Difference between revisions of "Developing an MVC Component/Adding a view to the site part"

This tutorial is part of the Developing a Model-View-Controller (MVC) Component for Joomla! 3.x tutorial. You are encouraged to read the previous parts of the tutorial before reading this.

In the Joomla!3.x framework, third party component authors divide their code into three main parts:

models They manage the data
controllers They perform tasks, set and get the states of the models and ask the views to display
views They display the content according to the type (error, feed, html, json, raw, xml) and the layout chosen by the controllers

Setting the controller[edit]

In the core code of Joomla, there is a class able to manage controllers: JControllerLegacy. This class has to be extended to be used in our component. In the file yoursite/components/com_helloworld/helloworld.php (entry point of our Hello World component), put these lines:

site/helloworld.php

<?php
/**
* @package Joomla.Administrator
* @subpackage com_helloworld
*
* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
*/

// No direct access to this file
defined('_JEXEC') or die;

// Get an instance of the controller prefixed by HelloWorld
$controller = JControllerLegacy::getInstance('HelloWorld');

// Perform the Request task
$input = JFactory::getApplication()->input;
$controller->execute($input->getCmd('task'));

// Redirect if set by the controller
$controller->redirect();

The getInstance static method of the JControllerLegacy class will create a controller. In the code above, it will instantiate a controller object of a class named HelloWorldController. Joomla will look for the declaration of that class in an aptly named file called yoursite/components/com_helloworld/controller.php (it's a default behavior).

Now, controller.php needs to be created and HelloWorldController needs to be declared and defined. So with your favorite file manager and editor, create a yoursite/components/com_helloworld/controller.php file containing

site/controller.php

<?php
/**
* @package Joomla.Administrator
* @subpackage com_helloworld
*
* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
*/

// No direct access to this file
defined('_JEXEC') or die;

// import Joomla controller library
jimport('joomla.application.component.controller');

/**
 * Hello World Component Controller
 *
 * @since   0.0.1
 */
class HelloWorldController extends JControllerLegacy
{
}

When no task is given in the request variables, the default task will be executed. It's the display task by default. The JControllerLegacy class has such a task. In our example, it will display a view named HelloWorld.

So with task simply a public function display() of JControllerLegacy is refered to.

A Tip!

http://localhost/index.php?option=com_helloworld&task=insert

This would try to call a function insert() of our controller (which we would actually have to implement in HelloWorldController ).

Setting the view[edit]

When JControllerLegacy wants to display a view, it will look for certain files in the yoursite/components/com_[component_name]/views/[name of view]/ folder.

The name of the folder of the default view is the name of the component itself. In our case the path is yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/.

The file that will contain the code of the view is called view.[view_mode].php. The default view mode, and probably the only view a component might need is the html mode. So this give us our file name which is view.html.php.

With your favorite file manager and editor, create a file yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/view.html.php able to display the default view and containing:

<?php
/**
* @package Joomla.Administrator
* @subpackage com_helloworld
*
* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
*/

// No direct access to this file
defined('_JEXEC') or die;

// import Joomla view library
jimport('joomla.application.component.view');

/**
* HTML View class for the HelloWorld Component
*
* @since 0.0.1
*/
class HelloWorldViewHelloWorld extends JViewLegacy
{
	/**
         * Display the Hello World view
         *
         * @param   string  $tpl  The name of the template file to parse; automatically searches through the template paths.
         *
         * @return  void
         */
	public function display($tpl = null) 
	{
		// Assign data to the view
		$this->msg = 'Hello World';

		// Display the view
		parent::display($tpl);
	}
}

The display method of the JViewLegacy class is called with the display task of the JControllerLegacy class. In our case, this method will display data using the tmpl/default.php file. With your favorite file manager and editor, create a file yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php able to display the default view and containing:

<?php
/**
* @package Joomla.Administrator
* @subpackage com_helloworld
*
* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
*/

// No direct access to this file
defined('_JEXEC') or die;
?>
<h1><?php echo $this->msg; ?></h1>

This template file will be included by the JViewLegacy class. Therefore, here, $this refers to the HelloWorldViewHelloWorld class.

So to give an example, one could call the view inside the yoursite/components/com_[component_name]/views/[name of view]/ folder by calling index.php?option=com_helloworld (this would default to the yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/ folder) or we could explicitly call the folder by calling: index.php?option=com_helloworld&view=helloworld

if we change &view=helloworld to something else, e.g. &view=fluffy we would have to create a folder components/com_helloworld/views/fluffy/.

