repo_zf1/documentation/manual/en/ref/project-structure.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!-- Reviewed: no -->
<appendix id="project-structure">
    <title>Recommended Project Structure for Zend Framework MVC Applications</title>

    <sect1 id="project-structure.overview">
        <title>Overview</title>

        <para>
            Many developers seek guidance on the best project structure for a Zend Framework project
            in a relatively flexible environment. A "flexible" environment is one in which the
            developer can manipulate their file systems and web server configurations as needed to
            achieve the most ideal project structure to run and secure their application. The
            default project structure will assume that the developer has such flexibility at their
            disposal.
        </para>

        <para>
            The following directory structure is designed to be maximally extensible for complex
            projects, while providing a simple subset of folder and files for project with simpler
            requirements. This structure also works without alteration for both modular and
            non-modular Zend Framework applications. The <filename>.htaccess</filename> files
            require <acronym>URL</acronym> rewrite functionality in the web server as described in
            the <link linkend="project-structure.rewrite">Rewrite Configuration Guide</link>, also
            included in this appendix.
        </para>

        <para>
            It is not the intention that this project structure will support all possible Zend
            Framework project requirements. The default project profile used by
            <classname>Zend_Tool</classname> reflect this project structure, but applications with
            requirements not supported by this structure should use a custom project profile.
        </para>
    </sect1>

    <sect1 id="project-structure.project">
        <title>Recommended Project Directory Structure</title>

        <programlisting language="text"><![CDATA[
<project name>/
    application/
        configs/
            application.ini
        controllers/
            helpers/
        forms/
        layouts/
            filters/
            helpers/
            scripts/
        models/
        modules/
        services/
        views/
            filters/
            helpers/
            scripts/
        Bootstrap.php
    data/
        cache/
        indexes/
        locales/
        logs/
        sessions/
        uploads/
    docs/
    library/
    public/
        css/
        images/
        js/
        .htaccess
        index.php
    scripts/
        jobs/
        build/
    temp/
    tests/
]]></programlisting>

        <para>
            The following describes the use cases for each directory as listed.
        </para>

        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>application/</filename></emphasis>: This directory contains
                    your application. It will house the <acronym>MVC</acronym> system, as well as
                    configurations, services used, and your bootstrap file.
                </para>

                <itemizedlist>
                    <listitem>
                        <para>
                            <emphasis><filename>configs/</filename></emphasis>: The
                            application-wide configuration directory.
                        </para>
                    </listitem>

                    <listitem>
                        <para>
                            <emphasis><filename>controllers/</filename></emphasis>,
                            <emphasis><filename>models/</filename></emphasis>, and
                            <emphasis><filename>views/</filename></emphasis>: These directories
                            serve as the default controller, model or view directories. Having
                            these three directories inside the application directory provides the
                            best layout for starting a simple project as well as starting a modular
                            project that has global <filename>controllers/models/views</filename>.
                        </para>
                    </listitem>

                    <listitem>
                        <para>
                            <emphasis><filename>controllers/helpers/</filename></emphasis>: These
                            directories will contain action helpers. Action helpers will be
                            namespaced either as "<classname>Controller_Helper_</classname>" for
                            the default module or "&lt;Module&gt;_Controller_Helper" in other
                            modules.
                        </para>
                    </listitem>

                    <listitem>
                        <para>
                            <emphasis><filename>layouts/</filename></emphasis>: This layout
                            directory is for <acronym>MVC</acronym>-based layouts. Since
                            <classname>Zend_Layout</classname> is capable of
                            <acronym>MVC</acronym>- and non-<acronym>MVC</acronym>-based layouts,
                            the location of this directory reflects that layouts are not on a
                            1-to-1 relationship with controllers and are independent of templates
                            within <filename>views/</filename>.
                        </para>
                    </listitem>

                    <listitem>
                        <para>
                            <emphasis><filename>modules/</filename></emphasis>: Modules allow a
                            developer to group a set of related controllers into a logically
                            organized group. The structure under the modules directory would
                            resemble the structure under the application directory.
                        </para>
                    </listitem>

                    <listitem>
                        <para>
                            <emphasis><filename>services/</filename></emphasis>: This directory is
                            for your application specific web-service files that are provided by
                            your application, or for implementing a <ulink
                                url="http://www.martinfowler.com/eaaCatalog/serviceLayer.html">Service
                                Layer</ulink> for your models.
                        </para>
                    </listitem>

                    <listitem>
                        <para>
                            <emphasis><filename>Bootstrap.php</filename></emphasis>: This file is
                            the entry point for your application, and should implement
                            <classname>Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrapper</classname>.
                            The purpose for this file is to bootstrap the application and make
                            components available to the application by initializing them.
                        </para>
                    </listitem>
                </itemizedlist>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>data/</filename></emphasis>: This directory provides a
                    place to store application data that is volatile and possibly temporary. The
                    disturbance of data in this directory might cause the application to fail.
                    Also, the information in this directory may or may not be committed to a
                    subversion repository. Examples of things in this directory are session files,
                    cache files, sqlite databases, logs and indexes.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>docs/</filename></emphasis>: This directory contains
                    documentation, either generated or directly authored.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>library/</filename></emphasis>: This directory is for
                    common libraries on which the application depends, and should be on the
                    <acronym>PHP</acronym> <property>include_path</property>. Developers should
                    place their application's library code under this directory in a unique
                    namespace, following the guidelines established in the <acronym>PHP</acronym>
                    manual's <ulink
                        url="http://www.php.net/manual/en/userlandnaming.php">Userland Naming
                        Guide</ulink>, as well as those established by Zend itself. This
                    directory may also include Zend Framework itself; if so, you would house it in
                    <filename>library/Zend/</filename>.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>public/</filename></emphasis>: This directory contains all
                    public files for your application. <filename>index.php</filename> sets up and
                    invokes <classname>Zend_Application</classname>, which in turn invokes the
                    <filename>application/Bootstrap.php</filename> file, resulting in dispatching
                    the front controller. The web root of your web server would typically be set to
                    this directory.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>scripts/</filename></emphasis>: This directory contains
                    maintenance and/or build scripts. Such scripts might include command line,
                    cron, or phing build scripts that are not executed at runtime but are part of
                    the correct functioning of the application.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>temp/</filename></emphasis>: The <filename>temp/</filename>
                    folder is set aside for transient application data. This information would not
                    typically be committed to the applications svn repository. If data under the
                    <filename>temp/</filename> directory were deleted, the application should be
                    able to continue running with a possible decrease in performance until data is
                    once again restored or recached.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <emphasis><filename>tests/</filename></emphasis>: This directory contains
                    application tests. These could be hand-written, PHPUnit tests, Selenium-RC
                    based tests or based on some other testing framework. By default, library code
                    can be tested by mimicing the directory structure of your
                    <filename>library/</filename> directory. Additionally, functional tests for
                    your application could be written mimicing the
                    <filename>application/</filename> directory structure (including the
                    application subdirectory).
                </para>
            </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
    </sect1>

