Skip to main content

​
View

The View class handles template rendering with support for layouts, components, and dynamic data injection.

​
Namespace

Sphp\Core\View

​
Methods

​
render()

Renders a view file with optional data and processes template directives. 
public static function render($filename, $data = [])
​
filename
string
required
The view filename relative to ../app/views/ directory (e.g., 'home.php', 'users/profile.php')
​
data
array
default:"[]"
Associative array of variables to extract and make available in the view
​
void
void
Renders the view directly to output. If the view file is not found, renders 404.html

​
Behavior

  • Extracts the $data array into individual variables accessible in the view
  • Processes template directives (@layout, @component) before rendering
  • Evaluates the resulting PHP content
  • Renders 404.html if the view file doesn’t exist

​
Example

use Sphp\Core\View;

// Simple view rendering
View::render('home.php');

// View with data
View::render('profile.php', [
    'user' => $userData,
    'posts' => $userPosts
]);

// In the view file (profile.php):
// <?php echo $user['name']; ?>
// <?php foreach ($posts as $post): ?>
//   <h2><?php echo $post['title']; ?></h2>
// <?php endforeach; ?>

​
Template Directives

The View class supports special directives for including layouts and components.

​
@layout Directive

Includes a layout file from the ../app/views/layout/ directory with optional variables.

​
Syntax

@layout('layout-name')
@layout('layout-name', ['key' => 'value'])
​
layout-name
string
required
The layout filename without extension (e.g., 'main' looks for layout/main.php)
​
variables
array
Optional associative array of variables to pass to the layout

​
Example

// In your view file (page.php):
@layout('main', ['title' => 'Home Page', 'showNav' => true])

<div class="content">
    <h1>Welcome</h1>
</div>

// In layout/main.php:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title><?php echo $title ?? 'Default Title'; ?></title>
</head>
<body>
    <?php if ($showNav): ?>
        <nav>Navigation here</nav>
    <?php endif; ?>
    <!-- Page content is inserted here -->
</body>
</html>

​
@component Directive

Includes a component file from the app/views/components/ directory with optional data.

​
Syntax

@component('component-name')
@component('component-name', $variableName)
​
component-name
string
required
The component filename without extension (e.g., 'button' looks for components/button.php)
​
variableName
string
Variable name from the $data array to pass to the component (must start with $)

​
Example

// In your controller:
View::render('dashboard.php', [
    'user' => ['name' => 'John', 'role' => 'admin'],
    'stats' => ['posts' => 42, 'comments' => 128]
]);

// In dashboard.php:
@component('header', $user)
@component('stats-card', $stats)
@component('footer')

// In components/header.php:
<header>
    <h1>Welcome, <?php echo $name; ?></h1>
    <span>Role: <?php echo $role; ?></span>
</header>

// In components/stats-card.php:
<div class="stats">
    <p>Posts: <?php echo $posts; ?></p>
    <p>Comments: <?php echo $comments; ?></p>
</div>

​
View File Structure

Views are located in the ../app/views/ directory: 
app/
└── views/
    ├── home.php
    ├── users/
    │   ├── index.php
    │   └── profile.php
    ├── layout/
    │   ├── main.php
    │   └── admin.php
    ├── components/
    │   ├── header.php
    │   ├── footer.php
    │   └── button.php
    └── 404.html

​
Complete Example

​
Controller

namespace App\Controllers;

use Sphp\Core\Controller;
use Sphp\Core\View;

class BlogController extends Controller
{
    public function show($id)
    {
        $post = $this->db->query(
            'SELECT * FROM posts WHERE id = ?',
            [$id]
        );
        
        $comments = $this->db->query(
            'SELECT * FROM comments WHERE post_id = ? ORDER BY created_at DESC',
            [$id]
        );
        
        View::render('blog/post.php', [
            'post' => $post[0],
            'comments' => $comments,
            'pageTitle' => $post[0]['title']
        ]);
    }
}

​
View File (blog/post.php)

@layout('main', ['title' => $pageTitle])

<article>
    @component('breadcrumbs')
    
    <h1><?php echo htmlspecialchars($post['title']); ?></h1>
    <div class="content">
        <?php echo $post['content']; ?>
    </div>
    
    <section class="comments">
        <h2>Comments (<?php echo count($comments); ?>)</h2>
        <?php foreach ($comments as $comment): ?>
            @component('comment-card', $comment)
        <?php endforeach; ?>
    </section>
</article>

​
Important Notes

  1. File Paths: All view paths are relative to ../app/views/
  2. Layout Paths: Layouts are loaded from ../app/views/layout/
  3. Component Paths: Components are loaded from app/views/components/
  4. Variable Extraction: The $data array is automatically extracted using extract()
  5. 404 Handling: Missing view files automatically render 404.html
  6. Directive Processing: Directives are processed before PHP evaluation

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us