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Page Types#

AbstractPage#

The default implementation for pages to present any sort of content, but are designed to handle GET requests only. They usually follow a fixed method chain that will be invoked one after another, adding logical sections to the request flow.

Method Chain#

__run()#

This is the only method being invoked from the outside and starts the whole chain.

readParameters()#

Reads and sanitizes request parameters, this should be the only method to ever read user-supplied input. Read data should be stored in class properties to be accessible at a later point, allowing your code to safely assume that the data has been sanitized and is safe to work with.

A typical example is the board page from the forum app that reads the id and attempts to identify the request forum.

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public function readParameters() {
    parent::readParameters();

    if (isset($_REQUEST['id'])) $this->boardID = intval($_REQUEST['id']);
    $this->board = BoardCache::getInstance()->getBoard($this->boardID);
    if ($this->board === null) {
        throw new IllegalLinkException();
    }

    // check permissions
    if (!$this->board->canEnter()) {
        throw new PermissionDeniedException();
    }
}

Events readParameters

show()#

Used to be the method of choice to handle permissions and module option checks, but has been used almost entirely as an internal method since the introduction of the properties $loginRequired, $neededModules and $neededPermissions.

Events checkModules, checkPermissions and show

readData()#

Central method for data retrieval based on class properties including those populated with user data in readParameters(). It is strongly recommended to use this method to read data in order to properly separate the business logic present in your class.

Events readData

assignVariables()#

Last method call before the template engine kicks in and renders the template. All though some properties are bound to the template automatically, you still need to pass any custom variables and class properties to the engine to make them available in templates.

Following the example in readParameters(), the code below adds the board data to the template.

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public function assignVariables() {
    parent::assignVariables();

    WCF::getTPL()->assign([
        'board' => $this->board,
        'boardID' => $this->boardID
    ]);
}

Events assignVariables

AbstractForm#

Extends the AbstractPage implementation with additional methods designed to handle form submissions properly.

Method Chain#

__run()#

Inherited from AbstractPage.

readParameters()#

Inherited from AbstractPage.

show()#

Inherited from AbstractPage.

submit()#

The methods submit() up until save() are only invoked if either $_POST or $_FILES are not empty, otherwise they won't be invoked and the execution will continue with readData().

This is an internal method that is responsible of input processing and validation.

Events submit

readFormParameters()#

This method is quite similar to readParameters() that is being called earlier, but is designed around reading form data submitted through POST requests. You should avoid accessing $_GET or $_REQUEST in this context to avoid mixing up parameters evaluated when retrieving the page on first load and when submitting to it.

Events readFormParameters

validate()#

Deals with input validation and automatically catches exceptions deriving from wcf\system\exception\UserInputException, resulting in a clean and consistent error handling for the user.

Events validate

save()#

Saves the processed data to database or any other source of your choice. Please keep in mind to invoke $this->saved() before resetting the form data.

Events save

saved()#

This method is not called automatically and must be invoked manually by executing $this->saved() inside save().

The only purpose of this method is to fire the event saved that signals that the form data has been processed successfully and data has been saved. It is somewhat special as it is dispatched after the data has been saved, but before the data is purged during form reset. This is by default the last event that has access to the processed data.

Events saved

readData()#

Inherited from AbstractPage.

assignVariables()#

Inherited from AbstractPage.


Last update: 2021-01-08