repo_zf1/documentation/manual/en/module_specs/Zend_Controller-Request.xml

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<sect1 id="zend.controller.request">
    <title>The Request Object</title>

    <sect2 id="zend.controller.request.introduction">
        <title>Introduction</title>

        <para>
            The request object is a simple value object that is passed between
            <classname>Zend_Controller_Front</classname> and the router, dispatcher, and
            controller classes. It packages the names of the requested module,
            controller, action, and optional parameters, as well as the rest of
            the request environment, be it <acronym>HTTP</acronym>, the <acronym>CLI</acronym>, or
            <acronym>PHP</acronym>-GTK.
        </para>

        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
                <para>
                    The module name is accessed by <methodname>getModuleName()</methodname> and
                    <methodname>setModuleName()</methodname>.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    The controller name is accessed by <methodname>getControllerName()</methodname>
                    and <methodname>setControllerName()</methodname>.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    The name of the action to call within that controller is
                    accessed by <methodname>getActionName()</methodname> and
                    <methodname>setActionName()</methodname>.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    Parameters to be accessible by the action are an associative array
                    of key and value pairs that are retrieved by
                    <methodname>getParams()</methodname> and set with
                    <methodname>setParams()</methodname>, or individually by
                    <methodname>getParam()</methodname> and <methodname>setParam()</methodname>.
                </para>
            </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        <para>
            Based on the type of request, there may be more methods available.
            The default request used, <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname>,
            for instance, has methods for retrieving the request <acronym>URI</acronym>, path
            information, <varname>$_GET</varname> and <varname>$_POST</varname> parameters,
            etc.
        </para>

        <para>
            The request object is passed to the front controller, or if none is
            provided, it is instantiated at the beginning of the dispatch
            process, before routing occurs. It is passed through to every object
            in the dispatch chain.
        </para>

        <para>
            Additionally, the request object is particularly useful in testing.
            The developer may craft the request environment, including module,
            controller, action, parameters, <acronym>URI</acronym>, etc, and pass the request
            object to the front controller to test application flow. When paired
            with the <link linkend="zend.controller.response">response
                object</link>, elaborate and precise unit testing of <acronym>MVC</acronym>
            applications becomes possible.
        </para>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="zend.controller.request.http">
        <title>HTTP Requests</title>

        <sect3 id="zend.controller.request.http.dataacess">
            <title>Accessing Request Data</title>

            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname> encapsulates access to
                relevant values such as the key name and value for the
                controller and action router variables, and all additional
                parameters parsed from the <acronym>URI</acronym>. It additionally allows access to
                values contained in the superglobals as public members, and
                manages the current Base <acronym>URL</acronym> and Request <acronym>URI</acronym>.
                Superglobal values cannot be set on a request object, instead use the
                <methodname>setParam()</methodname> and <methodname>getParam()</methodname> methods
                to set or retrieve user parameters.
            </para>

            <note>
                <title>Superglobal Data</title>

                <para>
                    When accessing superglobal data through
                    <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname> as public member
                    properties, it is necessary to keep in mind that the
                    property name (superglobal array key) is matched to a
                    superglobal in a specific order of precedence: 1. <constant>GET</constant>, 2.
                    <constant>POST</constant>, 3. <constant>COOKIE</constant>, 4.
                    <constant>SERVER</constant>, 5. <constant>ENV</constant>.
                </para>
            </note>

            <para>
                Specific superglobals can be accessed using a public method as
                an alternative. For example, the raw value of
                <varname>$_POST['user']</varname> can be accessed by calling
                <methodname>getPost('user')</methodname> on the request object. These
                include <methodname>getQuery()</methodname> for retrieving
                <varname>$_GET</varname> elements, and <methodname>getHeader()</methodname> for
                retrieving request headers.
            </para>

            <note>
                <title>GET and POST Data</title>

                <para>
                    Be cautious when accessing data from the request object as
                    it is not filtered in any way. The router and dispatcher
                    validate and filter data for use with their tasks, but leave
                    the data untouched in the request object.
                </para>
            </note>

            <note>
                <title>Retrieving the Raw POST Data</title>

                <para>
                    As of 1.5.0, you can also retrieve the raw post data via the
                    <methodname>getRawBody()</methodname> method. This method returns
                    <constant>FALSE</constant> if no data was submitted in that fashion, but the
                    full body of the post otherwise.
                </para>

