I have an application where I have to deal with multiple vendors - each having their different implementation. For example, let's say Payment Systems, there are many vendors and banks.
There are a few things common, like implementation process. In each case, I have to give a callback URL to them to give me a response.
For now, I have two vendors - VendorPay and VendorA.
I will have two routes:
payment/callback/vendorpay
payment/callback/vendora
each of them call two methods in controller.
processVendorpay and processVendora
Now, if I want to add, lets say, 15 more vendors like this, will I have to create methods everytime I add new vendor? Is there any cleaner solution for this?
My controller right now looks like this:
class PaymentController extends BaseController
{
protected $vendorpay_validator, $vendora_validator, $transaction, $transaction_log, $vendor_product, $vendor_transaction;
public function __construct(VendorpayValidator $vendorpay_validator, VendorAValidator $vendora_validator, Transaction $transaction, TransactionLog $transaction_log, VendorProduct $vendor_product, VendorTransaction $vendor_transaction)
{
$this->vendorpay_validator = $vendorpay_validator;
$this->vendora_validator = $vendora_validator;
$this->transaction = $transaction;
$this->transaction_log = $transaction_log;
$this->vendor_product = $vendor_product;
$this->vendor_transaction = $vendor_transaction;
}
}
These four are the Model Repository Objects: $transaction, $transaction_log, $vendor_product, $vendor_transaction
If I have to add more venodrs, it keeps on adding validator object here. What would be a much cleaner way to do it?
One of the solutions that I thought was - for multiple routes, I just create one method. Now I'll check the route in this method and call the Factory Object basis on that.
You should have just one route...
payment/callback/{vendor}
Then if you want to go the factory route (which I think would be a good idea in this case)...
class VendorValidatorFactory
{
private function __construct() {}
public static function getValidator($vendor)
{
switch ($vendor) {
case 'vendorpay':
return new VendorPayValidator;
case 'vendora':
return new VendarAValidator;
}
}
}
Remove the now unnecessary injections from your constructor and in the method which responds to your route, use the factory to grab the correct validator...
class SomeController extends Controller
{
public function __construct(Transaction $transaction, TransactionLog $transaction_log, VendorProduct $vendor_product, VendorTransaction $vendor_transaction)
{
$this->transaction = $transaction;
$this->transaction_log = $transaction_log;
$this->vendor_product = $vendor_product;
$this->vendor_transaction = $vendor_transaction;
}
public function processVendorResponse($vendor)
{
$validator = VendorValidatorFactory::getValidator($vendor);
}
}
And just a suggestion, every time you need to add a new method to your validator classes which your controller uses, add that to a ValidatorInterface and make sure all your validators implement that ValidatorInterface. This way when you need to add more, all you need to do is implement that interface and that should tell you exactly what functions you need to write. Then just update your factory method to include the new one and you are done. No more changing your controller, adding routes, or adding dependencies to your controller.
Related
I have a little problem. What data keep in controllers and what in models? I know in models keep whole logic of applications etc, but what's query and helpers functions? for example
Controller:
public function add(Request $request)
{
$item = new Item()
$item->name = $request->name;
$item->save();
$this->makeDirectory();
}
private function makeDirectory()
{
//make a directory with photo this product
}
Where should I keep "makeDirecory" method in controller or models?
This is another situation when i would delete product and reference from another table.
public function delete(Items $id)
{
$id->delete();
$this->deleteProperties($id->properties); // $id->properties is a method from Items model with references to table Properties
}
private function deleteProperties(Properties $id)
{
$id->delete();
}
Should I keep "deleteProperties" method in controller, Items model or Properties model? and invoke this method from this model?
You should keep methods like makeDirectory() in a service class and call it with:
$this->fileService->makeDirectory($directory);
You should keep data related logic in model classes or repository classes and use it in controller with:
$this->model->getSomeData();
You may also want to google "Fat models, skinny controllers".
Regarding helper functions, you should use these only when you really need one. For example, isAdmin() is a very handy global helper, but you should never create helpers like getAllUsers() or Helpers::getAllUsers()
I use controllers only to validate the incoming data and passing data to views.
I add another layer of classes that I call Departments. So, I have a department for profiles, artiles, info pages etc. Each department has its own namespace and a set of classes connected with the functionality.
Always think about SoC - separation of concerns. If you put a lot of logic into a controller, it will eventually get huge, hard to maintain and extend.
Example:
Controller:
public function addItem (Request $request, Item $item, ItemStorage
$itemStorage) {
if ($item->verifyInput($request->all())) {
$itemStorage->createItem ($item, $request->all());
}
else {
// ... handle input error
}
// ... view
}
App\Departments\Items:
class ItemStorage {
public function createItem ($newItem, $attributes) {
$newItem->create($attributes);
// ... prepare data for creating a directory
$this->makeDirectory($directoryName);
}
private function makeDirectory ($directoryName) {
//... create directory
}
}
You can/should separate the tasks even further. ItemStorage might not need to handle actual directory creation. You can call another department/service class name e.g. DiskManagement. This department would contain Classes like FileSystem. So, inside the makeDirectory() method, you would call a method from a class specialized in file system operations.
