3.5. Core Classes

3.5. Core Classes
Prev	Chapter 3. Pines Core	Next

3.5.1. Component

The component class is a class which all components' main classes extend.

3.5.2. Template

The template class is a class which all templates' main classes extend. This class itself is fairly empty, consisting mostly of basic methods and variables just to satisfy the interface's requirements. It does, however, include the standard implementation of the url method. This is what is called when using the shortcut function pines_url (unless the current template implements it).

The url method accepts up to four arguments, in this order:

$component

The name of the component that the URL should request.
$action

The name of the action that the URL should request.
$params

An associative array of parameters to place in the URL's query string.
$full_location

Whether to use the full location, instead of the relative location. For links in email, RSS feeds, and similar contexts, a full location should be used.

If url is called with no arguments, it will return the relative URL of the index page.

For more information on templates, see the Template Service section and Templates in Part II.

3.5.3. Module

The module class is used to generate content using a view and place it into a page. Modules allow Pines to pass data from the logic portion of a component to the presentation portion. This allows the business logic to remain the same no matter which type of page is being constructed (XHTML, RSS, etc.). Modules select the proper view based on the format provided by the current template.

Modules have several variables. However, the position and order variables must be set by using the attach method or the constructor.

muid

A unique ID available to views to allow the use of IDs in HTML. Generated with mt_rand.
title

The module's title. This is usually set by the view.
note

The module's note. This is usually set by the view.
classes

An array of additional classes to be added to the module. This applies only to HTML modules.
content

The modules content. This is almost always, but not necessarily, filled by the output of a view.
component

The component which contains the view.
view

The view from which the content will be retrieved.
position

The position on the page in which the module is placed.
order

The order in which the module is placed in the position.
show_title

Whether or not the title and note of the module should be displayed.

When creating a module, the component, view, position, and order can be specified in the constructor. Position and order are optional. The order is not guaranteed and will be ignored if it is already taken.

Creating a Module

// Add the widget form from com_example to the content part of the page.
// Place in order as #2, so #0, and #1 come before it.
$module = new module('com_example', 'widget/form', 'content', 2);

You can also manually attach a module once it is created.

Manually Attach an Existing Module

$module = new module('com_example', 'widget/form');
if (isset($position))
    $module->attach($position);
else
    $module->attach('content');

You can use the module to generate content without putting it into the page.

Using a Module to Render Content

$module = new module('com_example', 'widget/email');
$email_body = $module->render();

	Caution
	Even though the module is not added to the page in this example, it still uses the template's format to find the view.

Pines provides a blank view (component is "system" and view is "null"), which you can use if you want to add content to the module manually.

Manually Creating the Module Content

// Of course, this example message would be much more suited to use pines_notice() or pines_error(),
// but this is merely an example of what you could do.
$module = new module('system', 'null', 'content');
$module->title = 'Result';
$module->content('The process '.($success ? 'finished successfully.' : 'encountered an error.'));

// And we can retrieve the content to log it.
pines_log($module->get_content());

For more information about creating and using views, see the Views section.

Prev	Up	Next
3.4. Core Functions	Home	3.6. Order of Execution