                <para>
                    This is primarily useful for accepting content when
                    developing a RESTful <acronym>MVC</acronym> application.
                </para>
            </note>

            <para>
                You may also set user parameters in the request object using
                <methodname>setParam()</methodname> and retrieve these later using
                <methodname>getParam()</methodname>. The router makes use of this
                functionality to set parameters matched in the request <acronym>URI</acronym> into
                the request object.
            </para>

            <note>
                <title>getParam() Retrieves More than User Parameters</title>

                <para>
                    In order to do some of its work, <methodname>getParam()</methodname> actually
                    retrieves from several sources. In order of priority, these
                    include: user parameters set via <methodname>setParam()</methodname>,
                    <constant>GET</constant> parameters, and finally <constant>POST</constant>
                    parameters. Be aware of this when pulling data via this
                    method.
                </para>

                <para>
                    If you wish to pull only from parameters you set via
                    <methodname>setParam()</methodname>, use the
                    <methodname>getUserParam()</methodname>.
                </para>

                <para>
                    Additionally, as of 1.5.0, you can lock down which parameter
                    sources will be searched. <methodname>setParamSources()</methodname>
                    allows you to specify an empty array or an array with one or
                    more of the values '_GET' or '_POST' indicating which
                    parameter sources are allowed (by default, both are
                    allowed); if you wish to restrict access to only '_GET'
                    specify <methodname>setParamSources(array('_GET'))</methodname>.
                </para>
            </note>

            <note>
                <title>Apache Quirks</title>

                <para>
                    If you are using Apache's 404 handler to pass incoming
                    requests to the front controller, or using a PT flag with
                    rewrite rules, <varname>$_SERVER['REDIRECT_URL']</varname>
                    contains the <acronym>URI</acronym> you need, not
                    <varname>$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI']</varname>. If you are using such
                    a setup and getting invalid routing, you should use the
                    <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Apache404</classname> class instead
                    of the default <acronym>HTTP</acronym> class for your request object:
                </para>

                <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
$request = new Zend_Controller_Request_Apache404();
$front->setRequest($request);
]]></programlisting>

                <para>
                    This class extends the
                    <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname> class and simply
                    modifies the autodiscovery of the request <acronym>URI</acronym>. It can be
                    used as a drop-in replacement.
                </para>
            </note>
        </sect3>

        <sect3 id="zend.controller.request.http.baseurl">
            <title>Base Url and Subdirectories</title>

            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname> allows
                <classname>Zend_Controller_Router_Rewrite</classname> to be used in subdirectories.
                <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname> will attempt to automatically
                detect your base <acronym>URL</acronym> and set it accordingly.
            </para>

            <para>
                For example, if you keep your <filename>index.php</filename> in a
                webserver subdirectory named
                <filename>/projects/myapp/index.php</filename>, base <acronym>URL</acronym> (rewrite
                base) should be set to <filename>/projects/myapp</filename>. This string will
                then be stripped from the beginning of the path before
                calculating any route matches. This frees one from the necessity
                of prepending it to any of your routes. A route of
                <command>'user/:username'</command> will match <acronym>URI</acronym>s like
                <filename>http://localhost/projects/myapp/user/martel</filename> and
                <filename>http://example.com/user/martel</filename>.
            </para>

            <note>
                <title>URL Detection is Case Sensitive</title>

                <para>
                    Automatic base <acronym>URL</acronym> detection is case sensitive, so make sure
                    your <acronym>URL</acronym> will match a subdirectory name in a filesystem (even
                    on Windows machines). If it doesn't, an exception will be raised.
                </para>
            </note>

            <para>
                Should base <acronym>URL</acronym> be detected incorrectly you can override it
                with your own base path with the help of the
                <methodname>setBaseUrl()</methodname> method of either the
                <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname> class, or the
                <classname>Zend_Controller_Front</classname> class. The easiest
                method is to set it in <classname>Zend_Controller_Front</classname>,
                which will proxy it into the request object. Example usage to
                set a custom base <acronym>URL</acronym>:
            </para>

