repo_zf1/documentation/manual/en/module_specs/Zend_View-Introduction.xml

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
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<sect1 id="zend.view.introduction">
    <title>Introduction</title>

    <para>
        <classname>Zend_View</classname> is a class for working with the "view" portion of
        the model-view-controller pattern. That is, it exists to
        help keep the view script separate from the model and
        controller scripts. It provides a system of helpers, output
        filters, and variable escaping.
    </para>

    <para>
        <classname>Zend_View</classname> is template system agnostic; you may use
        <acronym>PHP</acronym> as your template language, or create instances of other
        template systems and manipulate them within your view
        script.
    </para>

    <para>
        Essentially, using <classname>Zend_View</classname> happens in two major steps:

        1. Your controller script creates an instance of
        <classname>Zend_View</classname> and assigns variables to that instance.

        2. The controller tells the <classname>Zend_View</classname> to render a particular
        view, thereby handing control over the view script, which
        generates the view output.
    </para>

    <sect2 id="zend.view.introduction.controller">
        <title>Controller Script</title>

        <para>
            As a simple example, let us say your controller has a list
            of book data that it wants to have rendered by a view. The
            controller script might look something like this:
        </para>

        <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
// use a model to get the data for book authors and titles.
$data = array(
    array(
        'author' => 'Hernando de Soto',
        'title' => 'The Mystery of Capitalism'
    ),
    array(
        'author' => 'Henry Hazlitt',
        'title' => 'Economics in One Lesson'
    ),
    array(
        'author' => 'Milton Friedman',
        'title' => 'Free to Choose'
    )
);

// now assign the book data to a Zend_View instance
Zend_Loader::loadClass('Zend_View');
$view = new Zend_View();
$view->books = $data;

// and render a view script called "booklist.php"
echo $view->render('booklist.php');
]]></programlisting>

    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="zend.view.introduction.view">

        <title>View Script</title>

        <para>
            Now we need the associated view script, "booklist.php".
            This is a <acronym>PHP</acronym> script like any other, with one exception: it
            executes inside the scope of the <classname>Zend_View</classname> instance, which
            means that references to $this point to the <classname>Zend_View</classname>
            instance properties and methods. (Variables assigned to the
            instance by the controller are public properties of the
            <classname>Zend_View</classname> instance). Thus, a very basic view script could
            look like this:
        </para>

        <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
 if ($this->books): ?>

    <!-- A table of some books. -->
    <table>
        <tr>
            <th>Author</th>
            <th>Title</th>
        </tr>

        <?php foreach ($this->books as $key => $val): ?>
        <tr>
            <td><?php echo $this->escape($val['author']) ?></td>
            <td><?php echo $this->escape($val['title']) ?></td>
        </tr>
        <?php endforeach; ?>

    </table>

<?php else: ?>

    <p>There are no books to display.</p>

<?php endif;?>
]]></programlisting>

        <para>
            Note how we use the "escape()" method to apply output
            escaping to variables.
        </para>

    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="zend.view.introduction.options">
        <title>Options</title>

        <para>
            <classname>Zend_View</classname> has several options that may be set to
            configure the behaviour of your view scripts.
        </para>

        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <property>basePath</property>: indicate a base path from which to set
                    the script, helper, and filter path. It assumes a directory
                    structure of:
                </para>

                <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
base/path/
    helpers/
    filters/
    scripts/
]]></programlisting>

                <para>
                    This may be set via <methodname>setBasePath()</methodname>,
                    <methodname>addBasePath()</methodname>, or the <property>basePath</property>
                    option to the constructor.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem><para>
                <property>encoding</property>: indicate the character encoding to use
                with <methodname>htmlentities()</methodname>,
                <methodname>htmlspecialchars()</methodname>, and other operations. Defaults
                to ISO-8859-1 (latin1). May be set via
                <methodname>setEncoding()</methodname> or the <property>encoding</property> option
                to the constructor.
            </para></listitem>

            <listitem><para>
                <property>escape</property>: indicate a callback to be used by
                <methodname>escape()</methodname>. May be set via
                <methodname>setEscape()</methodname> or the <property>escape</property> option to
                the constructor.
            </para></listitem>

