Creating a new Module

• Creating a new Module
  • File structure
    • Main directories
  • Create a simple controller
    • Controller Class
  • Routing

This article will cover the Module creation steps in DotKernel 3.

Notes:

• The dotkernel/dot-controller Module is used, so make sure you read its documentation before continuing.
• This tutorial is for illustration purposes on, which means that no, or basic, functoinaly may be implemented.
• This tutorial focuses on the steps required in order to create a Module.

File structure

It is a good practice to standardize the Module’s format.

Main directories

• src - may contain the source code files.
• templates - may contain the page templates and layouts.

Create a simple controller

In your projects’s src folder, create a new directory. This directory represents your “Module”. Everything related to the Module should be in that folder.

Controller Class

The controller can be created from scratch or extend DotKernel’s AbstractActionController. We recommend using AbstractActionController as the dispatching is already implemented.

The nameing standard is VendorName\ModuleName

The namespace should be: Frontend\MyModule

Since we are a creating a controller it is strongly recommended to group controllers in the same namespace. Frontend\MyModule\Controller\MyModuleController

The class should look like this

<?php

namespace Frontend\Blog\Controller;

use Dot\Controller\AbstractActionController;
use Zend\Diactoros\Response\HtmlResponse;

class MyModuleController extends AbstractActionController
{
    public function indexAction() : ResponseInterface
    {
        return new HtmlResponse('ok');
    }
}

You may have noticed the Action part on the function. Every method that’s accessible through an endpoint will have to be suffixed with Action, as this is what the dispatching controller will request.

Routing

Routes are the backbones of the application, and will be how the outer world communicated with the Module.

Routes can be added and removed from the same global config file. config/routes.php, but may also be declared on a module-level through the ConfigProvider of your Module.

The skeleton of a route looks like this, $app->route(Url[/action], [Class], [Methods], 'routeName');

An actual route could look like this:

$app->route('/contact[/{action}]', [ContactController::class], ['GET', 'POST'], 'contact');

Accessing /contact/show, would then invoke the ContactControllers showAction method.