Check if block has already been rendered

Question

During an observer is there a way to determine if a block has been rendered or not?

I can grab the block like so:

Mage::app()->getLayout()->getBlock('the_block_layout_name');

But i want to check if it has already been rendered - i..e its toHtml has been called.

Is this possible? if so how and if not are there any other ideas on how to achieve this or something similar?

what are you planning on doing with it? I dont know about checking a block in an observer but what about core_block_abstract_to_html_after? — David Manners, Nov 10 '13 at 16:00
I have an observer that is going to add some html to a block but i need to know if it was already rendered or not — Marty Wallace, Nov 10 '13 at 16:07

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 10 '13 at 22:33

There is no property in the $block which is set. But as David said, you can hook into core_block_abstract_to_html_after and just do something like:

public function coreBlockAbstractToHtmlAfter(Varien_Event_Observer $observer) {
$block = $observer->getBlock();
$block->setIsRenderer(true);
}

Then you can just check at any time: if($block->getIsRenderer()) if the block was already rendered.

Of course you can do everything else in this event. And you can check inside the observer:

if($block instanceof Mage_WhateverModule_Block_Whatever_Block_You_Want)

Check if block has already been rendered

1 Answers1