Modular PHP

[Hayden Kirk]

Hey guys

I am about to write some back end software for my business. I want a system
that I can create invoices, clients etc... I can do this no problem. However
I want to write it in modules so its extendable in the future.

Like someone else can write a module for it and it can plug stright into my
system. I can't figure out a good way to do this in php. I was thinking of
hooks or something, but PHP does not support this.

Does PHP 5 have anything like this? Or does anyone else know a good way to
do it in PHP 4?

Any info appreciated.

Thanks

[Julien CROUZET aka c2c]

Re: Modular PHP

Hayden Kirk a pensé très fort :[color=blue]
> Hey guys
>
> I am about to write some back end software for my business. I want a system
> that I can create invoices, clients etc... I can do this no problem. However
> I want to write it in modules so its extendable in the future.
>
> Like someone else can write a module for it and it can plug stright into my
> system. I can't figure out a good way to do this in php. I was thinking of
> hooks or something, but PHP does not support this.
>
> Does PHP 5 have anything like this? Or does anyone else know a good way to
> do it in PHP 4?
>
> Any info appreciated.
>
> Thanks[/color]

You have several ways to do it, the worst way to do it is simply pass
the
code given to an eval(), but it is not a really good thing IMHO.

The best "PHP" way is to implement an objet loader, so you write your
modules
in a class, and your core application loads it with a $object = new
"ModuleName ";
which of course can be replaced by a $object = new $Module_Name;

Another "hard" way would be to code (in C) you modules, according to
ZEND and PHP API,
(see http://www.php.net/manual/en/zend.php and
http://www.php.net/manual/en/api.php), so
you could load it with dl()

Good luck.

--
Julien CROUZET aka c2c
julien_|at|_syn ten.com

[CountScubula]

Re: Modular PHP

"Hayden Kirk" <spam@spam.co m> wrote in message
news:xSE%b.2864 2$ws.3224053@ne ws02.tsnz.net.. .[color=blue]
> Hey guys
>
> I am about to write some back end software for my business. I want a[/color]
system[color=blue]
> that I can create invoices, clients etc... I can do this no problem.[/color]
However[color=blue]
> I want to write it in modules so its extendable in the future.
>
> Like someone else can write a module for it and it can plug stright into[/color]
my[color=blue]
> system. I can't figure out a good way to do this in php. I was thinking of
> hooks or something, but PHP does not support this.
>
> Does PHP 5 have anything like this? Or does anyone else know a good way to
> do it in PHP 4?
>
> Any info appreciated.
>
> Thanks
>
>[/color]

Well, you first need to outline what kind of things you will want to have
available as a plug in, and define a way of comunicating with them, sorta
like an API. you cant just have people writing code and expect it to
intergrate. An example would be photoshop, you can write a plug in for
images, but you can not write a plugin to change the way the photoshop
interface works.


So, you must decide what you want others to be able to controll, and define
a way to pass data back and forth. Also, you must define how you want that
module to be active, 2 aproaches:

Aproach 1:
have an ini.php file and have a lines that read such as this:
$modules['style'] = "genaric.ph p";

And allow people to edit the ini file and change the module 'generic.php'


Aproach 2:
set up a loader function, that will include all files in a directory

This way, one only has to replace the style file in that directory.


Now this is to replace functionality to a site, if you want to add
functionality you will need to decide how you want to add items, for
example, tools, addition pages etc.. This basicaly meens you need to do a
good outline of what you want to acomplish first, then go from there.

--
Mike Bradley
http://www.gzentools.com -- free online php tools

[Hayden Kirk]

Re: Modular PHP

What im finding hard is the API

Im use to Windows C++ Programming with API, this is much harded to do in
PHP. How can I catch an event in PHP. Is there a way, like, if someone
executes a function a module can pick that up and see what is happening,
like in Windows?

I have a basic outline of how I want to do this, but ill save you the time.
I just can't get my head around making modules interact with my system that
im going to design. I hope you get what I mean?

Say if I print an invoice, I have an invoice module that someone else has
created, can this pickup on that event?

Thanks in advanced.