I'am a Brazilian developer, so... sorry for my limited English right away.
Well, in fact my problem is more a convention problem because until now I hadn't use services with Laravel (my apps were that simple so far).
I read about it before ask this question, but nothing helped with this specific situation. I'll try to describe in a objective way.
before that, just a comment: I know about the mistake using just controllers in these example. The ask is really about that mistake.
Well, the actual structure is:
abstract class CRUDController extends Controller {
protected function __construct($data, $validatorData) {
// store the data in a attribute
// create with Validator facade the validation and store too
}
abstract protected function createRecord();
protected function create() {
try {
// do the validation and return an Response instance with error messages
// if the data is ok, store in the database with models
// (here's where the magic takes place) in that store!
// to do that, calls the method createRecord (which is abstract)
$this->createRecord();
// return a success message in an Response instance
}
catch(\Exception $e) {
// return an Response instance with error messages
}
}
}
class UserController extends CRUDController {
public function __construct($data) {
parent::__construct($data, [
'rules' => [
// specific user code here
],
'messages' => [
// specific user code here
],
'customAttributes' => [
// specific user code here
]
]);
}
protected function createRecord() {
$user = new UserModel();
// store values here...
$user->save();
return $user;
}
}
// here's the route to consider in that example
Route::post('/user', 'WebsiteController#register');
class WebsiteController extends Controller {
private $request;
public function __construct(Request $request) {
$this->request = $request;
}
public function register() {
$user = new UserController();
$user->create($this->request);
// here's the problem: controller working with another controller
}
}
class UserAPIController extends Controller {
// use here the UserController too
}
and many other classes that extends CRUDController in the same way...
What I want
I want to create a controller (called here as CRUDController) to reuse methods like the pattern says (create, read, update and delete).
To be really objective here I'll use the create method as an example.
With the code above it seems clear the purpose? I think so... all my controllers have that code of validation equal and reusable. That's the thing.
Besides that, I want to my route of website call another controller (UserController) to store new users... but in the same way, I'll create an API that uses the same controller in the same way (with validations etc). That's the purpose of Responses in the CRUDController (I'll read them in the WebSiteController to resolve what to do, like show a view and in the other hand with the API I'll basically return the Response.
My real problem
Convention and pattern. The MVC pattern is broken here. Controller calling another controller is wrong and I know that.
I want to know what thing I should use! Services? Is that right? I see a lot (really) of examples of services but nothing like that, working with models and reusing code, etc. I never use Services but I know how to use, but I don't know if it's right to these cases.
I really hope that someone can help here and sorry once again for the mistakes with the English. Thanks a lot.
You're calling the CRUD controller a controller but it does not behave as an MVC controller. At best it's just a helper class. You could always do this:
abstract class CRUDManager {
//As you had the CRUDController
}
class UserManager extends CRUDManager {
//As you had the UserController
}
In your AppServiceProvider:
public function boot() {
$app->bind(UserManager::class, function ($app) {
return new UserManager(request()->all()); //I guess that's what you need.
});
}
Whenever you need to use it you can do:
public function register(UserManager $user) {
$user->create();
}
Now one thing to point out. It's not a good idea to initialise the request in the constructor. You should use dependency injection in controller methods. I don't even know if the request is available when the controller is being constructed (I know the session is not). The reason why I say this is that the middleware runs after the controller is constructed and therefore the request may be modified when the controller method is called.
Another note: If you did the original solution because you needed to use certain controller methods, then you can just use the corresponding traits (because the controller itself does not really have many method). I'm guessing a trait like ValidatesRequests would be one you'd need to use.
I'll answer my own question. I use a pattern called Repository Pattern to resolve the problem (or I try to use, because it's the first time using this pattern: maybe I don't use in the right way in every steps).
Files structure
Controllers
UserController.php
Models
UserModel.php
Providers
UserRepositoryServiceProvider.php
Repositories
RepositoryInterface.php
Repository.php
User
UserRepositoryInterface.php
UserRepository.php
Traits
InternalResponse.php
With that structure I did what I wanted in my question without working just with controllers.
I create a trait called InternalResponse. That trait contains a few methods that receive a transaction, validate if it's the case and then return a Response (called "internal" in my logic because the controller will read and maybe change the Response before return it in the end).
The Repository class, which is abstract (because another class must extend it to make sense to use. In this case the class UserRepository will extend...), uses the Trait mentioned.
Well, with it in mind, it's possible to know that the UserController uses the UserRepositoryInterface, that provides an object UserRepository: because the UserRepositoryServiceProvider register this with that interface.
