Perform logic when specific template is published - sitecore

Question

I have a template set up that I need to perform some logic on when it's published. When an item based on this template is published they want me to perform some basic CRUD operations on a table in an external database so everything is in sync. But that's kind of beside the point.
What I have set up right now is a new processor in the publishItem pipeline. I've found I can access the PublishItemContext.PublishOptions.RootItem to access the template, which I can compare on and perform logic as necessary. The problem is with so called deep publishes. I'm only seeing my processor firing for the root item, not for any of the sub items.
So, my questions is if there is a way to access every item that's being published, not just the root item?
A co-worker suggested I grab timestamps at the beginning of the pipeline and the end, and use the HistoryManager to check on what all has changed... but that seems pretty heavy-handed to me. I can't help but feel like there ought to be a property or setting nested in here somewhere where I can access everything that's being published.
I'd appreciate any assistance you folks can offer.
Oh, we're on version 6.5 for this project, I'm sure that'll be relevant.

Answer 1

Looks like you'll want to add a handler node to
<event name="publish:end">
event in the web.config. Documentation can be found here: http://sdn.sitecore.net/articles/api/using%20events.aspx

Answer 2

You can use `publish:itemProcessed' event:
<event name="publish:itemProcessed">
<handler
type="My.Assembly.Namespace.ItemProcessedProcessor, My.Assembly"
method="ItemProcessed">
</handler>
</event>
And then use args.Context.VersionToPublish:
using System;
using Sitecore.Data;
using Sitecore.Publishing.Pipelines.PublishItem;
namespace My.Assembly.Namespace
{
public class ItemProcessedProcessor
{
private static readonly ID ChosenTemplateID = ID.Parse("{ID-SHOULD-BE-HERE}");
public void ItemProcessed(object sender, EventArgs args)
{
ItemProcessedEventArgs itemProcessedEventArgs = args as ItemProcessedEventArgs;
PublishItemContext context = itemProcessedEventArgs != null ? itemProcessedEventArgs.Context : null;
if (context != null && context.VersionToPublish != null)
{
if (context.VersionToPublish.Template.ID == ChosenTemplateID)
{
// do the logic here
}
}
}
}
}

Answer 3

Well, as it turns out, my problem was not nearly as complicated as I expected. As was pointed out to me, of course looking at PublishItemContext.PublishOptions.RootItem will only return the root item. The processor actually is being hit by each item being published, I'm just looking at the wrong field.
var item = PublishItemContext.PublishHelper.GetSourceItem(context.ItemId);
This gets me what I need.
PEBKAC