"CountScubu la" <me@scantek.hot mail.com> wrote in message
news:H1O%b.1797 1$4f3.13236@new ssvr29.news.pro digy.com...[color=blue]
> "Hayden Kirk" <spam@spam.co m> wrote in message
> news:xSE%b.2864 2$ws.3224053@ne ws02.tsnz.net.. .[color=green]
> > Hey guys
> >
> > I am about to write some back end software for my business. I want a[/color]
> system[color=green]
> > that I can create invoices, clients etc... I can do this no problem.[/color]
> However[color=green]
> > I want to write it in modules so its extendable in the future.
> >
> > Like someone else can write a module for it and it can plug stright into[/color]
> my[color=green]
> > system. I can't figure out a good way to do this in php. I was thinking[/color][/color]
of[color=blue][color=green]
> > hooks or something, but PHP does not support this.
> >
> > Does PHP 5 have anything like this? Or does anyone else know a good way[/color][/color]
to[color=blue][color=green]
> > do it in PHP 4?
> >
> > Any info appreciated.
> >
> > Thanks
> >
> >[/color]
>
> Well, you first need to outline what kind of things you will want to have
> available as a plug in, and define a way of comunicating with them, sorta
> like an API. you cant just have people writing code and expect it to
> intergrate. An example would be photoshop, you can write a plug in for
> images, but you can not write a plugin to change the way the photoshop
> interface works.
>
>
> So, you must decide what you want others to be able to controll, and[/color]
define[color=blue]
> a way to pass data back and forth. Also, you must define how you want that
> module to be active, 2 aproaches:
>
> Aproach 1:
> have an ini.php file and have a lines that read such as this:
> $modules['style'] = "genaric.ph p";
>
> And allow people to edit the ini file and change the module 'generic.php'
>
>
> Aproach 2:
> set up a loader function, that will include all files in a directory
>
> This way, one only has to replace the style file in that directory.
>
>
> Now this is to replace functionality to a site, if you want to add
> functionality you will need to decide how you want to add items, for
> example, tools, addition pages etc.. This basicaly meens you need to do a
> good outline of what you want to acomplish first, then go from there.
>
> --
> Mike Bradley
> http://www.gzentools.com -- free online php tools
>
>[/color]

[Tony Marston]

Re: Modular PHP

I suggest you read one of the many books that has been written about PHP and
how to write dynamic web sites. This is really too big a topic to answer in
a newsgroup posting. Just visit amazon.com and type in "PHP" in the search
box and you will astounded by the number and variety of books available.

One thing you have to be aware of when you are attempting to learn a
different language (as opposed to learning your first language) is that IT
WILL BE DIFFERENT from what you already know, so don't expect them to be the
same, to have the same functions, to have the same structure, the same
whatever.

