PHP GUI Framework Boiler Plate

Until I can get around to writing an installer for this, please just download the repository.

Setup

Download

git clone https://github.com/kingga/php-gui-template
cd php-gui-template
rm -rf .git # Linux/OS X
del /F /S /Q /A .git # Windows
rmdir .git # Windows
composer install

Run

php app.php
## Or for PHAR file.
php app.phar

Build

php gtool build

Overview

I'm not going to go into detail about MVC's as I expect you have some knowledge about them but I will give you a very simple idea of what they are.

Helpers

This boiler plate comes with a command line tool which allows you to quickly make things with your application. One command you may be familiar with already is the build command. Some other useful commands include:

# NOTE: Long descriptions are optional.
php gtool make controller ControllerName "Long Description"
php gtool make model ModelName "Long Description"

M - Model

The layer between the application and the database

To create a model, navigate to the Classes/Models directory and create a new file, ideally this should be named after the table. E.g. AppInfo becomes app_info. Add this basic structure to the file:

<?php
namespace Classes\Models;

use Kingga\Gui\Database\Model;

class TableName extends Model
{
}

On the odd case where you might want to name the class something other than the table you can define the property 'table'. E.g.

class FooModel extends Model
{
    protected $table = 'foo';
}

V - View

The design/visible section of the code, e.g. an HTML file

Views are still a work in progress but they are currently my main priority after other work commitments. To create a basic view, go into the resources/views directory and create a new file named first.blade.php and fill it with the following content.

<use class="Gui\Components\Window"></use>
<use class="Gui\Components\Label"></use>
<Window width="640" height="480" title="Hello, view!">
    <Label left="10" top="10">Hello, world!</Label>
</Window>

Then call it using the renderers render method.

$renderer->render('first');

// Or in a controller.
$request->getRenderer()->render('first');

C - Controller

Controllers control the flow of the application

The final piece of the puzzle is the controller; to create a controller navigate to the Classes/Controllers folder and add a new file FirstController.php and the following content to it.

<?php

namespace Classes\Controllers;

use Kingga\Gui\Routing\Request;

class FirstController
{
    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $request->getRenderer()->render('first');
    }
}

Now to actually run this go to your routes.php file in the base directory and add the following.

$router->create(function (RouteGroup $group) {
    // ...
    $group->route('first', 'FirstController@index');
    // ...
});

And then call the route from within the MainController@main method.

Note: that the main route is the starting point of the application.

class MainController
{
    public function main(Request $request)
    {
        $request->getRouter()->handle('first');
    }

    // ...
}

Now try to run your application.

TODO

A more details tutorial for each area needs to be built.