A Slim Based Project is basically extended over three main directories.
- Slim framework directory
- Project directory
This directory contains your project files like routers, views, models. Being a microframework, Slim is not restrictive on any particular project structure. This means that you are allowed to structure your project files in any way you like. This is particularly helpful in cases when developers are used to a particular folder structure. This directory can be stored anywhere on the server, but it should not be in a web accessible location. You can place it in the /usr/local or in your home folder. Like creating the project in a folder named HelloSlim, it could be located at /usr/local/HelloSlim or ~/HelloSlim or the location you like. Below is an example of how the files can be arranged:
HelloSlim
|- Routes
| |- route1.php
| |- route2.php
|- Models
| |- model1.php
| |- model2.php
|- Views
| |- footer.php
| |- header.php
| |- sidebar.php
| |- view1.php
| |- view2.php
|- Class
| |- class1.php
| |- class2.php
|- routes.php //contains ‘include’ statements for all routes in the ‘Routes’ folder
|- includes.php //contains ‘include’ statements for all models/classes in the ‘Models/Class’ folders
You can create this folder by executing the following commands:
mkdir /usr/local/HelloSlim
mkdir /usr/local/HelloSlim/Routes
mkdir /usr/local/HelloSlim/Models
mkdir /usr/local/HelloSlim/Views
mkdir /usr/local/HelloSlim/Class
- Document root/Public folder
This folder is accessible on the web (basically located at /var/www). This folder contains only two Slim related files:
- index.php
- .htaccess
The folder will contain all the projects scripts, style and image files.for organization purposes , you can divide those into the scripts,styles and images folders respectively.
Here is a sample structure of the document root folder:
Document Root (eg. /var/www/)
|- scripts
| |- jquery.min.js
| |- custom.js
|- styles
| |- style.css
| |- bootstrap.min.css
|- images
| |- logo.png
| |- banner.jpg
|- .htaccess
|- index.php
File Contents
If your file has the structure above , you will have to fill the .htaccess and index.php files ( in the document root ) with the following contents respectively:
.htaccess
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [QSA,L]
index.php
<?php
require ‘/usr/local/Slim/Slim.php’; //include the framework in the project
SlimSlim::registerAutoloader(); //register the autoloader
$projectDir = ‘/usr/local/HelloSlim’; //define the directory containing the project files
require “$projectDir/includes.php”; //include the file which contains all the project related includes
$app = new SlimSlim(array(
‘templates.path’ => ‘/usr/local/HelloSlim/Views’
)); //instantiate a new Framework Object and define the path to the folder that holds the views for this project
require “$projectDir/routes.php”; //include the file which contains all the routes/route inclusions
$app->run(); //load the application
To finish this tutorial assuming that the project has been arranged as per the folder structure defined in the previous section, the routes.php and includes.php files (in the project directory) should have the following contents:
routes.php
<?php
require ‘/usr/local/HelloSlim/Routes/route1.php’;
require ‘/usr/local/HelloSlim/Routes/route2.php’;
Note: You could create the routes directly in this file instead of including other files containing routes. Even though, defining routes in different, basically grouped files will make your project more maintainable.
includes.php
<?php
require “/usr/local/HelloSlim/Class/class1.php”;
require “/usr/local/HelloSlim/Class/class2.php”;
require “/usr/local/HelloSlim/Models/model1.php”;
require “/usr/local/HelloSlim/Models/model2.php”;
Sample Slim Application
Now that you know how to set up a Slim application, let’s create a simple application which does the following:
- Handles static Routes (GET & POST)
- Handles dynamic Routes
- Uses views
Note: This sample application will assume that Slim has been deployed as described above.
Let’s map out the requirements for this sample application:
Route Type Action
/hello GET (static) Displays a static View
/hello/NAME GET (dynamic) Displays a dynamic View
/greet POST Displays a View after a POST request
The project will require the following files to be created in the Application folder (/usr/local/HelloSlim/):
HelloSlim
|- Routes
| |- getRoutes.php
| |- postRoutes.php
|- Views
| |- footer.php
| |- header.php
| |- hello.php
| |- greet.php
|- routes.php
The public folder/document root will appear like the following:
Document Root (eg. /var/www/)
|- .htaccess
|- index.php
Now populate these files as follows:
- /var/www/.htaccess
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f
RewriteRule ^ index.php [QSA,L]
- /var/www/index.php
<?php
require ‘/usr/local/Slim/Slim.php’; //include the framework in the project
SlimSlim::registerAutoloader(); //register the autoloader
$projectDir = ‘/usr/local/HelloSlim’; //define the directory containing the project files
$app = new SlimSlim(array(
‘templates.path’ => ‘/usr/local/HelloSlim/Views’ )); //instantiate a new Framework Object and define the path to the folder that holds the views for this project
require “$projectDir/routes.php”; //include the file which contains all the routes/route inclusions
$app->run(); //load the application
- /usr/local/HelloSlim/Routes/getRoutes.php
<?php
$app->get(‘/’, function(){
echo ‘This is a simple starting page’;
});
//The following handles any request to the /hello route
$app->get(‘/hello’, function() use ($app){
// the following statement invokes and displays the hello.php View
$app->render(‘hello.php’);
});
//The following handles any dynamic requests to the /hello/NAME routes (like /hello/world)
$app->get(‘/hello/:name’, function($name) use ($app){
// the following statement invokes and displays the hello.php View. It also passes the $name variable in an array so that the view can use it.
$app->render(‘hello.php’, array(‘name’ => $name));
});
- /usr/local/HelloSlim/Routes/postRoutes.php
<?php
//The following handles the POST requests sent to the /greet route
$app->post(‘/greet’, function() use ($app){
//The following statement checks if ‘name’ has been POSTed. If it has, it assigns the value to the $name variable. If it hasn’t been set, it assigns a blank string.
$name = (null !== $app->request->post(‘name’))?$app->request->post(‘name’):”;
//The following statement checks if ‘greeting’ has been POSTed. If it has, it assigns the value to the $greeting variable. If it hasn’t been set, it assigns a blank string.
$greeting = (null !== $app->request->post(‘greeting’))?$app->request->post(‘greeting’):”;
// the following statement invokes and displays the ‘greet.php’ View. It also passes the $name & $greeting variables in an array so that the view can use them.
$app->render(‘greet.php’, array(
‘name’ => $name,
‘greeting’ => $greeting
));
});
- /usr/local/HelloSlim/Views/footer.php
<small>Copyright notice…</small>
</body>
</html>
- /usr/local/HelloSlim/Views/header.php
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<title>Sample Slim Application</title>
</head<
<body>
- /usr/local/HelloSlim/Views/hello.php
***
<?php include(‘header.php’); ?>
***
<h1>Hello <?php echo isset($name)?$name:”; ?></h1>
<!– The above line handles both the dynamic and the static GET routes that we implemented in the getRoutes.php file.
***
<h2>Send a greeting</h2>
<form method=’POST’ action=’/greet’>
<label>Name</label><br>
<input name=’name’ placeholder=’Who do you want to greet?’><br>
<label>Greeting</label><br>
<input name=’greeting’ placeholder=’Your greeting message’><br>
<input type=’submit’ value=’Greet!’>
</form>
***
<?php include(‘footer.php’); ?>
- /usr/local/HelloSlim/Views/greet.php
<?php
include(‘header.php’);
echo “<p>$greeting, $name</p><p><a href=’/hello’>First Page</a></p>”;
include(‘footer.php’);
- /usr/local/HelloSlim/routes.php
<?php
include ‘Routes/getRoutes.php’;
include ‘Routes/postRoutes.php’;