Tony Marston

http://www.tonymarston.net

"Hayden Kirk" <spam@spam.co m> wrote in message
news:cGO%b.2867 9$ws.3231965@ne ws02.tsnz.net.. .[color=blue]
> What im finding hard is the API
>
> Im use to Windows C++ Programming with API, this is much harded to do in
> PHP. How can I catch an event in PHP. Is there a way, like, if someone
> executes a function a module can pick that up and see what is happening,
> like in Windows?
>
> I have a basic outline of how I want to do this, but ill save you the[/color]
time.[color=blue]
> I just can't get my head around making modules interact with my system[/color]
that[color=blue]
> im going to design. I hope you get what I mean?
>
> Say if I print an invoice, I have an invoice module that someone else has
> created, can this pickup on that event?
>
> Thanks in advanced.
>
>
> "CountScubu la" <me@scantek.hot mail.com> wrote in message
> news:H1O%b.1797 1$4f3.13236@new ssvr29.news.pro digy.com...[color=green]
> > "Hayden Kirk" <spam@spam.co m> wrote in message
> > news:xSE%b.2864 2$ws.3224053@ne ws02.tsnz.net.. .[color=darkred]
> > > Hey guys
> > >
> > > I am about to write some back end software for my business. I want a[/color]
> > system[color=darkred]
> > > that I can create invoices, clients etc... I can do this no problem.[/color]
> > However[color=darkred]
> > > I want to write it in modules so its extendable in the future.
> > >
> > > Like someone else can write a module for it and it can plug stright[/color][/color][/color]
into[color=blue][color=green]
> > my[color=darkred]
> > > system. I can't figure out a good way to do this in php. I was[/color][/color][/color]
thinking[color=blue]
> of[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > hooks or something, but PHP does not support this.
> > >
> > > Does PHP 5 have anything like this? Or does anyone else know a good[/color][/color][/color]
way[color=blue]
> to[color=green][color=darkred]
> > > do it in PHP 4?
> > >
> > > Any info appreciated.
> > >
> > > Thanks
> > >
> > >[/color]
> >
> > Well, you first need to outline what kind of things you will want to[/color][/color]
have[color=blue][color=green]
> > available as a plug in, and define a way of comunicating with them,[/color][/color]
sorta[color=blue][color=green]
> > like an API. you cant just have people writing code and expect it to
> > intergrate. An example would be photoshop, you can write a plug in for
> > images, but you can not write a plugin to change the way the photoshop
> > interface works.
> >
> >
> > So, you must decide what you want others to be able to controll, and[/color]
> define[color=green]
> > a way to pass data back and forth. Also, you must define how you want[/color][/color]
that[color=blue][color=green]
> > module to be active, 2 aproaches:
> >
> > Aproach 1:
> > have an ini.php file and have a lines that read such as this:
> > $modules['style'] = "genaric.ph p";
> >
> > And allow people to edit the ini file and change the module[/color][/color]
'generic.php'[color=blue][color=green]
> >
> >
> > Aproach 2:
> > set up a loader function, that will include all files in a directory
> >
> > This way, one only has to replace the style file in that directory.
> >
> >
> > Now this is to replace functionality to a site, if you want to add
> > functionality you will need to decide how you want to add items, for
> > example, tools, addition pages etc.. This basicaly meens you need to do[/color][/color]
a[color=blue][color=green]
> > good outline of what you want to acomplish first, then go from there.
> >
> > --
> > Mike Bradley
> > http://www.gzentools.com -- free online php tools
> >
> >[/color]
>
>[/color]

[CountScubula]

Re: Modular PHP

"Hayden Kirk" <spam@spam.co m> wrote in message
news:cGO%b.2867 9$ws.3231965@ne ws02.tsnz.net.. .[color=blue]
> What im finding hard is the API
>
> Im use to Windows C++ Programming with API, this is much harded to do in
> PHP. How can I catch an event in PHP. Is there a way, like, if someone
> executes a function a module can pick that up and see what is happening,
> like in Windows?
>
> I have a basic outline of how I want to do this, but ill save you the[/color]
time.[color=blue]
> I just can't get my head around making modules interact with my system[/color]
that[color=blue]
> im going to design. I hope you get what I mean?
>
> Say if I print an invoice, I have an invoice module that someone else has
> created, can this pickup on that event?
>
> Thanks in advanced.[/color]


When I say API, I mean you should create your own. Lets take your invoice
routine for example.

May ways to do this, one is just pass all data via an array, simple example:

$strArray['name'] = "john Doe";
$strArray['skus']['1']['prod_id'] = "01";
$strArray['skus']['1']['desc'] = "Some Widget";
$strArray['skus']['1']['price'] = "1995";


then call the function doCreateInvoice ($strArray)
this function will exist in solely in a php file, that can be replaced my
another programmer.

Another way to do it, is to have your invoice routine call documented
functions, and keep those functions in a seperate file, that can be replaced
by the user.

You have to define how the iunteraction is going to work, there are no hooks
as in Visual C++

Create your own API, document it, and have those functions in thier own .php
files, and let users replace those files with thier own.

Or, look for the existance of a file, say plugin.php if its thier, include
it, and look for predifend functions, if there, call them, this is work
around for hooking functions.

