J3.x:Developing an MVC Component/Adding decorations to the backend

Joomla! 

3.x

Tutorial

Developing an MVC Component

Articles in This Series

1. Introduction
2. Developing a Basic Component
3. Adding a View to the Site Part
4. Adding a Menu Type to the Site Part
5. Adding a Model to the Site Part
6. Adding a Variable Request in the Menu Type
7. Using the Database
8. Basic Backend
9. Adding Language Management
10. Adding Backend Actions
11. Adding Decorations to the Backend
12. Adding Verifications
13. Adding Categories
14. Adding Configuration
15. Adding ACL
16. Adding an Install/Uninstall/Update Script File
17. Adding a Frontend Form
18. Adding an Image
19. Adding a Map
20. Adding AJAX
21. Adding an Alias
22. Using the Language Filter Facility
23. Adding a Modal
24. Adding Associations
25. Adding Checkout
26. Adding Ordering
27. Adding Levels
28. Adding Versioning
29. Adding Tags
30. Adding Access
31. Adding a Batch Process
32. Adding Cache
33. Adding a Feed
34. Adding an Update Server
35. Adding Custom Fields
36. Upgrading to Joomla4

This is a multiple-article series of tutorials on how to develop a Model-View-Controller Component for Joomla! Version.

Begin with the Introduction, and navigate the articles in this series by using the navigation button at the bottom or the box to the right (the Articles in this series).

Introduction

This tutorial is part of the Developing an MVC Component for Joomla! 3.2 tutorial. You are encouraged to read the previous parts of the tutorial before reading this. The functionality covered in this step includes making the columns sortable, and you can find a tutorial describing this aspect at Adding sortable columns to a table in a component.

You can watch a video associated with this step in the tutorial at Step 10, Adding Backend Decorations.

Adding some icons

With your favourite file manager put a 16x16 image and a 48x48 image (I choose Tux) in a media/images/ folder and add a media tag in your install file. Modify the menu tag in order to use the new icon.

Tux-16x16.png

Tux-48x48.png

Note that default admin template (isis) disables menu icons ! One possible workaround is to use icoMoon in your language string:

admin/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.sys.ini

; Joomla! Project
; Copyright (C) 2005 - 2018 Open Source Matters. All rights reserved.
; License GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt, see LICENSE.php
; Note : All ini files need to be saved as UTF-8

COM_HELLOWORLD="Hello World!"
COM_HELLOWORLD_DESCRIPTION="This is the Hello World description"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_VIEW_DEFAULT_TITLE="Hello World"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_VIEW_DEFAULT_DESC="This view displays a selected message"
COM_HELLOWORLD_MENU=" <i class="icon-smiley-2"></i>Hello World!"

Icon list can be found here: Standard IcoMoon Fonts.

Modifying the views

In the admin/views/helloworlds/view.html.php file put these lines:

admin/views/helloworlds/view.html.php

<?php
/**
 * @package     Joomla.Administrator
 * @subpackage  com_helloworld
 *
 * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2005 - 2018 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');

/**
 * HelloWorlds View
 *
 * @since  0.0.1
 */
class HelloWorldViewHelloWorlds extends JViewLegacy
{
	/**
	 * Display the Hello World view
	 *
	 * @param   string  $tpl  The name of the template file to parse; automatically searches through the template paths.
	 *
	 * @return  void
	 */
	function display($tpl = null)
	{
		
		// Get application
		$app = JFactory::getApplication();
		$context = "helloworld.list.admin.helloworld";
		// Get data from the model
		$this->items			= $this->get('Items');
		$this->pagination		= $this->get('Pagination');
		$this->state			= $this->get('State');
		$this->filter_order 	= $app->getUserStateFromRequest($context.'filter_order', 'filter_order', 'greeting', 'cmd');
		$this->filter_order_Dir = $app->getUserStateFromRequest($context.'filter_order_Dir', 'filter_order_Dir', 'asc', 'cmd');
		$this->filterForm    	= $this->get('FilterForm');
		$this->activeFilters 	= $this->get('ActiveFilters');

