Routing System

Overview

MINI uses a simple, convention-based routing system where URLs directly map to controller classes and methods. No route configuration files are needed—the framework automatically determines which code to execute based on the URL structure.

URL Structure

All URLs follow this pattern:

http://yoursite.com/controller/action/param1/param2/param3
                    └────┬────┘ └──┬──┘ └────────┬────────┘
                         │         │             │
                    Controller   Method      Parameters

Examples

URL	Controller	Method	Parameters
`/`	`home`	`index`	`[]`
`/songs`	`songs`	`index`	`[]`
`/songs/edit/5`	`songs`	`edit`	`['5']`
`/users/profile/john/settings`	`users`	`profile`	`['john', 'settings']`

If no controller is specified (root URL /), MINI defaults to the home controller’s index() method.

How Routing Works

1. URL Rewriting with .htaccess

Apache’s mod_rewrite converts clean URLs into a query parameter:

application/public/.htaccess

# Prevent directory listing
Options -MultiViews
Options -Indexes

# Enable URL rewriting
RewriteEngine On

# If the following conditions are true:
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-d  # Not a directory
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-f  # Not a file
RewriteCond %{REQUEST_FILENAME} !-l  # Not a symbolic link

# Rewrite the URL:
# /songs/edit/5 becomes index.php?url=songs/edit/5
RewriteRule ^(.+)$ index.php?url=$1 [QSA,L]

What this does:

Converts /songs/edit/5 → index.php?url=songs/edit/5
Preserves existing query strings with [QSA] (Query String Append)
Stops processing other rules with [L] (Last)
Only rewrites if the path isn’t an actual file/directory (allows CSS, JS, images to load normally)

2. URL Parsing with splitUrl()

The Application class parses the URL into components:

application/core/application.php

private function splitUrl()
{
    if (isset($_GET['url'])) {
        // Clean and split the URL
        $url = trim($_GET['url'], '/');
        $url = filter_var($url, FILTER_SANITIZE_URL);
        $url = explode('/', $url);
        
        // Extract components
        $this->url_controller = isset($url[0]) ? $url[0] : null;
        $this->url_action = isset($url[1]) ? $url[1] : null;
        
        // Remove controller and action from array
        unset($url[0], $url[1]);
        
        // Remaining elements are parameters
        $this->url_params = array_values($url);
    }
}

Example: URL songs/edit/5/preview

$this->url_controller = 'songs';
$this->url_action = 'edit';
$this->url_params = ['5', 'preview'];

3. Controller Resolution

The Application class determines which controller to load:

application/core/application.php

public function __construct()
{
    $this->splitUrl();
    
    // Case 1: No controller specified - load home
    if (!$this->url_controller) {
        require APP . 'controller/home.php';
        $page = new Home();
        $page->index();
    }
    // Case 2: Controller file exists
    elseif (file_exists(APP . 'controller/' . $this->url_controller . '.php')) {
        // Load and instantiate controller
        require APP . 'controller/' . $this->url_controller . '.php';
        $this->url_controller = new $this->url_controller();
        
        // Case 2a: Method exists - call it
        if (method_exists($this->url_controller, $this->url_action)) {
            if (!empty($this->url_params)) {
                // Call with parameters
                call_user_func_array(
                    array($this->url_controller, $this->url_action),
                    $this->url_params
                );
            } else {
                // Call without parameters
                $this->url_controller->{$this->url_action}();
            }
        }
        // Case 2b: No method specified - call index()
        else {
            if (strlen($this->url_action) == 0) {
                $this->url_controller->index();
            }
            // Case 2c: Method doesn't exist - error page
            else {
                header('location: ' . URL . 'problem');
            }
        }
    }
    // Case 3: Controller doesn't exist - error page
    else {
        header('location: ' . URL . 'problem');
    }
}

Routing Examples

Let’s trace how different URLs are handled:

Example 1: Root URL `/`

URL Rewriting

No $_GET['url'] parameter exists

splitUrl()

$this->url_controller = null;
$this->url_action = null;
$this->url_params = [];

Controller Resolution

Falls into “no controller” case:

require APP . 'controller/home.php';
$page = new Home();
$page->index();

Example 2: `/songs`

URL Rewriting

index.php?url=songs

splitUrl()

$this->url_controller = 'songs';
$this->url_action = null;
$this->url_params = [];

Controller Resolution

Controller file exists: application/controller/songs.php
Load and instantiate Songs class
No action specified, call index() method

Example 3: `/songs/deletesong/42`

URL Rewriting

index.php?url=songs/deletesong/42

splitUrl()

$this->url_controller = 'songs';
$this->url_action = 'deletesong';
$this->url_params = ['42'];

Controller Resolution

Controller exists: Songs
Method exists: deleteSong()
Call with parameters:

call_user_func_array(
    array($this->url_controller, 'deletesong'),
    ['42']
);

Which executes: Songs::deleteSong('42')

Real-World Routing Examples

Here’s how the songs controller handles different routes:

application/controller/songs.php

class Songs extends Controller
{
    // Route: /songs or /songs/index
    public function index()
    {
        $songs = $this->model->getAllSongs();
        $amount_of_songs = $this->model->getAmountOfSongs();
        
        require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
        require APP . 'view/songs/index.php';
        require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
    }
    
