Dispatch is another PHP micro-framework. It's very small and very simple to use. No classes, no namespaces.
Officially, Dispatch requires PHP 5.4. Unofficially though, it can run with PHP 5.3 and up. Anything lower, you'll have to change things.
No strict version check is being done by Dispatch, other than the requirements
imposed by composer.json. Functions specific to 5.4 are only used when
available.
To run the tests though, you'll need PHP 5.4 as it makes use of PHP's built-in web server.
Get the code on GitHub: http://github.com/noodlehaus/dispatch.
To install using composer, have the following lines to composer.json.
{
"require": {
"php": ">= 5.4.0",
...
"dispatch/dispatch": "dev-master",
}
}Then do a composer install or composer update to install the package.
If you don't use composer, just download and include dispatch.php directly
in your application.
Note that Dispatch functions are all loaded into the global namespace.
If you have access to mod_rewrite, make sure to redirect all your PHP
requests to your app.
<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine on
# in this case, our app bootstrap file is index.php
RewriteRule !\.(js|html|ico|gif|jpg|png|css)$ index.php
</IfModule>
Some settings are needed by Dispatch, and they can be set via config().
<?php
// REQUIRED, base path for your views
config('dispatch.views', '../views');
// OPTIONAL, layout file to use (defaults to 'layout')
config('dispatch.layout', 'layout');
// OPTIONAL, cookie for flash messages (defaults to '_F')
config('dispatch.flash_cookie', '_F');
// OPTIONAL, specify your app's full URL
config('dispatch.url', 'http://somedomain.com/someapp/path');
// OPTIONAL, routing file to be taken off of the request URI
config('dispatch.router', 'index.php');
// you can also just pass a hash of settings in one call
config([
'dispatch.views' => '../views',
'dispatch.layout' => 'layout',
'dispatch.flash_cookie' => '_F',
'dispatch.url' => 'http://somedomain.com/somapp/path',
'dispatch.router' => 'index.php'
]);
?>Config files are treated like PHP's .ini file. If there are named sections, for instance:
;globals section...
[globals]
param1 = val1
param2 = val2
Then a multi-dimensional array is created. When this is read with a statement like $x = config('globals');
then the following structure is returned:
array('globals' => array('param1' => 'val1', 'param2' => 'val2'))Calling config() with no parameters resets the configuration back to an empty state.
Application routes are created via calls to on($method, $path, $callback).
The $method parameter can be a single method, an array of methods, or *
(for all methods).
<?php
// get route for /
on('GET', '/', function () {
echo "hello, world!\n";
});
// get route for /index
on('GET', '/index', function () {
echo "hello, world!\n";
});
// support the route for multiple methods
on(['GET', 'POST'], '/greet', function () {
echo "hello, world!\n";
});
// handle any method
on('*', '/multi', function () {
echo "it works!\n";
});
// More complex routes are easily possible, for instance:
// A GET route with named parameter and regex match (@denotes the start of the regex).
// Version here requires named parameter to be at least one digit for the route to be matched.
on('GET','/edit/:num@\d+',function($n){
echo "Number is $n as function argument. Named parameter is also ".params('num')."\n";
});
// This route matches an example of a "slug". Note that ( ) and * have special meanings
// so use alternatives where possible.
on('GET','/show/:slug@[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_-]{0,}',function($s){
echo "Slug is $s as function argument. Named parameter is also ".params('slug')."\n";
});
// This route matches a normal named parameter first then anything else following
// will match i.e. /show/any/thing/will/match. There has to be a second parameter
//present, but it can be anything. (the backet option shown next can make it optional)
on('GET','/show/:first/:second@*',function($f,$s){
echo "First arg = $f, second arg = $s. Named = ".params('first').' and '.params('second')."\n";
});
// This route has three optional parameters where the third also has to be at least one digit.
