.x-form-handler-refactor

smg6511 commented Sep 9, 2026 •

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		$this->stringSanitizers = $this->modx->services->get(modStringSanitizer::class);
		$this->stringConverters = $this->modx->services->get(modStringConverter::class);

		/** Status message type: Success */
		public const STATUS_TYPE_SUCCESS = 'success';

		case !empty($windowTitle):
		$options['messageConfig']['messageWindowTitle'] = $windowTitle;

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smg6511 commented Sep 9, 2026 •

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