Serve multiple pages from 1 PHP file?

Question

So basically i am struggling with the need of optimizing my code for some project of mine. Currently i have pages like add_company.php, view_company.php

Answer 1

This is pretty simple stuff. It should look something like this:

//index.php
if (!isset($_GET['page']))
    {
    require('index_contents.php');
    }
else if ($_GET['page'] == 'company')
    {
    if (!isset($_GET['action']))
        {
        require('company_contents.php');
        }
    else if ($_GET['action'] == 'edit')
        {
        require('edit_company.php');
        }
    else if ($_GET['action'] == 'add')
        {
        require('add_company.php');
        }
    else
        {
        require('company_contents.php');
        }
    }
else
    {
    require('index_contents.php');
    }

Answer 2

You could use POST instead of GET with index.php:

<?php

require($_POST['action'] . ".php");

?>

This would hide the action type from the user, acting as though it is a single page. However, it may require using a form in your navigation as opposed to linking direct to "company.php?action=edit".

Answer 3

I always prefer using a switch statement for the $_GET variable. Its my personal preference to put all the logic pertaining to one entity (in this case company) in a single PHP file because I generally deal with tons of entities. If you want a MVC model, this might not be what you are looking for. Just my 2 cents.

// Common page header
// Other stuff common in the pages

$page_to_load = $_GET[view];

switch($page_to_load) {

case 'view':
//Logic to view or HTML for view
break;

case 'add':
//Logic to add or HTML for add
break;

}
// Common footer etc..

Answer 4

A very easy solution would be to just use includes.

if ($_GET["action"] == "view") {
  require("action_view.php");
} else if ...

(of course, you might want to use a switch statement, if you have lots of different page types)

Then action_view.php contains just the code for the specific page.

Better, but also more complicated solutions, would be an object oriented approach (abstract Page class with Factory Pattern) or forthright a good framework and template engine.

Answer 5

You could make company.php

<?php

$allowed = array('add', 'view', 'edit');

if ( ! isset($_GET['action'])) {
   die('missing param');
}

$action = $_GET['action'];

if ( ! in_array($action, $allowed)) {
   die('invalid');
}



require $action . '_' . __FILE__;

Quick and dirty, but should work :) You could place this code in any file, and it will work straight away.

With a bit of modification, you could make this your front controller with index.php.