// Matches patterns like /list or /list/anything or /list/anything/else or /list/anything/else/42
// Regexes can apply to any of the named parameters. The missing parameters return null.
on('GET','/list(/:one(/:two(/:three@\d+)))',function($one,$two,$three){
echo "First arg = $one, second arg = $two, third arg = $three \n";
});
?>When working on APIs, you tend to create routes that resemble resources.
You can do this by including the resource name in your route, or by scoping
your route creation with a prefix($path, $routine) call, where $path
contains the name of the resource, and $routine is a callable that contains
routing calls.
<?php
// let's create a users resource
prefix('users', function () {
on('GET', '/index', function () {
// show list of users
});
on('GET', '/:username/show', function () {
// show user details
});
});
// this is a route created outside of users
on('GET', '/about', function () {
// about page
});
?>From the code sample, routes /users/index and /users/:username/show will be
made. Then outside of the users resource, a /about route is also made.
If your app resides in a subfolder, include this path in your dispatch.url
setting, so Dispatch knows which parts of the REQUEST_URI need to be removed.
<?php
// our app lives in /mysite
config('dispatch.url', 'http://somehost.com/mysite');
on('GET', '/users', function () {
echo "listing users...";
});
// requested URI = http://somehost.com/mysite/users
// response = "listing users..."
?>If you don't have access to URL rewrites, and are using a file router
(ie. /index.php/some/action), you need to specify this via dispatch.router.
The string you set this to gets stripped off of the REQUEST_URI before
Dispatch routes the request.
<?php
// strip index.php from all route requests
config('dispatch.router', 'index.php');
on('GET', '/users', function () {
echo "listing users...";
});
// requested URI = /index.php/users
// response = "listing users..."
?>Redirects are done via redirect($path, $code = 302, $condition = true). The
third parameter, $condition, is useful if you want your redirects to happen
depending on the result of an expression.
<?php
// basic redirect
redirect('/index');
// with a custom code
redirect('/new-url', 301);
// redirect if authenticated() is false
redirect('/denied', 302, !authenticated());
?>Method overrides set either via the _method form field or the
'X-Http-Method-Override' header are supported. If either of these two are
present in the request, their values are respected. Below is the particular
code that describes how this is handled.
<?php
// actual dispatch code that checks for a method override
if ($method == 'POST') {
if (isset($_SERVER['HTTP_X_HTTP_METHOD_OVERRIDE']))
$method = $_SERVER['HTTP_X_HTTP_METHOD_OVERRIDE'];
else
$method = params('_method') ? params('_method') : $method;
}
?>Dispatch provides a convenience function for accessing request headers via
request_headers($name = null). When called without parameters, it returns
an associative array of all the request headers. If given a $name parameter,
returns the value for that header or null if it doesn't exist.
<?php
// get all of it
$headers = request_headers();
// or just one
$accept_encoding = request_headers('accept-encoding');
?>In cases where you're handling PUT requests or JSON posts and you need access
to the raw http request body contents, you can use request_body($load = true).
For content of type application/json and application/x-www-form-urlencoded,
the content are automatically parsed and returned as arrays.
<?php
// this returns the actual content (expensive for big uploads)
$data = request_body();
// this writes the body into a temp file and returns the path
$path = request_body($load = file);
?>Named parameters or symbols in routes can have callbacks associated with it.
With these callbacks, you can perform routines like data loading, or value
filtering/transforms. Functions that let you do this are
bind($symbol, $callback = null) and filter($symbol, $callback = null).
Callbacks mapped using bind() transform the final value that gets passed
to your route handler.
<?php
// bind() callbacks need to return a value
bind('hashable', function ($hashable) {
return md5($hashable);
});
// the value received for $hash is already
// transformed by our bind() callback
on('GET', '/md5/:hashable', function ($hash) {
echo $hash . '-' . params('hashable');
});
?>For callbacks mapped using filter(), they are not required to have
a return value, and if they do, the return value does not transform
the parameter value passed to the route handler.
