Utilizing EE Admin Action Log

Question

So, I'm building a custom module to allow admins to define some custom business logic. I have most of it worked out at this point but I would like to tap into the admin action log that is included in Magento Enterprise Edition.

Is there a helper or model that automatically picks up the current user information (ID, time, IP, etc) and just allows me to specify the unique-to-my-module info?

Answer 1

You need to create a file called logging.xml in the etc folder of your module. where you should list your logged events. Take as example the logging.xml from the Enterprise_Logging module.
Should look something like this. Replace the markup with your own values:

<{entityCodeHere} translate="label">
    <label>{Entity Label here}</label>
    <expected_models>
        <{moduleName}__{entityName}/> <!-- replace the slash in the parameter you give to Mage::getModel() when instatiating the object with double underscore -->
    </expected_models>
    <actions>
        <adminhtml_{contrller}_{action}> <!-- or {module}_adminhtml_{contrller}_{action} . It depends on how the extension looks. It's basically the same as the layout handle for the page-->
            <action>{action}</action>
        </adminhtml_{contrller}_{action}>
     <!-- add as many actions as you want -->
    </actions>
</{entityCodeHere}> 

I hope I didn't miss something. Anyway, this is the right direction.

Answer 2

Important note here: Enterprise_Logging module logs events performed only with adminhtml route:

<controller_action_postdispatch_adminhtml>
    <observers>
        <enterprise_logging>
            <class>enterprise_logging/observer</class>
            <method>controllerPostdispatch</method>
        </enterprise_logging>
    </observers>
</controller_action_postdispatch_adminhtml>

If you have admin controller with custom router, you need to add additional observer to you module to call controllerPostdispatch method.

For example, if you have router called ordermanager:

<controller_action_postdispatch_ordermanager>
    <observers>
        <enterprise_logging>
            <class>enterprise_logging/observer</class>
            <method>controllerPostdispatch</method>
        </enterprise_logging>
    </observers>
</controller_action_postdispatch_ordermanager>