Copy the contents of views/helloworld to views/fluffy

The classname of the file view.html.php of the fluffy folder would be HelloWorldViewFluffy. Afterwards you can customize the contents of default.php of the fluffy subfolder for custom output and see the output by calling index.php?option=com_helloworld&view=fluffy

Packaging the component[edit]

Content of your code directory

Create a compressed file of this directory or directly download the archive and install it using the extension manager of Joomla. You can test this basic component by putting index.php?option=com_helloworld in your browser address.

helloworld.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<extension type="component" version="2.5.0" method="upgrade">

	<name>Hello World!</name>
	<!-- The following elements are optional and free of formatting constraints -->
	<creationDate>November 2009</creationDate>
	<author>John Doe</author>
	<authorEmail>john.doe@example.org</authorEmail>
	<authorUrl>http://www.example.org</authorUrl>
	<copyright>Copyright Info</copyright>
	<license>License Info</license>
	<!--  The version string is recorded in the components table -->
	<version>0.0.2</version>
	<!-- The description is optional and defaults to the name -->
	<description>Description of the Hello World component ...</description>

	<update> <!-- Runs on update; New in 2.5 -->
		<schemas>
			<schemapath type="mysql">sql/updates/mysql/</schemapath>
		</schemas>
	</update>

	<!-- Site Main File Copy Section -->
	<!-- Note the folder attribute: This attribute describes the folder
		to copy FROM in the package to install therefore files copied
		in this section are copied from /site/ in the package -->
	<files folder="site">
		<filename>index.html</filename>
		<filename>helloworld.php</filename>
		<filename>controller.php</filename>
		<folder>views</folder>
	</files>

	<administration>
		<!-- Administration Menu Section -->
		<menu>Hello World!</menu>
		<!-- Administration Main File Copy Section -->
		<!-- Note the folder attribute: This attribute describes the folder
			to copy FROM in the package to install therefore files copied
			in this section are copied from /admin/ in the package -->
		<files folder="admin">
			<!-- Admin Main File Copy Section -->
			<filename>index.html</filename>
			<filename>helloworld.php</filename>
			<!-- SQL files section -->
			<folder>sql</folder>
		</files>
	</administration>

</extension>

Result: You will see by default the message contained in the variable $this->msg in the view.html.php file.

General Information

J3.x:Developing a MVC Component/Navigate

Contributors[edit]