--
Mike Bradley
http://www.gzentools.com -- free online php tools

[Henk Verhoeven]

Re: Modular PHP

Alternatively you could do it the XP way, i mean:
- think of a metaphor of what the system should be like
- write down some requirements,
- Write unit tests first
- Build the simpelest thing that could possibly work
- extend to meet more requirements
- Refactor whenever you find youself writing the same or similar code a
second time

With XP there is no difference between development and maintenance, so
when later you find new requirements, just go on extending and
refactoring. So far it's all on http://www.extremeprogramming.org/
and http://www.xprogramming.com/

If you want plugins, after some time you can do meta-xp: See if there
is a pattern in your extensions and refactorings. Analyze it, design a
plugin api for it. Make it the simpelest plugin api that could possibly
work. Write plugin api tests, refactor to make the new tests run (and
the old ones too, of course). Extend and refactor as new patterns emerge.

Of course all this does not tell you how to design & code. But all
design really comes down to getting rid of repeated code. You could just
start doing it and learn as you go. (But reading some books and articles
will probably pay of soon enough, so you can do that too)

Greetings,

Henk Verhoeven, MetaClass.




CountScubula wrote:
[color=blue]
> "Hayden Kirk" <spam@spam.co m> wrote in message
> news:xSE%b.2864 2$ws.3224053@ne ws02.tsnz.net.. .
>[color=green]
>>Hey guys
>>
>>I am about to write some back end software for my business. I want a[/color]
>
> system
>[color=green]
>>that I can create invoices, clients etc... I can do this no problem.[/color]
>
> However
>[color=green]
>>I want to write it in modules so its extendable in the future.
>>
>>Like someone else can write a module for it and it can plug stright into[/color]
>
> my
>[color=green]
>>system. I can't figure out a good way to do this in php. I was thinking of
>>hooks or something, but PHP does not support this.
>>
>>Does PHP 5 have anything like this? Or does anyone else know a good way to
>>do it in PHP 4?
>>
>>Any info appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks
>>
>>[/color]
>
>
> Well, you first need to outline what kind of things you will want to have
> available as a plug in, and define a way of comunicating with them, sorta
> like an API. you cant just have people writing code and expect it to
> intergrate. An example would be photoshop, you can write a plug in for
> images, but you can not write a plugin to change the way the photoshop
> interface works.
>
>
> So, you must decide what you want others to be able to controll, and define
> a way to pass data back and forth. Also, you must define how you want that
> module to be active, 2 aproaches:
>
> Aproach 1:
> have an ini.php file and have a lines that read such as this:
> $modules['style'] = "genaric.ph p";
>
> And allow people to edit the ini file and change the module 'generic.php'
>
>
> Aproach 2:
> set up a loader function, that will include all files in a directory
>
> This way, one only has to replace the style file in that directory.
>
>
> Now this is to replace functionality to a site, if you want to add
> functionality you will need to decide how you want to add items, for
> example, tools, addition pages etc.. This basicaly meens you need to do a
> good outline of what you want to acomplish first, then go from there.
>
> --
> Mike Bradley
> http://www.gzentools.com -- free online php tools
>
>[/color]

[Chung Leong]

Re: Modular PHP

Uzytkownik "Hayden Kirk" <spam@spam.co m> napisal w wiadomosci
news:cGO%b.2867 9$ws.3231965@ne ws02.tsnz.net.. .[color=blue]
> Im use to Windows C++ Programming with API, this is much harded to do in
> PHP. How can I catch an event in PHP. Is there a way, like, if someone
> executes a function a module can pick that up and see what is happening,
> like in Windows?[/color]

Huh? I didn't know you can do that in Win32. You mean using SendMessage() or
SetEvent()? It's been quite a while since I last looked at MFC.
[color=blue]
> I have a basic outline of how I want to do this, but ill save you the[/color]
time.[color=blue]
> I just can't get my head around making modules interact with my system[/color]
that[color=blue]
> im going to design. I hope you get what I mean?[/color]

If you can't get your head around it, then maybe it's the wrong solution.
Frankly speaking, it usually a bad sign when a programmer ponders his time
away on a particular solution instead of thinking about how to solve the
problem at hand.
[color=blue]
> Say if I print an invoice, I have an invoice module that someone else has
> created, can this pickup on that event?[/color]

You don't need that kind of decoupling in web programming. Don't makes
things more complicate than it needs to be. PHP programming is fairly simple
in general. At the end of the day, all you're doing is printing out some
HTML code. If want to print an invoice, just build an HTML template of the
invoice and stick in the numbers.