<?php
// preload blog entry whenever a matching route has :blog_id in it
filter('blog_id', function ($blog_id) {
$blog = Blog::findOne($blog_id);
// scope() lets you store stuff for later use (NOT a cache)
scope('blog', $blog);
});
// here, we have :blog_id in the route, so our preloader gets run
on('GET', '/blogs/:blog_id', function ($blog_id) {
// $blog_id is still the original, but
// we can pick up what we stored with scope()
$blog = scope('blog');
render('blogs/show', array('blog' => $blog);
});
?>To setup routines to be run before and after a request, use
before($cb_or_rx, $cb = null) and after($cb_or_rx, $cb = null)
respectively. The callback routines will receive two arguments - the
REQUEST_METHOD, and the REQUEST_URI.
<?php
// setup a function to be called before each request
before(function ($method, $path) {
// setup stuff
});
// setup a function to be called only if the URI matches the regex
before('^admin/', function ($method, $path) {
// do some admin checks, for example
});
// setup a function to be called after each request
after(function ($method, $path) {
// clean up stuff
});
// setup a function to be called only if the URI matches the regex
after('^transcode/', function ($method, $path) {
// clean up temp files, for example
});
?>You can create custom HTTP error handlers and trigger them as well via calls to
error($code, $callback_or_string = null).
<?php
// create a 404 handler
error(404, function () {
echo "Oops!\n";
});
// trigger the error
error(404);
// trigger another error, with a custom message
error(500, "Something broke!");
?>For Dispatch to work with layouts, views and partials, you need three settings:
dispatch.views- where to find all the viewsdispatch.layout- the layout file to use (without .html.php)- your layout, views and partials should end with
.html.php
The layout file you specify needs to contain a call to content(). This will
plug in the contents of your view into your layout file.
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head><title>My Layout File</title></head>
<body>
<!-- this call will plug in the contents of your view -->
<?= content() ?>
</body>
</html>With these set, you can then call render() in the following ways:
<?php
// render a view with locals using the configured layout file
render('index', ['name' => 'joe']);
// render a view using a different layout file (mobile-layout.html.php)
render('index', ['name' => 'bob'], 'mobile-layout');
// render a view without using a layout file
render('index', ['name' => 'bob'], false);
?>If you just want to fetch the results of a template using some locales, without
echoing the results, you can make a call to template() instead.
<?php
$page = template('index', ['name' => 'bob']);
?>For partials, the files are expected to begin with the _ character, and can
be loaded via partial($path, $locals = []).
<?php
// underscore on the filename is added automatically by partial()
$html = partial('users/profile_page', array('data' => $data));
?>If you don't really need to do anything but to render a template for a route,
and maybe use some local variables and a layout, you can use
inline($file, $locals = array(), $layout = null) instead. inline() creates
a route handler for you that does nothing but render the view specified using
the scope variables, and layout file, if any, when the route is invoked.
<?php
// just render the about-us template for the route
on('GET', '/about-us', inline('about-us'));
// render a template with some locals
on('GET', '/contact-us', inline(
'contact-us',
array('email' => 'support@blah.com')
));
// render using a different template
on('GET', '/faq', inline('faq', array(), 'faq-layout'));
?>JSON and JSONP responses are done via json($obj, $func = null).
<?php
// object to dump
$obj = ['name' => 'noodlehaus', 'age' => 34];
// non-cacheable json response
json($obj);
...
// jsonp callback name
$fxn = 'parseResponse';
// non-cacheable jsonp response
json($obj, $fxn);
?>If you want to output non-cacheable content, you can do this by calling
nocache() before outputting any content.
<?php
// output nocache headers
nocache();
echo "comes fresh, everytime!";
?>Get and set cookie values via
cookie($name, $value = null, $expire = 0, $path = '/').
<?php
// set a cookie
cookie('user_id', 'user-12345');
// get a cookie
$user_id = cookie('user_id');
?>For getting and setting session values, use session($name, $value = null).
Calls to session() will fail and raise an error if you have sessions
disabled in your php.ini.
If sessions are enabled, session_start() is called automatically for you.