    <sect1 id="project-structure.filesystem">
        <title>Module Structure</title>

        <para>
            The directory structure for modules should mimic that of the
            <filename>application/</filename> directory in the recommended project structure:
        </para>

        <programlisting language="text"><![CDATA[
<modulename>
    configs/
        application.ini
    controllers/
        helpers/
    forms/
    layouts/
        filters/
        helpers/
        scripts/
    models/
    services/
    views/
        filters/
        helpers/
        scripts/
    Bootstrap.php
]]></programlisting>

        <para>
            The purpose of these directories remains exactly the same as for the recommended
            project directory structure.
        </para>
    </sect1>

    <sect1 id="project-structure.rewrite">
        <title>Rewrite Configuration Guide</title>

        <para>
            <acronym>URL</acronym> rewriting is a common function of <acronym>HTTP</acronym>
            servers. However, the rules and configuration differ widely between them. Below are
            some common approaches across a variety of popular web servers available at the time of
            writing.
        </para>

        <sect2 id="project-structure.rewrite.apache">
            <title>Apache HTTP Server</title>

            <para>
                All examples that follow use <property>mod_rewrite</property>, an official
                module that comes bundled with Apache. To use it,
                <property>mod_rewrite</property> must either be included at compile time or
                enabled as a Dynamic Shared Object (<acronym>DSO</acronym>). Please consult the
                <ulink url="http://httpd.apache.org/docs/">Apache documentation</ulink> for your
                version for more information.
            </para>

            <sect3 id="project-structure.rewrite.apache.vhost">
                <title>Rewriting inside a VirtualHost</title>

                <para>
                    Here is a very basic virtual host definition. These rules direct all requests
                    to <filename>index.php</filename>, except when a matching file is found under
                    the <property>document_root</property>.
                </para>

                <programlisting language="text"><![CDATA[
<VirtualHost my.domain.com:80>
    ServerName   my.domain.com
    DocumentRoot /path/to/server/root/my.domain.com/public

    RewriteEngine off

    <Location />
        RewriteEngine On
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
        RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
        RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
        RewriteRule ^.*$ /index.php [NC,L]
    </Location>
</VirtualHost>
]]></programlisting>

                <para>
                    Note the slash ("/") prefixing <filename>index.php</filename>; the rules for
                    <filename>.htaccess</filename> differ in this regard.
                </para>
            </sect3>

            <sect3 id="project-structure.rewrite.apache.htaccess">
                <title>Rewriting within a .htaccess file</title>

                <para>
                    Below is a sample <filename>.htaccess</filename> file that utilizes
                    <property>mod_rewrite</property>. It is similar to the virtual host
                    configuration, except that it specifies only the rewrite rules, and the leading
                    slash is omitted from <filename>index.php</filename>.
                </para>

                <programlisting language="text"><![CDATA[
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -s [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -l [OR]
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} -d
RewriteRule ^.*$ - [NC,L]
RewriteRule ^.*$ index.php [NC,L]
]]></programlisting>

                <para>
                    There are many ways to configure <property>mod_rewrite</property>; if you
                    would like more information, see Jayson Minard's <ulink
                        url="http://devzone.zend.com/a/70">Blueprint for PHP Applications:
                    Bootstrapping</ulink>.
                </para>
            </sect3>

        </sect2>

        <sect2 id="project-structure.rewrite.iis">
            <title>Microsoft Internet Information Server</title>

            <para>
                As of version 7.0, <acronym>IIS</acronym> now ships with a standard rewrite engine.
                You may use the following configuration to create the appropriate rewrite rules.
            </para>

            <programlisting language="xml"><![CDATA[
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<configuration>
    <system.webServer>
        <rewrite>
            <rules>
                <rule name="Imported Rule 1" stopProcessing="true">
                    <match url="^.*$" />
                    <conditions logicalGrouping="MatchAny">
                        <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}"
                             matchType="IsFile" pattern=""
                             ignoreCase="false" />
                        <add input="{REQUEST_FILENAME}"
                             matchType="IsDirectory"
                             pattern=""
                             ignoreCase="false" />
                    </conditions>
                    <action type="None" />
                </rule>
                <rule name="Imported Rule 2" stopProcessing="true">
                    <match url="^.*$" />
                    <action type="Rewrite" url="index.php" />
                </rule>
            </rules>
        </rewrite>
    </system.webServer>
</configuration>
]]></programlisting>
        </sect2>
    </sect1>
</appendix>