ZF3 PhpRenderer not finding template path - php

Question

I know there are dozen of questions about PHPRenderer not finding the path of a template, but I think the problem is quite different here.
First, the goal is to render a view to a variable in order to send it to a PDF Renderer (I use ZF3 TCPDF module). If there is any better way to do that, please tell me.
Here is roughly the architecture of the project: https://imgur.com/UhQ7hgP
In AlertAction() of ToolsController, I return the view like this, and it works, which make me think the template path is alright.
$view = new ViewModel();
$view->setTemplate('tools/tools/alert');
return $view;
However, when I try to render the same view with the same path in exportPDFAction(), it does not work and gives the following error.
Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer::render: Unable to render template "tools/tools/alert"; resolver could not resolve to a file
The code in exportPDFAction() is:
$view = new ViewModel();
$renderer = new PhpRenderer();
$view->setTemplate('tools/tools/alert');
$html = $renderer->render($view);
I assume the last line screws it as it is the difference, but I can't get why, does anyone have any clue ?
Quite all the topics about Template path on SO were talking about the template map in module.config.php, but I think this is not the problem here since it works perfectly in AlertAction().
EDIT
The PhpRenderer is injected in the controller directly in module.config.php:
'controllers' => [
'factories' => [
ToolsController::class => function($container) {
return new ToolsController(
$container->get(Adapter::class),
$container->get(\TCPDF::class),
$container->get(PhpRenderer::class)
);
},
],
],
EDIT 2
This is the controller constructor:
public function __construct($db, $tcpdf, $renderer)
{
$this->db = $db;
$this->tcpdf = $tcpdf;
$this->renderer = $renderer;
...
}

Answer 1

The error you're getting might be due to the fact your Renderer is not injected via the Factory.
Try:
class MyCustomControllerFactory implements FactoryInterface
{
public function __invoke(ContainerInterface $container, $requestedName, array $options = null)
{
/** #var \Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer $renderer */
$renderer = $container->get('ViewRenderer')
return new MyCustomController($renderer);
}
}
In the Controller, require it be set in the __construct() function:
public function __construct(PhpRenderer $renderer)
{
// ... set it somewhere, e.g.:
$this->setRenderer($renderer);
}
Then use it in your function:
$view = new ViewModel();
$renderer = $this->getRenderer();
$view->setTemplate('tools/tools/alert');
$html = $renderer->render($view);
Why, you ask?
Because the Renderer is configured via the Zend Configuration. You can find that in the \Zend\Mvc\Service\ServiceManageFactory class. The alias configuration provided is the following:
'ViewPhpRenderer' => 'Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer',
'ViewRenderer' => 'Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer',
'Zend\View\Renderer\RendererInterface' => 'Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer',
The alias'es are mapped to Factory:
'Zend\View\Renderer\PhpRenderer' => ViewPhpRendererFactory::class,
That Factory is:
class ViewPhpRendererFactory implements FactoryInterface
{
/**
* #param ContainerInterface $container
* #param string $name
* #param null|array $options
* #return PhpRenderer
*/
public function __invoke(ContainerInterface $container, $name, array $options = null)
{
$renderer = new PhpRenderer();
$renderer->setHelperPluginManager($container->get('ViewHelperManager'));
$renderer->setResolver($container->get('ViewResolver'));
return $renderer;
}
}
As such, it has some presets included when you use it with $this->getRenderer, namely it has the HelperPluginManager and the Resolver set. So it knows where to get additional resources (if needed) and it knows how to resolve (ie render) a View.