@@ Line 11: / Line 11: @@
 == Setting the controller ==
-In the core code of Joomla, there is a class able to manage controllers: ''[http://api.joomla.org/cms-3/classes/JControllerLegacy.html JControllerLegacy]''. This class has to be extended to be used in our component. In the file ''site/helloworld.php'' (entry point of our ''Hello World'' component), put these lines
+In the core code of Joomla, there is a class able to manage controllers: ''[http://api.joomla.org/cms-3/classes/JControllerLegacy.html JControllerLegacy]''. This class has to be extended to be used in our component. In the file ''yoursite/components/com_helloworld/helloworld.php'' (entry point of our ''Hello World'' component), put these lines:
 {{vanchor|site/helloworld.php}}
 <source lang="php">
 <?php
+/**
+* @package Joomla.Administrator
+* @subpackage com_helloworld
+*
+* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
+* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
+*/
 // No direct access to this file
-defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');
+defined('_JEXEC') or die;
-// import joomla controller library
-jimport('joomla.application.component.controller');
 // Get an instance of the controller prefixed by HelloWorld
@@ Line 33: / Line 38: @@
 </source>
-The ''[http://api.joomla.org/Joomla-Platform/Application/JController.html#getInstance getInstance]'' static method of the ''JController'' class will create a controller. In the code above, it will instantiate a controller object of a class named ''HelloWorldController''. Joomla will look for the declaration of that class in an aptly named file called ''controller.php'' (it's a default behavior).
+The ''[http://api.joomla.org/cms-3/classes/JControllerLegacy.html#method_getInstance getInstance]'' static method of the ''JControllerLegacy'' class will create a controller. In the code above, it will instantiate a controller object of a class named ''HelloWorldController''. Joomla will look for the declaration of that class in an aptly named file called ''yoursite/components/com_helloworld/controller.php'' (it's a default behavior).
-Now, ''controller.php'' needs to be created and ''HelloWorldController'' needs to be declared and defined. So with your favorite file manager and editor, create a ''site/controller.php'' file containing
+Now, ''controller.php'' needs to be created and ''HelloWorldController'' needs to be declared and defined. So with your favorite file manager and editor, create a ''yoursite/components/com_helloworld/controller.php'' file containing
 {{vanchor|site/controller.php}}
 <source lang="php">
 <?php
+/**
+* @package Joomla.Administrator
+* @subpackage com_helloworld
+*
+* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
+* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
+*/
 // No direct access to this file
-defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');
+defined('_JEXEC') or die;
 // import Joomla controller library
@@ Line 48: / Line 61: @@
 /**
   * Hello World Component Controller
+ *
+ * @since   0.0.1
   */
 class HelloWorldController extends JControllerLegacy
@@ Line 54: / Line 69: @@
 </source>
-When no task is given in the request variables, the default task will be executed. It's the ''display'' task by default. The ''JController'' class has such a task. In our example, it will display a view named ''HelloWorld''.
+When no task is given in the request variables, the default task will be executed. It's the ''display'' task by default. The ''JControllerLegacy'' class has such a task. In our example, it will display a view named ''HelloWorld''.
+So with ''task'' simply a public function display() of ''JControllerLegacy'' is refered to.
+{{tip|Just a side note for completion, you could call another function aside from ''display()'' by using an URL like this one:
+<pre>http://localhost/index.php?option=com_helloworld&task=insert</pre>
+This would try to call a function ''insert()'' of our controller (which we would actually have to implement in ''HelloWorldController'' ).}}
 == Setting the view ==
-When JController wants to display a view, it will look for certain files in the ''component/com_[component_name]/views/[name of view]/'' folder.
+When JControllerLegacy wants to display a view, it will look for certain files in the ''yoursite/components/com_[component_name]/views/[name of view]/'' folder.
-The name of the folder of the default view is the name of the component itself. In our case the path is ''component/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/''.
+The name of the folder of the default view is the name of the component itself. In our case the path is ''yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/''.
 The file that will contain the code of the view is called ''view.[view_mode].php''. The default view mode, and probably the only view a component might need is the ''html'' mode. So this give us our file name which is ''view.html.php''.
-With your favorite file manager and editor, create a file ''site/views/helloworld/view.html.php'' able to display the default view and containing
+With your favorite file manager and editor, create a file ''yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/view.html.php'' able to display the default view and containing:
-<span id="site/views/helloworld/view.html.php">
-''site/views/helloworld/view.html.php''
 <source lang="php">
 <?php
+/**
+* @package Joomla.Administrator
+* @subpackage com_helloworld
+*
+* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
+* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
+*/
 // No direct access to this file
-defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');
+defined('_JEXEC') or die;
 // import Joomla view library
@@ Line 77: / Line 107: @@
 /**
- * HTML View class for the HelloWorld Component
+* HTML View class for the HelloWorld Component
- */
+*
+* @since 0.0.1
+*/
 class HelloWorldViewHelloWorld extends JViewLegacy
 {
-	// Overwriting JView display method
+	/**
-	function display($tpl = null)
+         * Display the Hello World view
+         *
+         * @param   string  $tpl  The name of the template file to parse; automatically searches through the template paths.
+         *
+         * @return  void
+         */
+	public function display($tpl = null)
 	{
 		// Assign data to the view
@@ Line 92: / Line 130: @@
 }
 </source>
-</span>