When I build a site I like to take the outside-in approach: start with a
visual mock-up, then fill in page by page the necessary functionalities ,
writing lower level functions as the need arises. The inside-out approach
would start from some kind of a foundation and you work your way towards the
final result. This, I've found, usually doesn't work.

[Terence]

Re: Modular PHP

Hayden Kirk wrote:
[color=blue]
> What im finding hard is the API
>
> Im use to Windows C++ Programming with API, this is much harded to do in
> PHP. How can I catch an event in PHP. Is there a way, like, if someone
> executes a function a module can pick that up and see what is happening,
> like in Windows?
>
> I have a basic outline of how I want to do this, but ill save you the time.
> I just can't get my head around making modules interact with my system that
> im going to design. I hope you get what I mean?
>
> Say if I print an invoice, I have an invoice module that someone else has
> created, can this pickup on that event?
>
> Thanks in advanced.
>[/color]

I'm doing some work on an opensource PHP framework which supports the
modularity you are speaking of. I haven't release the event-handling
component yet but if you are still interested, send me an email and I
will send you the source.

Everything is done with XML, so you will want to be familiar with XSLT
to use the framework (I detest proprietary templating systems).

Basically it listens for cirtain post(or other hash) variables that you
declare (these are the events) in an XML file which looks like so.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<xao:RequestM ap
xao:xmlns="http ://xao-php.sourceforge .net/schema/xao_1-0.xsd">

<xao:RequestS et ReqName="GameTa sks">
<xao:Request ReqValue="round s" Handler="Handle _GT_rounds" />
<xao:Request ReqValue="edit" Handler="Handle _GT_edit" />
<xao:Request ReqValue="close " Handler="Handle _GT_close" />
<xao:Request ReqValue="playe rs" Handler="Handle _GT_players" />
<xao:Request ReqValue="docs" Handler="Handle _GT_docs" />
<xao:Request ReqValue="add" Handler="Handle _GT_add" />
</xao:RequestSet>

</xao:RequestMap>

In the above example you might be delacring events for the variable
$_REQUEST["GameTasks"] but if you like, you could do

$arrRequests = $_POST;
or $arrRequests = $_REQUEST;
or $arrRequests = $_COOKIE;
or $arrRequests = $_POST["arrEvents"];
(where <select name="arrEvents[]" />)

It really doesn't matter where you get the hash from. The framework
checks the value of the "GameTasks" item (in this case) and then calls
the function itentified by the Handler attribute in the above XML,
passing the $arrRequests to it.

This is how it is called.
$objReqMap = new RequestMap("Req uestMap.xml");
$objReqMap->ExecuteRequest s(
new HandleGameEdit( ...),
$arrRequests
);


In this case, the module would be the HandleGameEdit class which
contains methods named after those in the Handler attributes. Here's
what a module make look like...

class HandleGameEdit extends HandlerBase {

function HandleGameEdit( &$objHost) {
$this->HandlerBase($o bjHost);
}

function Handle_GE_updat e($arrReq) {
$this->objHost->objLgDb->UpdateGame(
$arrReq["game_id"],
$arrReq["title"],
$arrReq["start_ts"],
$arrReq["end_ts"],
$arrReq["summary"]
);
}
}

You could call ExecuteRequests multiple times, if you want to, with
different modules (object instances) which might implement an arbitary
selection of the declared event-handlers.

http://xao-php.sourceforge.net/

when it is finally released.

I admit that some poeple may find this complex, but then you wouldn't be
using the RequestMap feature unless you were writing a complex app!

It's also worth noting that all the XML parsing for the request map
config file is only done once, it then creates a cache file containing a
serialize()d version of the (internal) array generated by the request
map file. So performance is quite good.
To update the request map config file with new modules, simply edit it,
then delete the cache file. (I could probably do this automatically by
checking the timestamp but that's overhead for every single hit - I'm
still considdering it).


email me for the current source if you're keen.

