Architecture

Core Zen Cart internals and system behavior

Use this section to understand how Zen Cart works internally: bootstrap flow, inclusion rules, notifiers, product types, and other core runtime behavior.

Start with:


Auto Inclusion System

What files are automatically included?

Constants in Zen Cart

Program Constants

Creating an Observer Class (HOW-TO example)

Example Observer to send a specialized additional email during Create Account

Extra Folders

extra_datafiles, extra_definitions, extra_functions and extra_configures

Init System

How Zen Cart bootstraps itself

Notifier Report for Zen Cart 2.2.0

Output of the Zen Cart Notifier Report plugin

Notifiers - List of for Zen Cart 2.2.0

A complete list of Zen Cart Notifiers

Observer/Notifier System

About notifiers and observers

Product Types

Creating custom products with different data requirements

Program Flow

Execution Path for a Zen Cart Page Visit

Last modified May 27, 2026 by Ian Wilson (e07ac859).