            <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
/**
 * Dispatch Request with custom base URL with Zend_Controller_Front.
 */
$router     = new Zend_Controller_Router_Rewrite();
$controller = Zend_Controller_Front::getInstance();
$controller->setControllerDirectory('./application/controllers')
           ->setRouter($router)
           ->setBaseUrl('/projects/myapp'); // set the base url!
$response   = $controller->dispatch();
]]></programlisting>
        </sect3>

        <sect3 id="zend.controller.request.http.method">
            <title>Determining the Request Method</title>

            <para>
                <methodname>getMethod()</methodname> allows you to determine the
                <acronym>HTTP</acronym> request method used to request the current resource.
                Additionally, a variety of methods exist that allow you to get
                boolean responses when asking if a specific type of request has
                been made:
            </para>

            <itemizedlist>
                <listitem><para><methodname>isGet()</methodname></para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><methodname>isPost()</methodname></para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><methodname>isPut()</methodname></para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><methodname>isDelete()</methodname></para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><methodname>isHead()</methodname></para></listitem>
                <listitem><para><methodname>isOptions()</methodname></para></listitem>
            </itemizedlist>

            <para>
                The primary use case for these is for creating RESTful <acronym>MVC</acronym>
                architectures.
            </para>
        </sect3>

        <sect3 id="zend.controller.request.http.ajax">
            <title>Detecting AJAX Requests</title>

            <para>
                <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Http</classname> has a rudimentary
                method for detecting <acronym>AJAX</acronym> requests:
                <methodname>isXmlHttpRequest()</methodname>. This method looks for an
                <acronym>HTTP</acronym> request header <emphasis>X-Requested-With</emphasis> with
                the value 'XMLHttpRequest'; if found, it returns <constant>TRUE</constant>.
            </para>

            <para>
                Currently, this header is known to be passed by default with the
                following JS libraries:
            </para>

            <itemizedlist>
                <listitem>
                    <para>Prototype and Scriptaculous (and libraries derived from Prototype)</para>
                </listitem>

                <listitem><para>Yahoo! UI Library</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>jQuery</para></listitem>
                <listitem><para>MochiKit</para></listitem>
            </itemizedlist>

            <para>
                Most <acronym>AJAX</acronym> libraries allow you to send custom
                <acronym>HTTP</acronym> request headers; if your library does not send this header,
                simply add it as a request header to ensure the
                <methodname>isXmlHttpRequest()</methodname> method works for you.
            </para>
        </sect3>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="zend.controller.request.subclassing">
        <title>Subclassing the Request Object</title>

        <para>
            The base request class used for all request objects is the abstract
            class <classname>Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract</classname>. At its most
            basic, it defines the following methods:
        </para>

        <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
abstract class Zend_Controller_Request_Abstract
{
    /**
     * @return string
     */
    public function getControllerName();

    /**
     * @param string $value
     * @return self
     */
    public function setControllerName($value);

    /**
     * @return string
     */
    public function getActionName();

    /**
     * @param string $value
     * @return self
     */
    public function setActionName($value);

    /**
     * @return string
     */
    public function getControllerKey();

    /**
     * @param string $key
     * @return self
     */
    public function setControllerKey($key);

    /**
     * @return string
     */
    public function getActionKey();

    /**
     * @param string $key
     * @return self
     */
    public function setActionKey($key);

    /**
     * @param string $key
     * @return mixed
     */
    public function getParam($key);

    /**
     * @param string $key
     * @param mixed $value
     * @return self
     */
    public function setParam($key, $value);

    /**
     * @return array
     */
     public function getParams();

    /**
     * @param array $array
     * @return self
     */
    public function setParams(array $array);

    /**
     * @param boolean $flag
     * @return self
     */
    public function setDispatched($flag = true);

    /**
     * @return boolean
     */
    public function isDispatched();
}
]]></programlisting>

        <para>
            The request object is a container for the request environment. The
            controller chain really only needs to know how to set and retrieve the
            controller, action, optional parameters, and dispatched status. By
            default, the request will search its own parameters using the
            controller or action keys in order to determine the controller and
            action.
        </para>

        <para>
            Extend this class, or one of its derivatives, when you need the
            request class to interact with a specific environment in order to
            retrieve data for use in the above tasks. Examples include <link
                linkend="zend.controller.request.http">the <acronym>HTTP</acronym>
                environment</link>, a <acronym>CLI</acronym> environment, or a
            <acronym>PHP</acronym>-GTK environment.
        </para>
    </sect2>
</sect1>
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