Zend Framework: module specific frontcontroller plugins

Matthijs — Thu, 03 Sep 2009 11:33:08 +0000

Here is another situation I have run into while trying to build a modular application: sometimes you need to run a frontcontroller plugin ONLY when a specific module is requested. An example could be authentication. Say I have a public site and an admin section. The most obvious solution is to enable the authentication plugin only when the admin section is requested. This is something that is not possible with Zend_Application and the frontcontroller resource. So, as I did for loading module specific layouts, I wrote a frontcontroller plugin for registering module specific frontcontroller plugins: the Rexus_Controller_Plugin_RequestedModulePluginLoader. It works together with a Zend_Application resource called Rexus_Application_Resource_Moduleplugins. Let’s get started.

Usage Example

First we load the frontcontroller plugin Rexus_Controller_Plugin_RequestedModulePluginLoader in the main application.ini:

resources.frontController.plugins.pluginloader = Rexus_Controller_Plugin_RequestedModulePluginLoader;

Then we use the Zend_Application resource Rexus_Application_Resource_Moduleplugins in our config file to load the the authentication plugin only for our module.
If you use my ModuleSetup resource as described in module config, you can set the module plugin options in the module.ini for that module :

resources.moduleplugins.auth = "Rexus_Controller_Plugin_Authentication"

or, you can set the module plugins config in your application.ini normally, as described in the Zend Framework reference:

modulename.resources.moduleplugins.auth = "Rexus_Controller_Plugin_Authentication"

The result is that the frontcontroller plugin Rexus_Controller_Plugin_Authentication is only loaded if the module ‘modulename’ is requested.

Code

class Rexus_Controller_Plugin_RequestedModulePluginLoader 
    extends Zend_Controller_Plugin_Abstract
{
    protected $_modulePlugins = array();
 
    public function registerFrontControllerPlugin($module, $pluginName)
    {
        if (array_key_exists($module, $this->_modulePlugins) 
                        && is_array($this->_modulePlugins[$module])) {
 
            array_push($this->_modulePlugins[$module], $pluginName);
        } else {
            $this->_modulePlugins[$module] = array($pluginName);
        }
    }
 
    public function routeShutdown(Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract $request)
    {
        if (isset($this->_modulePlugins[$request->getModuleName()])) {
            $frontController = Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance();
            foreach ($this->_modulePlugins[$request->getModuleName()] as $pluginName) {
                $frontController->registerPlugin( new $pluginName);
            }
        }
    }
}

Just drop this class in your library and register the plugin with the frontcontroller as shown above to use it.

Note that this plugin does its work on routeShutdown. On routShutDown is the earliest hook in the dispatch loop where the request has been parsed and routed. This is important because all plugins we register with this plugin can subsequently only be registered with the frontcontroller as early as the next step after the one on which this plugin is executed.

Next we need the code for the Zend_Application resource Rexus_Application_Resource_Moduleplugins:

class Rexus_Application_Resource_Moduleplugins 
    extends Zend_Application_Resource_ResourceAbstract
{
    public function init()
    {
        $bootstrap = $this->getBootstrap();
        $bootstrap->bootstrap('frontcontroller');
        $front = $bootstrap->getResource('frontcontroller');
        $pluginLoader = $front->getPlugin('Rexus_Controller_Plugin_RequestedModulePluginLoader');
        $options = $this->getOptions();
 
        foreach ($options as $pluginName) {
            $pluginLoader->registerFrontControllerPlugin(
                strtolower($this->getBootstrap()->getModuleName()), $pluginName);
        } 
    }
}

Zend Framework: module specific layout

Matthijs — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 14:30:00 +0000

In this article I will show you how set up module specific layouts. Many people find it confusing that module resources like layouts are always loaded, regardless of the module requested. The reason for this is that at the time of bootstrap, the request is not yet determined and the application does not know what module was requested. To set up resources like layouts, databases, translations etc. for specific modules ONLY when that module is requested, your best bet is a front controller plugin or action helper.

Usage example

Default layout settings in application.ini:

resources.layout.layout = "default"
resources.layout.layoutPath = APPLICATION_PATH "/views/layouts"

Then, if you use my ModuleSetup resource as described in module config, you can set the module layout options in the module.ini for that module:

resources.layout.layout = "modulename_default"
 
; this layoutpath is relative to the directory of the module itself
; in this case: application/modules/modulename/views/layouts
resources.layout.layoutPath = "views/layouts"

or, you can set the module config in your application.ini normally, as described in the Zend Framework reference:

modulename.resources.layout.layout = "modulename_default"
 
; this layoutpath is relative to the directory of the module itself
; in this case: application/modules/modulename/views/layouts
modulename.resources.layout.layoutPath = "views/layouts"

* note: you can set all options for module layouts sources the same way as for the application layout resource. If you don’t specify a different layoutPath, the standard path is used

The result is that when the module ‘modulename’ is requested, the layout ‘modulename_default.phtml’ in the directory ‘application/modules/modulename/views/layouts’ is used. Otherwise, the main layout is used.

Code

class Rexus_Controller_Plugin_RequestedModuleLayoutLoader
    extends Zend_Controller_plugin_Abstract
{
    public function preDispatch(Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract $request)
    {
        $config     = Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance()
                            ->getParam('bootstrap')->getOptions();
        $moduleName = $request->getModuleName();
 
        if (isset($config[$moduleName]['resources']['layout']['layout'])) {
            $layoutScript = $config[$moduleName]['resources']['layout']['layout'];
            Zend_Layout::getMvcInstance()->setLayout($layoutScript);
        }
 
        if (isset($config[$moduleName]['resources']['layout']['layoutPath'])) {
            $layoutPath = $config[$moduleName]['resources']['layout']['layoutPath'];
            $moduleDir = Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance()->getModuleDirectory();
            Zend_Layout::getMvcInstance()->setLayoutPath(
                $moduleDir. DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR .$layoutPath
            );
        }
    }
}

To use this, drop the class above in your library and set the following in your application.ini:

resources.frontController.plugins.layoutloader = Rexus_Controller_Plugin_RequestedModuleLayoutLoader

If you want to know more about handling other types of resources with modules, check my post about module translation sources

vandenbos.org » plugin

Zend Framework: module specific frontcontroller plugins

Usage Example

Code

Zend Framework: module specific layout

Usage example

Code