<?php
// set a session value
session('authenticated', false);
// get a session value
$authenticated = session('authenticated');
// remove a session variable
session('authenticated', null);
?>Cross-request messages, or flash messages, can be done via
flash($name, $message = null, $now = false).
<?php
// set an error message to show after a redirect
flash('error', 'You did something wrong!');
redirect('/some-page');
// .. then on your other page ..
$message = flash('error');
?>To fetch a value from a request without regard to wether it comes from $_GET,
$_POST, or the route symbols, use params($name). This is just like Rails'
params hash.
The params() function creates a combined hash of $_GET, $_POST, and the route
symbols. Final values in this hash are overwritten in the same order as well.
<?php
// get 'name' from $_GET, $_POST or the route symbols
$name = params('name');
// get 'name', set a default value if not found
$name = params('name', 'stranger');
?>You can push a file to the client using the Content-Disposition header via
send($path, $filename, $lifespan = 0). $path points to the
filesystem path of the file to push, $filename will be the filename to be
used in the header, and $sec_expire will be the cache lifespan of the file
in seconds.
<?php
// push a pdf that can be cached for 180 days
send('/path/to/file/to/push.pdf', 'ebook.pdf', 60*60*24*180);
?>During file uploads, to get consolidated info on the file, call
files($name), where $name is the name of the file input field. If
the file input field is an array, info is grouped conveniently by file and
returned as an array.
<?php
// get info on an uploaded file
$file = files('photo');
?>You can make use of ini files for configuration by calling
config('source', 'myconfig.ini').
<?php
// load the contents of my-settings.ini into config()
config('source', 'my-settings.ini');
// load another ini file, merge it with the previous one
config('source', 'my-other-settings.ini');
// get a config value from the loaded configs
$secret = config('some.setting');
?>Some utility functions are also provided - for getting the client's IP, for making a string HTML-safe, for making a string URL-safe, and for setting/fetching values cross-scope.
<?php
// get the client's ip
$ip = ip();
// store a value that can be fetched later (can be variables, arrays and objects)
scope('user', $user);
// fetch a stored value (returns null if key not found)
scope('user');
// clear all values in the store
scope();
// client's IP
$ip = client_ip();
// escape a string's entities
html('Marley & Me');
// make a string url-safe
url('http://noodlehaus.github.com/dispatch');
// returns true if the X-Requested-With-Header is set to XMLHttpRequest
$ajax = is_xhr();
?>Below's the list of functions provided by Dispatch.
<?php
// routing functions
function on($method, $path, $callback)
function resource($name, $cb)
function error($code, $callback = null)
function before($rx_or_cb, $cb = null)
function after($rx_or_cb, $cb = null)
function bind($symbol, $callback = null)
function filter($symbol, $callback)
function redirect($path, $code = 302, $condition = true)
// views, templates and responses
function render($view, $locals = null, $layout = null)
function template($view, $locals = null)
function partial($view, $locals = null)
function json($obj, $func = null)
function nocache()
// request data helpers
function params($name = null, $default = null)
function cookie($name, $value = null, $expire = 0, $path = '/')
function scope($name, $value = null)
function files($name)
function send($path, $filename, $sec_expire = 0)
function request_headers($name = null)
function request_body($load = true)
// configurations and settings
function config($key, $value = null)
// misc helpers
function flash($key, $msg = null, $now = false)
function url($str)
function html($str, $flags = ENT_QUOTES, $enc = 'UTF-8')
function ip()
function is_xhr()
// entry point
function dispatch()
?>Some extra functions can be added to Dispatch via the following libraries:
Dispatch is written by Jesus A. Domingo.
The following projects served as both references and inspirations for Dispatch:
Thanks to the following contributors for helping improve this tool :)
- Kafene kafene
- Martin Angelov martingalv
- Lars larsbo
- 4d47 4d47
- Bastian Widmer dasrecht
- Lloyd Zhou lloydzhou
- darkalemanbr darkalemanbr
- Amin By xielingwang
- Ross Masters rmasters
- Tom Streller scan
- nmcgann nmcgann