Easiest way to map route in PHP

Question

I was browsing Symfony\'s website. I didn\'t really feel like I need all the functionality the framework offers, but I did like the routing part. It allows you to specify URL pa

Answer 1

I have made my own mini-framework with the same routing syntax. Here's what I do:

1. Use MOD_REWRITE to store the parameters (like /some/path/{info}) in a $_GET variable I call params:

   RewriteRule ^(.+)(\?.+)?$ index.php?params=$1 [L,QSA]

2. Parse the parameters and store them globally using this function:

public static function parseAndGetParams() {

        // get the original query string

        $params = !empty($_GET['params']) ? $_GET['params'] : false;

        // if there are no params, set to false and return
        if(empty($params)) {
            return false;
        }

        // append '/' if none found
        if(strrpos($params, '/') === false) $params .= '/';

        $params = explode('/', $params);
        // take out the empty element at the end
        if(empty($params[count($params) - 1])) array_pop($params);

        return $params;
    }

3. Route to the proper page dynamically:

   // get the base page string, must be done after params are parsed
   public static function getCurPage() {
       global $params;
   
       // default is home
       if(empty($params))
       return self::PAGE_HOME;
       // see if it is an ajax request
       else if($params[0] == self::PAGE_AJAX)
       return self::PAGE_AJAX;
       // see if it is a multi param page, and if not, return error
       else {
           // store this, as we are going to use it in the loop condition
           $numParams = count($params);
   
           // initialize to full params array
           $testParams = $params;
           // $i = number of params to include in the current page name being checked, {1, .., n}
           for($i = $numParams; $i > 0; $i--) {
               // get test page name
               $page = strtolower(implode('/', $testParams));
   
               // if the page exists, return it
               if(self::pageExists($page))
                   return $page;
   
               // pop the last param off
               array_pop($testParams);
           }
   
           // page DNE go to error page
           return self::PAGE_ERROR;
       }
   }
   

The value here is that it looks for the most specific page to the least specific page. Also, workout outside of a framework gives you complete control so if there's a bug somewhere, you know you can fix it - you don't have to look up some weird workaround in your framework.

So now that $params is global, any page that uses a parameter simply calls $params[X] to work with it. Friendly URLs without a framework.

The way I add pages then is I put them into an array that is looked at in the pageExists($page) call.

For AJAX calls, I put in a special IF:

// if ajax, include it and finish
if($page == PageHelper::PAGE_AJAX) {
    PageHelper::includeAjaxPage();
    $db->disconnect();
    exit;
}

And voila - your own micro routing framework.