OPT for Zend Framework

From Invenzzia wiki

OPT module for Zend Framework
Project	Open Power Template 2
Type	Framework Port
Author	Invenzzia Group
Website	http://www.invenzzia.org/
License	New BSD License
Status	Development

OPT port for Zend Framework is not only a simple extension of standard Zend_View class that maps their calls to OPT, but a bigger project that aims to replace all the parts of ZF that rely on the view layer. OPT provides its own view rendering solutions and to make a successful integration, entire ZF must be taught, how to use it.

Contents 1 Current status 2 Elements 3 Requirements 4 Installation 5 Basic usage 6 Documentation 7 Future

Current status

The port for Zend Framework can be obtained from our Subversion repository:

svn co http://svn.invenzzia.org/svn/opl4zf/trunk/

Note that this is a development version. The basic functionality is already implemented, but there is still some work to do.

Elements

All the classes that build the port are stored under the Invenzzia_ namespace. The elements that have been implemented are:

1. The replacement for Zend_Layout that uses similar techniques, but is developed to work with Opt_View class.
2. Extension of Zend_Form that allows to render the ZF forms to OPT templates using components and sections.
3. Wrapper component for the Zend_Form elements.
4. Extension of Zend_Mail that allows to render OPT views as the mail body.
5. Router integration and a wrapper to call Zend helpers directly in the templates.

Requirements

1. Zend Framework 1.7
2. OPL + OPT (the newest available version)

Installation

Download the ZF port source code from SVN repository, Zend Framework and OPL. Copy the files to the project directory structure in the following way:

/app
   your application files
/lib
   /Invenzzia
      ZF Port files
   /Opl
      /Opl
         OPL core files
      /Opt
         OPT files
   /Zend
      Zend Framework files

Basic usage

The SVN repository contains a sample application with the comments.

First, you need to configure the autoloaders:

require('Zend/Loader.php');
require('Opl/Opl/Base.php');
 
// It is recommended not to use include_path with OPL
Opl_Loader::setDirectory(ROOT_DIR.'lib/Opl/');
Opl_Loader::register();
 
Zend_Loader::registerAutoload('Zend_Loader');

The configuration of the front controller and the Invenzzia_Layout looks like this:

// Create the improved response.
$response = new Invenzzia_Controller_Response_Http;
$front->setResponse($response);
 
// Do not forget to disable the default view renderer or we'll get a mess.
$front->setParam('noViewRenderer', true);
$front->setParam('disableOutputBuffering', true);
 
// Note that OPT is initialized by Invenzzia_Layout, if you haven't done
// it manually.
$layout = Invenzzia_Layout::startMvc(array('compileMode' => Opt_Class::CM_REBUILD, 'stripWhitespaces'=> false));
$layout->setViewPaths(ROOT_DIR.'app/views/', ROOT_DIR.'cache/');
 
// Connect the layout to the Zend response.
$layout->setOutput($response);
 
// Set the layout: layout.tpl
$layout->setLayout('layout');

Invenzzia_Layout creates separate Opt_View objects for each dispatched action. By default, the view points to a template file controller/action.tpl in your template directory, but you can easily choose your own name with setTemplate() method. The views are assigned to one or more placeholders - by default it is called content. To assign the view to a different placeholder, use the following code somewhere in your action:

// Appending
$this->layout->appendView($this->view, 'anotherPlaceholder');
// Or prepending
$this->layout->prependView($this->view, 'anotherPlaceholder');

Invenzzia_Layout creates also a layout view that can be always obtained with:

$layout = Invenzzia_Layout::getMvcInstance();
$layout->getLayout();

You can assign there some layout-specific template variables etc. Moreover, Invenzzia_Layout registers there the placeholder view lists which are available as simple sections. You can render the views in a particular placeholder in this way:

<!-- dispatch "content" placeholder -->
<opt:show name="content">
<div id="content">
	<h3>Content placeholder</h3>
	<opt:section>
		<opt:include from="content">
			<p>Sorry, no template was found!</p>
		</opt:include>
	</opt:section>
</div>
</opt:show>

Please note that your controllers must extend Invenzzia_Controller_Action class in order to work properly.

Documentation

Currently, the code is documented with phpdoc, so a good IDE should inform you about everything. The detailed manual will be published in TypeFriendly and a tutorial will appear.

Future

The plans for the future:

1. After releasing Open Power Forms the extension of Zend_Form will be abandoned. However, please note that this is more far than near future :).