    // Route: /songs/editsong/5
    public function editSong($song_id)
    {
        if (isset($song_id)) {
            $song = $this->model->getSong($song_id);
            
            require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
            require APP . 'view/songs/edit.php';
            require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
        } else {
            header('location: ' . URL . 'songs/index');
        }
    }
    
    // Route: /songs/deletesong/5
    public function deleteSong($song_id)
    {
        if (isset($song_id)) {
            $this->model->deleteSong($song_id);
        }
        header('location: ' . URL . 'songs/index');
    }
}

Parameter Handling

Parameters are passed as method arguments:

// URL: /songs/deletesong/42
public function deleteSong($song_id)
{
    // $song_id = '42'
}

// URL: /users/profile/john/edit
public function profile($username, $action = 'view')
{
    // $username = 'john'
    // $action = 'edit'
}

All URL parameters are strings. Cast them to appropriate types:

public function deleteSong($song_id)
{
    $song_id = (int) $song_id;  // Cast to integer
    // ...
}

Generating URLs

Use the URL constant to generate links:

// Simple link
<a href="<?php echo URL; ?>songs">View Songs</a>

// Link with action
<a href="<?php echo URL; ?>songs/editsong/<?php echo $song->id; ?>">Edit</a>

// Form action
<form action="<?php echo URL; ?>songs/addsong" method="POST">
    <!-- form fields -->
</form>

The URL constant is defined in application/config/config.php:

define('URL', URL_PROTOCOL . URL_DOMAIN . URL_SUB_FOLDER);
// Example: //yoursite.com/myapp/

Method Name Conventions

Method names are case-insensitive in URLs. Both /songs/editSong and /songs/editsong work.

However, use camelCase in your controller methods for readability:

// Good: Clear and readable
public function editSong($song_id) { }
public function exampleOne() { }
public function addNewUser() { }

// Works but less readable
public function editsong($song_id) { }
public function exampleone() { }
public function addnewuser() { }

Debugging Routes

Uncomment these lines in splitUrl() to debug routing:

application/core/application.php

private function splitUrl()
{
    if (isset($_GET['url'])) {
        // ... URL parsing code ...
        
        // Debug output
        echo 'Controller: ' . $this->url_controller . '<br>';
        echo 'Action: ' . $this->url_action . '<br>';
        echo 'Parameters: ' . print_r($this->url_params, true) . '<br>';
    }
}

Error Handling

The framework redirects to /problem for:

Non-existent controllers
Non-existent methods (when an action is specified)
Missing required parameters (if your code checks for them)

Create a problem controller to display custom error pages:

application/controller/problem.php

class Problem extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        require APP . 'view/_templates/header.php';
        require APP . 'view/problem/index.php';
        require APP . 'view/_templates/footer.php';
    }
}

Limitations

Named routes: MINI doesn’t support named routes like Laravel or Symfony. URLs are tightly coupled to controller/method names.Route parameters: No regex constraints or type hints in routes. Validation must happen in controller methods.HTTP verbs: No built-in route filtering by HTTP method (GET, POST, etc.). Handle this in your controller:

public function deleteSong($song_id)
{
    if ($_SERVER['REQUEST_METHOD'] !== 'POST') {
        header('location: ' . URL . 'songs');
        exit;
    }
    // ...
}

Architecture

Understand the overall MVC structure

Controllers

Learn how to create controller methods

Configuration

Configure URL settings and .htaccess

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Deployment

Routing System

Overview

URL Structure

Examples

How Routing Works

1. URL Rewriting with .htaccess

2. URL Parsing with splitUrl()

3. Controller Resolution

Routing Examples

Example 1: Root URL `/`

Example 2: `/songs`

Example 3: `/songs/deletesong/42`

Real-World Routing Examples

Parameter Handling

Generating URLs

Method Name Conventions

Debugging Routes

Error Handling

Limitations

Architecture

Controllers

Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Get Started

Core Concepts

Guides

Deployment

​Overview

​URL Structure

​Examples

​How Routing Works

​1. URL Rewriting with .htaccess

​2. URL Parsing with splitUrl()

​3. Controller Resolution

​Routing Examples

​Example 1: Root URL /

​Example 2: /songs

​Example 3: /songs/deletesong/42

​Real-World Routing Examples

​Parameter Handling

​Generating URLs

​Method Name Conventions

​Debugging Routes

​Error Handling

​Limitations

​Related Documentation

Architecture

Controllers

Configuration

Build docs developers (and LLMs) love

Overview

URL Structure

Examples

How Routing Works

1. URL Rewriting with .htaccess

2. URL Parsing with splitUrl()

3. Controller Resolution

Routing Examples

Example 1: Root URL `/`

Example 2: `/songs`

Example 3: `/songs/deletesong/42`

Real-World Routing Examples

Parameter Handling

Generating URLs

Method Name Conventions

Debugging Routes

Error Handling

Limitations

Related Documentation