		// Check for errors.
		if (count($errors = $this->get('Errors')))
		{
			JError::raiseError(500, implode('<br />', $errors));

			return false;
		}

		// Set the toolbar and number of found items
		$this->addToolBar();

		// Display the template
		parent::display($tpl);

		// Set the document
		$this->setDocument();
	}

	/**
	 * Add the page title and toolbar.
	 *
	 * @return  void
	 *
	 * @since   1.6
	 */
	protected function addToolBar()
	{
		$title = JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_MANAGER_HELLOWORLDS');

		if ($this->pagination->total)
		{
			$title .= "<span style='font-size: 0.5em; vertical-align: middle;'>(" . $this->pagination->total . ")</span>";
		}

		JToolBarHelper::title($title, 'helloworld');
		JToolBarHelper::deleteList('', 'helloworlds.delete');
		JToolBarHelper::editList('helloworld.edit');
		JToolBarHelper::addNew('helloworld.add');
	}
	/**
	 * Method to set up the document properties
	 *
	 * @return void
	 */
	protected function setDocument() 
	{
		$document = JFactory::getDocument();
		$document->setTitle(JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_ADMINISTRATION'));
	}
}

$this->filter_order and $this->filter_order_Dir store the active sorting column and the sorting direction respectively. Those variables are retrieved from the app state variables.

See How to use user state variables for more information about the use of the state variables.

This view uses a second parameter for the JToolBarHelper::title function. It will be used to construct the css class for the title. The _setDocument method sets the browser title.

In the admin/views/helloworlds/tmpl/default.php file put these lines:

admin/views/helloworlds/tmpl/default.php

<?php
/**
 * @package     Joomla.Administrator
 * @subpackage  com_helloworld
 *
 * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2005 - 2018 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');

JHtml::_('formbehavior.chosen', 'select');

$listOrder     = $this->escape($this->filter_order);
$listDirn      = $this->escape($this->filter_order_Dir);
?>
<form action="index.php?option=com_helloworld&view=helloworlds" method="post" id="adminForm" name="adminForm">
	<div class="row-fluid">
		<div class="span6">
			<?php echo JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLDS_FILTER'); ?>
			<?php
				echo JLayoutHelper::render(
					'joomla.searchtools.default',
					array('view' => $this)
				);
			?>
		</div>
	</div>
	<table class="table table-striped table-hover">
		<thead>
		<tr>
			<th width="1%"><?php echo JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_NUM'); ?></th>
			<th width="2%">
				<?php echo JHtml::_('grid.checkall'); ?>
			</th>
			<th width="90%">
				<?php echo JHtml::_('grid.sort', 'COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLDS_NAME', 'greeting', $listDirn, $listOrder); ?>
			</th>
			<th width="5%">
				<?php echo JHtml::_('grid.sort', 'COM_HELLOWORLD_PUBLISHED', 'published', $listDirn, $listOrder); ?>
			</th>
			<th width="2%">
				<?php echo JHtml::_('grid.sort', 'COM_HELLOWORLD_ID', 'id', $listDirn, $listOrder); ?>
			</th>
		</tr>
		</thead>
		<tfoot>
			<tr>
				<td colspan="5">
					<?php echo $this->pagination->getListFooter(); ?>
				</td>
			</tr>
		</tfoot>
		<tbody>
			<?php if (!empty($this->items)) : ?>
				<?php foreach ($this->items as $i => $row) :
					$link = JRoute::_('index.php?option=com_helloworld&task=helloworld.edit&id=' . $row->id);
				?>
					<tr>
						<td><?php echo $this->pagination->getRowOffset($i); ?></td>
						<td>
							<?php echo JHtml::_('grid.id', $i, $row->id); ?>
						</td>
						<td>
							<a href="<?php echo $link; ?>" title="<?php echo JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_EDIT_HELLOWORLD'); ?>">
								<?php echo $row->greeting; ?>
							</a>
						</td>
						<td align="center">
							<?php echo JHtml::_('jgrid.published', $row->published, $i, 'helloworlds.', true, 'cb'); ?>
						</td>
						<td align="center">
							<?php echo $row->id; ?>
						</td>
					</tr>
				<?php endforeach; ?>
			<?php endif; ?>
		</tbody>
	</table>
	<input type="hidden" name="task" value=""/>
	<input type="hidden" name="boxchecked" value="0"/>
	<input type="hidden" name="filter_order" value="<?php echo $listOrder; ?>"/>
	<input type="hidden" name="filter_order_Dir" value="<?php echo $listDirn; ?>"/>
	<?php echo JHtml::_('form.token'); ?>
</form>