-The ''display'' method of the ''[http://api.joomla.org/Joomla-Platform/Application/JView.html JView]'' class is called with the ''display'' task of the JController class. In our case, this method will display data using the ''tmpl/default.php'' file. With your favorite file manager and editor, create a file ''site/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php'' able to display the default view and containing
+The ''display'' method of the ''[http://api.joomla.org/cms-3/classes/JViewLegacy.html JViewLegacy]'' class is called with the ''display'' task of the JControllerLegacy class. In our case, this method will display data using the ''tmpl/default.php'' file. With your favorite file manager and editor, create a file ''yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php'' able to display the default view and containing:
-<span id="site/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php">
-''site/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php''
 <source lang="php">
 <?php
+/**
+* @package Joomla.Administrator
+* @subpackage com_helloworld
+*
+* @copyright Copyright (C) 2005 - 2014 Open Source Matters, Inc. All rights reserved.
+* @license GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt
+*/
 // No direct access to this file
-defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');
+defined('_JEXEC') or die;
 ?>
 <h1><?php echo $this->msg; ?></h1>
 </source>
-This template file will be included by the JView class. Therefore, here, $this refers to the HelloWorldViewHelloWorld class.
+This template file will be included by the JViewLegacy class. Therefore, here, $this refers to the HelloWorldViewHelloWorld class.
+So to give an example, one could call the view inside the ''yoursite/components/com_[component_name]/views/[name of view]/'' folder by calling <code>index.php?option=com_helloworld</code> (this would default to the ''yoursite/components/com_helloworld/views/helloworld/'' folder) or we could explicitly call the folder by calling: <code>index.php?option=com_helloworld&view=helloworld</code>
+if we change <code>&view=helloworld</code> to something else, e.g. <code>&view=fluffy</code> we would have to create a folder <code>components/com_helloworld/views/fluffy/</code>.
+Copy the contents of <code>views/helloworld</code> to <code>views/fluffy</code>
+The classname of the file <code>view.html.php</code> of the fluffy folder would be ''HelloWorldViewFluffy''. Afterwards you can customize the contents of ''default.php'' of the ''fluffy'' subfolder for custom output and see the output by calling <code>index.php?option=com_helloworld&view=fluffy</code>
 == Packaging the component ==
@@ Line 112: / Line 164: @@
 Content of your code directory
 * ''[[#helloworld.xml|helloworld.xml]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|site/index.html]]''
 * ''[[#site/helloworld.php|site/helloworld.php]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|site/index.html]]''
 * ''[[#site/controller.php|site/controller.php]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|site/views/index.html]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|site/views/index.html]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|site/views/helloworld/index.html]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|site/views/helloworld/index.html]]''
 * ''[[#site/views/helloworld/view.html.php|site/views/helloworld/view.html.php]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|site/views/helloworld/tmpl/index.html]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|site/views/helloworld/tmpl/index.html]]''
 * ''[[#site/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php|site/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|admin/index.html]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|admin/index.html]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#admin/helloworld.php|admin/helloworld.php]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#admin/helloworld.php|admin/helloworld.php]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|admin/sql/index.html]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|admin/sql/index.html]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|admin/sql/updates/index.html]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|admin/sql/updates/index.html]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#index.html|admin/sql/updates/mysql/index.html]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#index.html|admin/sql/updates/mysql/index.html]]''
-* ''[[Developing_a_Model-View-Controller_(MVC)_Component_for_Joomla!2.5_-_Part_01#admin/sql/updates/mysql/0.0.1.sql|admin/sql/updates/mysql/0.0.1.sql]]''
+* ''[[J3.2:Developing_a_MVC_Component/Developing_a_Basic_Component#admin/sql/updates/mysql/0.0.1.sql|admin/sql/updates/mysql/0.0.1.sql]]''
 Create a compressed file of this directory or directly download the [http://joomlacode.org/gf/download/frsrelease/11394/58226/com_helloworld-1.6-part02.zip archive] and install it using the extension manager of Joomla. You can test this basic component by putting ''index.php?option=com_helloworld'' in your browser address.
@@ Line 150: / Line 202: @@
 	<update> <!-- Runs on update; New in 2.5 -->
 		<schemas>
-			<schemapath type="mysql">sql/updates/mysql</schemapath>
+			<schemapath type="mysql">sql/updates/mysql/</schemapath>
 		</schemas>
 	</update>
@@ Line 188: / Line 240: @@
 You will see by default the message contained in the variable ''$this->msg'' in the ''view.html.php'' file.
-== Navigate ==
+{{notice|Please create a pull request or issue at https://github.com/joomla/Joomla-3.2-Hello-World-Component for any code descprepancies or if editing any of the source code on this page.}}
-[[Developing a Model-View-Controller (MVC) Component for Joomla!2.5 - Part 01|Prev: Developing a Basic Component]] [[Developing a Model-View-Controller (MVC) Component for Joomla!2.5 - Part 03|Next: Adding a menu type to the site part]]
+{{:J3.2:Developing a MVC Component/Navigate|prev=Developing a Basic Component|next=Adding a menu type to the site part}}
+<noinclude>[[Category:Component Development]] [[Category:Joomla! 3.0]] [[Category:Joomla! 3.1]][[Category:Joomla! 3.2]]</noinclude>
 == Contributors ==
+*[[User:Gunjanpatel|Gunjan Patel]]
 *[[User:cdemko|Christophe Demko]]
 *[[User:oaksu|Ozgur Aksu]]

J3.x

Difference between revisions of "Developing an MVC Component/Adding a view to the site part"

From Joomla! Documentation

< J3.x:Developing an MVC Component

Revision as of 02:13, 13 August 2014

Contents

Introduction[edit]

Setting the controller[edit]

Setting the view[edit]

Packaging the component[edit]

Contributors[edit]