[Terence]

Re: Modular PHP

Hayden Kirk wrote:

You might also want to check out Apache Avalon

http://avalon.apache.org

This is worth a read for ANY programmer.

[Brandon Blackmoor]

Re: Modular PHP

Terence wrote:[color=blue]
>
> http://avalon.apache.org
> This is worth a read for ANY programmer.[/color]

Good link! Thanks.

bblackmoor
2004-03-22

[Terence]

Re: Modular PHP

Brandon Blackmoor wrote:
[color=blue]
> Terence wrote:
>[color=green]
>>
>> http://avalon.apache.org
>> This is worth a read for ANY programmer.[/color]
>
>
> Good link! Thanks.
>
> bblackmoor
> 2004-03-22[/color]

You're welcome. I discovered it while doing some research into the
cocoon platform which uses avalon heavily.

Man, I gotta say, Cocoon is just nuts!!!
I won't be writting any new apps in PHP for a while.
(sac relig)

Apparently there is a PHP5 port called Papoon but I don't know how the
hell they will keep up. Cocoon is so modular in so many dimensions,
people are bunging new functionalities on all the time. It will take a
very very long time for popoon to build a codebase and community like
cocoon. Then there's cocoon's integration to EJBs.

Cocoon has a large learning curve though. PHP is probably better for
small apps than cocoon but I haven't seen anything in the way of
frameworks anywhere else which comes close. Forget Struts. I've been up
till 4:30am every morning this week (since last Saturday) reading up on
it. The sitemap, generaters, aggregators, XSPs and logic sheets -- fully
nuts!


How about this for a cataclysmic shift in web application development????

http://cocoon.apache.org/2.1/userdocs/flow/index.html

(use the menu on the left to navigate to subsections. at least read the
"continuati ons" page or you won't get the gist).
more info.

http://wiki.cocoondev.org/Wiki.jsp?page=WhatIsFlow

ASP.net is famous and heavily promoted for it's event driven and
"control" based architecture. Cocoon and ControlFlow makes ASP.net look
like a wet piece of toilet paper.

I'm looking forward to building some XUL apps with it. "There is only
Cocoon"

[Tony Marston]

Re: Modular PHP

If you want a PHP development infrastructure that is based around the 3 tier
architecture (separate layers for presentation, business logic and data
access) plus a variation of the MVC (Model-View-Controller) design pattern
then take a look at

http://www.tonymarston.co.uk/php-mysql/infrastructure.html

In this infrastructure I also generate all HTML from XML and XSL by making
use of a library of reusable stylesheets and templates.

I have read articles on Cocoon, but I find that it is typical of the Java
world - over-complicated and over-engineered.

--
Tony Marston

http://www.tonymarston.net

"Terence" <tk.lists@fastm ail.fm> wrote in message news:4061435a$1 @herald...[color=blue]
> Brandon Blackmoor wrote:
>[color=green]
> > Terence wrote:
> >[color=darkred]
> >>
> >> http://avalon.apache.org
> >> This is worth a read for ANY programmer.[/color]
> >
> >
> > Good link! Thanks.
> >
> > bblackmoor
> > 2004-03-22[/color]
>
> You're welcome. I discovered it while doing some research into the
> cocoon platform which uses avalon heavily.
>
> Man, I gotta say, Cocoon is just nuts!!!
> I won't be writting any new apps in PHP for a while.
> (sac relig)
>
> Apparently there is a PHP5 port called Papoon but I don't know how the
> hell they will keep up. Cocoon is so modular in so many dimensions,
> people are bunging new functionalities on all the time. It will take a
> very very long time for popoon to build a codebase and community like
> cocoon. Then there's cocoon's integration to EJBs.
>
> Cocoon has a large learning curve though. PHP is probably better for
> small apps than cocoon but I haven't seen anything in the way of
> frameworks anywhere else which comes close. Forget Struts. I've been up
> till 4:30am every morning this week (since last Saturday) reading up on
> it. The sitemap, generaters, aggregators, XSPs and logic sheets -- fully
> nuts!
>
>
> How about this for a cataclysmic shift in web application development????
> http://cocoon.apache.org/2.1/userdocs/flow/index.html
> (use the menu on the left to navigate to subsections. at least read the
> "continuati ons" page or you won't get the gist).
> more info.
> http://wiki.cocoondev.org/Wiki.jsp?page=WhatIsFlow
>
> ASP.net is famous and heavily promoted for it's event driven and
> "control" based architecture. Cocoon and ControlFlow makes ASP.net look
> like a wet piece of toilet paper.
>
> I'm looking forward to building some XUL apps with it. "There is only
> Cocoon"[/color]