In admin/views/helloworld/view.html.php, put these lines:

admin/views/helloworld/view.html.php

<?php
/**
 * @package     Joomla.Administrator
 * @subpackage  com_helloworld
 *
 * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2005 - 2018 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');

/**
 * HelloWorld View
 *
 * @since  0.0.1
 */
class HelloWorldViewHelloWorld extends JViewLegacy
{
	/**
	 * View form
	 *
	 * @var         form
	 */
	protected $form = 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)
	{
		// Get the Data
		$this->form = $this->get('Form');
		$this->item = $this->get('Item');

		// Check for errors.
		if (count($errors = $this->get('Errors')))
		{
			JError::raiseError(500, implode('<br />', $errors));

			return false;
		}


		// Set the toolbar
		$this->addToolBar();

		// Display the template
		parent::display($tpl);

		// Set the document
		$this->setDocument();
	}

	/**
	 * Add the page title and toolbar.
	 *
	 * @return  void
	 *
	 * @since   1.6
	 */
	protected function addToolBar()
	{
		$input = JFactory::getApplication()->input;

		// Hide Joomla Administrator Main menu
		$input->set('hidemainmenu', true);

		$isNew = ($this->item->id == 0);

		if ($isNew)
		{
			$title = JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_MANAGER_HELLOWORLD_NEW');
		}
		else
		{
			$title = JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_MANAGER_HELLOWORLD_EDIT');
		}

		JToolBarHelper::title($title, 'helloworld');
		JToolBarHelper::save('helloworld.save');
		JToolBarHelper::cancel(
			'helloworld.cancel',
			$isNew ? 'JTOOLBAR_CANCEL' : 'JTOOLBAR_CLOSE'
		);
	}
	/**
	 * Method to set up the document properties
	 *
	 * @return void
	 */
	protected function setDocument() 
	{
		$isNew = ($this->item->id < 1);
		$document = JFactory::getDocument();
		$document->setTitle($isNew ? JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_CREATING') :
                JText::_('COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_EDITING'));
	}
}

This view also uses the second parameter of the JToolBarHelper::title function and set the browser title.

Adding the filters

In admin/models/helloworlds.php, put these lines:

admin/models/helloworlds.php

<?php
/**
 * @package     Joomla.Administrator
 * @subpackage  com_helloworld
 *
 * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2005 - 2018 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');

/**
 * HelloWorldList Model
 *
 * @since  0.0.1
 */
class HelloWorldModelHelloWorlds extends JModelList
{
	/**
	 * Constructor.
	 *
	 * @param   array  $config  An optional associative array of configuration settings.
	 *
	 * @see     JController
	 * @since   1.6
	 */
	public function __construct($config = array())
	{
		if (empty($config['filter_fields']))
		{
			$config['filter_fields'] = array(
				'id',
				'greeting',
				'published'
			);
		}

		parent::__construct($config);
	}

	/**
	 * Method to build an SQL query to load the list data.
	 *
	 * @return      string  An SQL query
	 */
	protected function getListQuery()
	{
		// Initialize variables.
		$db    = JFactory::getDbo();
		$query = $db->getQuery(true);

		// Create the base select statement.
		$query->select('*')
			  ->from($db->quoteName('#__helloworld'));

		// Filter: like / search
		$search = $this->getState('filter.search');

		if (!empty($search))
		{
			$like = $db->quote('%' . $search . '%');
			$query->where('greeting LIKE ' . $like);
		}