            <listitem><para>
                <property>filter</property>: indicate a filter to use after rendering
                a view script. May be set via <methodname>setFilter()</methodname>,
                <methodname>addFilter()</methodname>, or the <property>filter</property> option to
                the constructor.
            </para></listitem>

            <listitem><para>
                <property>strictVars</property>: force <classname>Zend_View</classname> to emit
                notices and warnings when uninitialized view variables are
                accessed. This may be set by calling
                <methodname>strictVars(true)</methodname> or passing the
                <property>strictVars</property> option to the constructor.
            </para></listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="zend.view.introduction.shortTags">
        <title>Short Tags with View Scripts</title>

        <para>
            In our examples, we make use of <acronym>PHP</acronym> long tags:
            <emphasis>&lt;?php</emphasis>. We also favor the use of <ulink
                url="http://us.php.net/manual/en/control-structures.alternative-syntax.php">alternate
                syntax for control structures</ulink>. These are convenient shorthands to use when
            writing view scripts, as they make the constructs more terse, keep statements on single
            lines, and eliminate the need to hunt for brackets within HTML.
        </para>

        <para>
            In previous versions, we often recommended using short tags (<emphasis>&lt;?</emphasis>
            and <emphasis>&lt;?=</emphasis>), as they make the view scripts slightly less verbose.
            However, the default for the <filename>php.ini</filename>
            <constant>short_open_tag</constant> setting is typically off in production or on shared
            hosts -- making their use not terribly portable. If you use template
            <acronym>XML</acronym> in view scripts, short open tags will cause the templates to fail
            validation. Finally, if you use short tags when <constant>short_open_tag</constant> is
            off, the view scripts will either cause errors or simply echo PHP code back to the
            viewer.
        </para>

        <para>
            If, despite these warnings, you wish to use short tags but they are disabled, you have
            two options:
        </para>

        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
                <para>
                    Turn on short tags in your <filename>.htaccess</filename> file:
                </para>

                <programlisting language="apache"><![CDATA[
php_value "short_open_tag" "on"
]]></programlisting>

                <para>
                    This will only be possible if you are allowed to create and
                    utilize <filename>.htaccess</filename> files. This directive can
                    also be added to your <filename>httpd.conf</filename> file.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    Enable an optional stream wrapper to convert short tags to
                    long tags on the fly:
                </para>

        <programlisting language="php"><![CDATA[
$view->setUseStreamWrapper(true);
]]></programlisting>

                <para>
                    This registers <classname>Zend_View_Stream</classname> as a stream
                    wrapper for view scripts, and will ensure that your code
                    continues to work as if short tags were enabled.
                </para>
            </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>

        <warning>
            <title>View Stream Wrapper Degrades Performance</title>

            <para>
                Usage of the stream wrapper <emphasis>will</emphasis> degrade
                performance of your application, though actual benchmarks are
                unavailable to quantify the amount of degradation. We recommend
                that you either enable short tags, convert your scripts to use
                full tags, or have a good partial and/or full page content
                caching strategy in place.
            </para>
        </warning>
    </sect2>

    <sect2 id="zend.view.introduction.accessors">
        <title>Utility Accessors</title>

        <para>
            Typically, you'll only ever need to call on <methodname>assign()</methodname>,
            <methodname>render()</methodname>, or one of the methods for setting/adding
            filter, helper, and script paths. However, if you wish to extend
            <classname>Zend_View</classname> yourself, or need access to some of its
            internals, a number of accessors exist:
        </para>

        <itemizedlist>
            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>getVars()</methodname> will return all assigned variables.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>clearVars()</methodname> will clear all assigned variables;
                    useful when you wish to re-use a view object, but want to
                    control what variables are available.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>getScriptPath($script)</methodname> will retrieve the
                    resolved path to a given view script.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>getScriptPaths()</methodname> will retrieve all registered
                    script paths.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>getHelperPath($helper)</methodname> will retrieve the
                    resolved path to the named helper class.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>getHelperPaths()</methodname> will retrieve all registered
                    helper paths.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>getFilterPath($filter)</methodname> will retrieve the
                    resolved path to the named filter class.
                </para>
            </listitem>

            <listitem>
                <para>
                    <methodname>getFilterPaths()</methodname> will retrieve all registered
                    filter paths.
                </para>
            </listitem>
        </itemizedlist>
    </sect2>
</sect1>
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