[Terence]

Re: Modular PHP

Tony Marston wrote:[color=blue]
> If you want a PHP development infrastructure that is based around the 3 tier
> architecture (separate layers for presentation, business logic and data
> access) plus a variation of the MVC (Model-View-Controller) design pattern
> then take a look at
> http://www.tonymarston.co.uk/php-mys...structure.html
>[/color]

I had a read through this. It is very good. On the first pass, it looks
a bit prescriptive but I can't say that I understand it fully without
having actually used it to write a real-life application.
[color=blue]
> In this infrastructure I also generate all HTML from XML and XSL by making
> use of a library of reusable stylesheets and templates.
>[/color]

hooray! someone who doesn't believe in using proprietary templating systems.

I've managed to accrue some XSL widgets but I haven't had the time to
organise them into a propper library yet.
[color=blue]
> I have read articles on Cocoon, but I find that it is typical of the Java
> world - over-complicated and over-engineered.
>[/color]

I have to say, when I first looked at cocoon, I was quite put-off by
having to learn the site map and I thought it was over-engeneered. But
since I actually invested some time into learning it, I have to say,
it's a joy to be able to produce results so quickly and easily. My
theory is that complexity is OK -- AS LONG AS IT IS JUSTIFIED.

In fact, you don't even need to have a firm grasp of Java to be able to
use it. Indeed there are many cases where no code is needed (other than
XSLT). You just declare stuff in the sitemap and everything just works.
As a newbie, I have immediately enjoyed the benefits of:

1) taking FULL advantage of the URL request space to declare patterns
for dealing with a scenario group. ie.
<map:match pattern="*.xml" type="wildcard" >
<map:generate src="xsp/{1}.xsp" type="serverpag es"/>
<map:serializ e type="xml"/>
</map:match>
<map:match pattern="(logon |basicSearchFor m)" type="regexp">
<map:aggregat e element="layout ">
<map:part src="cocoon:/getMenu.xml"/>
<map:part src="content/static/{1}.xml"/>
</map:aggregate>
<!-- one global template which includes display logic moduels
for difference business scenarios - plus widgets and other
common things like navigation -->
<map:transfor m src="stylesheet s/global.xsl"/>
<map:serializ e type="html"/>
</map:match>
<map:match pattern="*">
<map:aggregat e element="layout ">
<map:part src="cocoon:/getMenu.xml"/>
<map:part src="cocoon:/{1}.xml"/>
</map:aggregate>
<map:transfor m src="stylesheet s/global.xsl"/>
<map:serializ e/>
</map:match>
And guess what! They have a <map:generate type="PHP"/>
for more information, see

http://cocoon.apache.org/2.1/userdocs/matchers/matchers.html

2) When I'm not using PHP to generate my source content, I have the ease
and simplicity of a templating language which is much like PHP. In fact,
you can choose which language to use including Java, Python (Jython).

3) Because XSP is 100% XML compliant (which can't be said for PHP), I
can create XSL templates which produce XSP based on tags I invented (or,
by leveraging XPath, even complex scenarous of other tags). These are
know as logicsheets (as opposed to "style"shee ts).

http://cocoon.apache.org/2.1/userdocs/xsp/logicsheet.html

4) I can ignore XSPs alltogether if I don't like template based
scripting and I have a penchant for 100% Java OO applications. I can
just write my own genertors or actions. Doing so is NOT an "advanced"
technique, but just basic standard programming. Same goes for
transformers and serilize.