		// Filter by published state
		$published = $this->getState('filter.published');

		if (is_numeric($published))
		{
			$query->where('published = ' . (int) $published);
		}
		elseif ($published === '')
		{
			$query->where('(published IN (0, 1))');
		}

		// Add the list ordering clause.
		$orderCol	= $this->state->get('list.ordering', 'greeting');
		$orderDirn 	= $this->state->get('list.direction', 'asc');

		$query->order($db->escape($orderCol) . ' ' . $db->escape($orderDirn));

		return $query;
	}
}

With your favourite file manager and editor put a file admin/models/forms/filter_helloworlds.xml containing

admin/models/forms/filter_helloworlds.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<form>
	<fields name="filter">
		<field
			name="search"
			type="text"
			label="COM_BANNERS_SEARCH_IN_TITLE"
			hint="JSEARCH_FILTER"
			class="js-stools-search-string"
		/>
		<field
			name="published"
			type="status"
			label="JOPTION_SELECT_PUBLISHED"
			description="JOPTION_SELECT_PUBLISHED_DESC"
			onchange="this.form.submit();"
			>
			<option value="">JOPTION_SELECT_PUBLISHED</option>
		</field>
	</fields>
	<fields name="list">
		<field
			name="limit"
			type="limitbox"
			class="input-mini"
			default="25"
			label="COM_CONTENT_LIST_LIMIT"
			description="COM_HELLOWORLD_LIST_LIMIT_DESC"
			onchange="this.form.submit();"
		/>
	</fields>
</form>

Modifying the main entry file

In the admin/helloworld.php file, put these lines in order to use the 48x48 icon:

<?php
/**
 * @package     Joomla.Administrator
 * @subpackage  com_helloworld
 *
 * @copyright   Copyright (C) 2005 - 2018 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');

// Set some global property
$document = JFactory::getDocument();
$document->addStyleDeclaration('.icon-helloworld {background-image: url(../media/com_helloworld/images/Tux-16x16.png);}');

// 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();

Adding some strings in the language file

Modify the admin/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.ini and put these lines

admin/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.ini

; Joomla! Project
; Copyright (C) 2005 - 2018 Open Source Matters. All rights reserved.
; License GNU General Public License version 2 or later; see LICENSE.txt, see LICENSE.php
; Note : All ini files need to be saved as UTF-8

COM_HELLOWORLD_ADMINISTRATION="HelloWorld - Administration"

COM_HELLOWORLD_NUM="#"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLDS_FILTER="Filters"
COM_HELLOWORLD_PUBLISHED="Published"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLDS_NAME="Name"
COM_HELLOWORLD_ID="Id"

COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_CREATING="HelloWorld - Creating"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_DETAILS="Details"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_EDITING="HelloWorld - Editing"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_FIELD_GREETING_DESC="This message will be displayed"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_FIELD_GREETING_LABEL="Message"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_HEADING_GREETING="Greeting"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_HEADING_ID="Id"
COM_HELLOWORLD_MANAGER_HELLOWORLD_EDIT="HelloWorld manager: Edit Message"
COM_HELLOWORLD_MANAGER_HELLOWORLD_NEW="HelloWorld manager: New Message"
COM_HELLOWORLD_MANAGER_HELLOWORLDS="HelloWorld manager"
COM_HELLOWORLD_EDIT_HELLOWORLD="Edit message"
COM_HELLOWORLD_N_ITEMS_DELETED_1="One message deleted"
COM_HELLOWORLD_N_ITEMS_DELETED_MORE="%d messages deleted"
COM_HELLOWORLD_N_ITEMS_PUBLISHED="%d message(s) published"
COM_HELLOWORLD_N_ITEMS_UNPUBLISHED="%d message(s) unpublished"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_GREETING_LABEL="Greeting"
COM_HELLOWORLD_HELLOWORLD_GREETING_DESC="Add Hello World Greeting"

Packaging the component

Content of your code directory. Each file link below takes you to the step in the tutorial which has the latest version of that source code file.

