Skip to main content

​
Overview

ForkBB is built on a Model-View-Controller (MVC) architecture with a powerful dependency injection container at its core. The framework emphasizes separation of concerns, testability, and extensibility.

​
Core Components

Container

Service container for dependency injection

Router

URL routing and link generation

Models

Data layer and business logic

Controllers

Request handling and orchestration

Views

Template rendering system

Events

Event-driven architecture

​
Application Bootstrap Flow

The application starts from bootstrap.php, which initializes the framework and handles requests:
app/bootstrap.php
// 1. Load dependencies
$loader = require __DIR__ . '/../vendor/autoload.php';
$errorHandler = new ErrorHandler();

// 2. Initialize container with configuration
if (\is_file(__DIR__ . '/config/main.php')) {
    $c = new Container(include __DIR__ . '/config/main.php');
} elseif (\is_file(__DIR__ . '/config/install.php')) {
    $c = new Container(include __DIR__ . '/config/install.php');
} else {
    throw new RuntimeException('Application is not configured');
}

// 3. Setup error handling
$errorHandler->setContainer($c);
\ForkBB\_init($c);

// 4. Configure URLs (https/http detection)
if (!empty($_SERVER['HTTPS']) && 'off' !== \strtolower($_SERVER['HTTPS'])) {
    $c->BASE_URL = \str_replace('http://', 'https://', $c->BASE_URL);
} else {
    $c->BASE_URL = \str_replace('https://', 'http://', $c->BASE_URL);
}

// 5. Dispatch bootstrap event
$c->dispatcher = new EventDispatcher($c);
$event = new Event('bootstrap:start');
$event->controllers = ['Primary', 'Routing'];
$c->dispatcher->dispatch($event);

// 6. Execute controllers to get page
foreach ($event->controllers as $controller) {
    $page = $c->{$controller};
    if ($page instanceof Page) {
        break;
    }
}

// 7. Calculate online users
if (null !== $page->onlinePos) {
    $c->Online->calc($page);
}

// 8. Prepare page for rendering
if (null !== $page->nameTpl) {
    $page->prepare();
}

// 9. Close database connection
if ($c->isInit('DB')) {
    if ($c->DB->inTransaction()) {
        $c->DB->commit();
    }
    $c->DB->disconnect();
}

// 10. Render template and output
$tpl = $c->View->rendering($page);
exit($tpl ?? 0);
The bootstrap process follows a clear lifecycle: Initialize → Configure → Route → Execute → Render → Output

​
Directory Structure

app/
├── bootstrap.php          # Application entry point
├── config/                # Configuration files
│   ├── main.dist.php     # Main configuration template
│   ├── install.php       # Installation configuration
│   └── db/               # Database-specific configs
├── Controllers/           # Controller classes
│   ├── Primary.php       # Primary controller
│   ├── Routing.php       # Route definitions
│   ├── Install.php       # Installation controller
│   └── Update.php        # Update controller
├── Core/                  # Core framework components
│   ├── Container.php     # Dependency injection
│   ├── Router.php        # URL routing
│   ├── View.php          # Template engine
│   ├── DB.php            # Database layer
│   ├── EventDispatcher.php
│   └── ...
├── Models/                # Data models
│   ├── Model.php         # Base model class
│   ├── DataModel.php     # Model with change tracking
│   ├── Page.php          # Base page model
│   ├── User/             # User models
│   ├── Forum/            # Forum models
│   ├── Topic/            # Topic models
│   └── Post/             # Post models
├── templates/             # View templates
│   ├── _default/         # Default theme
│   └── _user/            # User-customizable theme
├── lang/                  # Language files
├── cache/                 # Cache directory
└── log/                   # Log files

public/                    # Web root
├── index.php             # Web entry point
├── style/                # CSS and assets
└── img/                  # Images

​
Request Lifecycle

1

Request Entry

Browser request hits public/index.php → includes app/bootstrap.php
2

Container Initialization

Load configuration → Create service container → Register services
3

Routing

Router matches URL to controller action → Extract parameters
4

Controller Execution

Controller receives request → Interacts with models → Returns Page object
5

Page Preparation

Page object sets template, title, breadcrumbs, navigation, etc.
6

View Rendering

View system compiles and renders template with page data
7

Response Output

HTTP headers sent → HTML output to browser

​
Design Patterns

​
Dependency Injection

All services are registered in the container and lazily instantiated: 
// Services automatically receive the container
class MyService {
    public function __construct(protected Container $c) {}
    
    public function doSomething() {
        $db = $this->c->DB;      // Lazy loading
        $user = $this->c->user;  // Current user
    }
}

​
Active Record Pattern

Models represent both data and behavior: 
$user = $c->users->load(123);
$user->username = 'NewName';
$user->email = '[email protected]';
$c->users->update($user);

​
Event-Driven Architecture

Extensions can hook into application lifecycle: 
$event = new Event('topic:create:after');
$event->topic = $topic;
$c->dispatcher->dispatch($event);

​
Performance Considerations

Services are only instantiated when first accessed, reducing memory usage and startup time.
View templates are compiled to PHP and cached. Cache is automatically invalidated when templates change.
Uses PDO with prepared statements. Queries are optimized with proper indexing.
Full support for PHP opcode caching (OPcache). Automatically invalidates when code changes.

​
Configuration Architecture

Configuration is hierarchical and supports:
  • Environment-specific settings (development, production)
  • Service definitions (shared and multiple instances)
  • Parameter substitution using %param% syntax
  • Factory methods using @service:method syntax
'shared' => [
    'DB' => [
        'class'    => \ForkBB\Core\DB::class,
        'dsn'      => '%DB_DSN%',
        'username' => '%DB_USERNAME%',
        'password' => '%DB_PASSWORD%',
        'options'  => '%DB_OPTIONS%',
        'prefix'   => '%DB_PREFIX%',
    ],
]

​
Next Steps

Routing System

Learn how URLs are mapped to controllers

Models

Understand the data layer

Controllers

Create request handlers

Views

Work with templates

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get started for freeTalk to us