5) If I don't like using selectors in my sitemap (which IMHO are a bit
clumsy), I can use a "propper" programming paradigm to code my
controller. I can just pretend HTTP is a connection based protocol and
issue commands such as cocoon.sendPage AndWait("myPage .html",objConte xt);

http://cocoon.apache.org/2.1/userdocs/flow/tutor.html

This, I have not seen anywhere in web development before.

Yes, Cocoon is complex. Yes, Cocoon has a big learning curve. Yes, it is
worth the effort to learn. With great power comes great responsibility.
No, there is not much effort in building apps -- even tiny ones. and No,
you don't need to have Java experience (but it helps).

The main reason why I am embracing Cocoon, it because of the way it was
written -- using Avalon's Component Oriented Programming.

http://avalon.apache.org

This means it is oh so simple for me to extend the framework with my own
Java code -- and there are extension points a-plenty in cocoon :)
Cocoon is more of an implementation of a "publishing " design pattern
which is concept oriented rather than implementation oriented. It
provides a logical structure for massive expansion to be handled in an
orderly fashion.

Hence all the high-level functionality that comes bundled with it (for
instance, XMLDB generators and logic sheets).

[Hayden Kirk]

Re: Modular PHP

Just what I was after,

Thanks alot :)

- Hayden

"Tony Marston" <tony@NOSPAM.de mon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:c3rn61$2h$ 1$830fa17d@news .demon.co.uk...[color=blue]
> If you want a PHP development infrastructure that is based around the 3[/color]
tier[color=blue]
> architecture (separate layers for presentation, business logic and data
> access) plus a variation of the MVC (Model-View-Controller) design pattern
> then take a look at
> http://www.tonymarston.co.uk/php-mys...structure.html
>
> In this infrastructure I also generate all HTML from XML and XSL by making
> use of a library of reusable stylesheets and templates.
>
> I have read articles on Cocoon, but I find that it is typical of the Java
> world - over-complicated and over-engineered.
>
> --
> Tony Marston
>
> http://www.tonymarston.net
>
>
>
> "Terence" <tk.lists@fastm ail.fm> wrote in message[/color]
news:4061435a$1 @herald...[color=blue][color=green]
> > Brandon Blackmoor wrote:
> >[color=darkred]
> > > Terence wrote:
> > >
> > >>
> > >> http://avalon.apache.org
> > >> This is worth a read for ANY programmer.
> > >
> > >
> > > Good link! Thanks.
> > >
> > > bblackmoor
> > > 2004-03-22[/color]
> >
> > You're welcome. I discovered it while doing some research into the
> > cocoon platform which uses avalon heavily.
> >
> > Man, I gotta say, Cocoon is just nuts!!!
> > I won't be writting any new apps in PHP for a while.
> > (sac relig)
> >
> > Apparently there is a PHP5 port called Papoon but I don't know how the
> > hell they will keep up. Cocoon is so modular in so many dimensions,
> > people are bunging new functionalities on all the time. It will take a
> > very very long time for popoon to build a codebase and community like
> > cocoon. Then there's cocoon's integration to EJBs.
> >
> > Cocoon has a large learning curve though. PHP is probably better for
> > small apps than cocoon but I haven't seen anything in the way of
> > frameworks anywhere else which comes close. Forget Struts. I've been up
> > till 4:30am every morning this week (since last Saturday) reading up on
> > it. The sitemap, generaters, aggregators, XSPs and logic sheets -- fully
> > nuts!
> >
> >
> > How about this for a cataclysmic shift in web application[/color][/color]
development????[color=blue][color=green]
> > http://cocoon.apache.org/2.1/userdocs/flow/index.html
> > (use the menu on the left to navigate to subsections. at least read the
> > "continuati ons" page or you won't get the gist).
> > more info.
> > http://wiki.cocoondev.org/Wiki.jsp?page=WhatIsFlow
> >
> > ASP.net is famous and heavily promoted for it's event driven and
> > "control" based architecture. Cocoon and ControlFlow makes ASP.net look
> > like a wet piece of toilet paper.
> >
> > I'm looking forward to building some XUL apps with it. "There is only
> > Cocoon"[/color]
>
>[/color]