• helloworld.xml
• site/helloworld.php
• site/index.html
• site/controller.php
• site/views/index.html
• site/views/helloworld/index.html
• site/views/helloworld/view.html.php
• site/views/helloworld/tmpl/index.html
• site/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.xml
• site/views/helloworld/tmpl/default.php
• site/models/index.html
• site/models/helloworld.php
• site/language/index.html
• site/language/en-GB/index.html
• site/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.ini
• admin/index.html
• admin/helloworld.php
• admin/controller.php
• admin/sql/index.html
• admin/sql/install.mysql.utf8.sql
• admin/sql/uninstall.mysql.utf8.sql
• admin/sql/updates/index.html
• admin/sql/updates/mysql/index.html
• admin/sql/updates/mysql/0.0.1.sql
• admin/sql/updates/mysql/0.0.6.sql
• admin/models/index.html
• admin/models/fields/index.html
• admin/models/fields/helloworld.php
• admin/models/helloworlds.php
• admin/models/helloworld.php
• admin/models/forms/filter_helloworlds.xml
• admin/models/forms/index.html
• admin/models/forms/helloworld.xml
• admin/controllers/helloworld.php
• admin/controllers/helloworlds.php
• admin/controllers/index.html
• admin/views/index.html
• admin/views/helloworld/index.html
• admin/views/helloworld/view.html.php
• admin/views/helloworld/tmpl/index.html
• admin/views/helloworld/tmpl/edit.php
• admin/views/helloworlds/index.html
• admin/views/helloworlds/view.html.php
• admin/views/helloworlds/tmpl/index.html
• admin/views/helloworlds/tmpl/default.php
• admin/tables/index.html
• admin/tables/helloworld.php
• admin/language/index.html
• admin/language/en-GB/index.html
• admin/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.ini
• admin/language/en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.sys.ini
• media/index.html
• media/images/index.html
• media/images/Tux-16x16.png
• media/images/Tux-48x48.png

Create a compressed file of this directory archive or directly download the archive and install it using the extension manager of Joomla. You can add a menu item of this component using the menu manager in the backend.

helloworld.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<extension type="component" version="3.0" method="upgrade">

	<name>COM_HELLOWORLD</name>
	<!-- The following elements are optional and free of formatting constraints -->
	<creationDate>January 2018</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>0.0.10</version>
	<!-- The description is optional and defaults to the name -->
	<description>COM_HELLOWORLD_DESCRIPTION</description>

	<install> <!-- Runs on install -->
		<sql>
			<file driver="mysql" charset="utf8">sql/install.mysql.utf8.sql</file>
		</sql>
	</install>
	<uninstall> <!-- Runs on uninstall -->
		<sql>
			<file driver="mysql" charset="utf8">sql/uninstall.mysql.utf8.sql</file>
		</sql>
	</uninstall>
	<update> <!-- Runs on update; New since J2.5 -->
		<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>
		<folder>models</folder>
	</files>

        <languages folder="site/language">
		<language tag="en-GB">en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.ini</language>
        </languages>

	<media destination="com_helloworld" folder="media">
		<filename>index.html</filename>
		<folder>images</folder>
	</media>

	<administration>
		<!-- Administration Menu Section -->
		<menu link='index.php?option=com_helloworld' img="../media/com_helloworld/images/Tux-16x16.png">COM_HELLOWORLD_MENU</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>
			<filename>controller.php</filename>
			<!-- SQL files section -->
			<folder>sql</folder>
			<!-- tables files section -->
			<folder>tables</folder>
			<!-- models files section -->
			<folder>models</folder>
			<!-- views files section -->
			<folder>views</folder>
			<!-- controllers files section -->
			<folder>controllers</folder>
		</files>
		<languages folder="admin/language">
        		<language tag="en-GB">en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.ini</language>
                        <language tag="en-GB">en-GB/en-GB.com_helloworld.sys.ini</language>
		</languages>
	</administration>

</extension>

Contributors

• Christophe Demko
• Ozgur Aksu
• Campergue Patrick
• Scionescire

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