I think there's no need to write code here to explain, because the problem is about an pattern, and these words explain well the problem (in the question) and the resolution with this answer here.
I'll write here a conclusion, I mean, the files structure with comments to explain a little bit more, to end the answer.
Conclusion: Files structure with comments
Controllers
UserController.php
// the controller uses dependency injection and call methods of
// UserRepository, read and changes the Response receveid to finally
// create the final Response, like returning a view or the response
// itself (in the case it's an API controller)
Models
UserModel.php
// an normal model
Providers
UserRepositoryServiceProvider.php
// register the UserRepositoryInterface to
// return a UserRepository object
Repositories
RepositoryInterface.php
// the main interface for the Repository
Repository.php
// the main repository. It's an abstract class.
// All the others repositories must extend that class, because
// there's no reason to use a class Repository without an Model
// to access the database... That class share methods like create,
// read, update and delete, and the methods validate and transaction
// too because uses the trait InternalResponse.
User
UserRepositoryInterface.php
// the interface for UserRepository class
UserRepository.php
// that class extend Repository and uses the UserModel
Traits
InternalResponse.php
// trait with methods like validate and transaction. the method
// validate, read and validate the data receveid for the methods
// create and update. and all the CRUD methods uses the method
// transaction to perform the data to the database and return a
// response of that action.
That's what I do and like I said before, I don't know if it's a hundred percent correct in reference to Repository Pattern.
I hope this can help someone else too.
Thanks for all.
I am currently facing a very interesting dilemma with my architecture and implementation.
I have an interface called ServiceInterface which have a method called execute()
Then I have two different implementations for this interface: Service1 and Service2, which implements the execute method properly.
I have a controller called MainController and this controller has a "type-hint" for the ServiceInterface (dependency injection), it means that both, Service1 and Service2, can be called as resolution for that dependency injection.
Now the fun part:
I do not know which of those implementations to use (Service1 or Service2) because I just know if I can use one or other based on a user input from a previous step.
It means the user choose a service and based on that value I know if a can use Service1 or Service2.
I am currently solving the dependency injection using a session value, so depending of the value I return an instance or other, BUT I really think that it is not a good way to do it.
Please, let me know if you faced something similar and, how do you solve it, or what can I do to achieve this in the right way.
Thanks in advance. Please let me know if further information is required.
Finally, after some days of researching and thinking a lot about the best approach for this, using Laravel, I finally solved it.
I have to say that this was especially difficult in Laravel 5.2 because, in this version, the Session middleware only is executed in the controllers used in a route, it means that if for some reason I used a controller (not linked for a rote) and try to get access to the session it is not going to be possible.
So, because I cannot use the session, I decided to use URL parameters. Here you have the solution approach; I hope some of you found it useful.
so, you have an interface:
interface Service
{
public function execute();
}
Then a couple of implementations for the interface:
Service one:
class ServiceOne implements Service
{
public function execute()
{
.......
}
}
Service two.
class ServiceTwo implements Service
{
public function execute()
{
.......
}
}
The interesting part is that I have a controller with a function with a dependency with the Service interface. Still, I need to resolve it dynamically to ServiceOne or ServiceTwo based on user input. So:
The controller
class MyController extends Controller
{
public function index(Service $service, ServiceRequest $request)
{
$service->execute();
.......
}
}
Please note that ServiceRequest, validated that the request already have the parameter that we need to resolve the dependency (call it 'service_name')
Now, in the AppServiceProvider we can resolve the dependency in this way:
class AppServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
public function boot()
{
}
public function register()
{
//This specific dependency is going to be resolved only if
//the request has the service_name field stablished
if(Request::has('service_name'))
{
//Obtaining the name of the service to be used (class name)
$className = $this->resolveClassName(Request::get('service_name')));
$this->app->bind('Including\The\Namespace\For\Service', $className);
}
}
protected function resolveClassName($className)
{
$resolver = new Resolver($className);
$className = $resolver->resolveDependencyName();
return $className;
}
}
So now all the responsibility is for the Resolver class. This class basically use the parameter passed to the constructor to return the full name (with namespace) of the class that is going to be used as an implementation of the Service interface:
class Resolver
{
protected $name;
public function __construct($className)
{
$this->name = $className;
}
public function resolveDependencyName()
{
//This is just an example, you can use whatever as 'service_one'
if($this->name === 'service_one')
{
return Full\Namespace\For\Class\Implementation\ServiceOne::class;
}
if($this->name === 'service_two')
{
return Full\Namespace\For\Class\Implementation\ServiceTwo::class;
}
//If none, so throw an exception because the dependency can not be resolved
throw new ResolverException;
}
}
Well, I really hope it helps some of you.
Best wishes!
---------- EDIT -----------
I just realize that it is not a good idea to use the request data directly inside the container of Laravel. It really is going to cause some trouble in the long term.
The best way is to directly register all the possible instances supported (serviceone and servicetwo) and then resolve one of them directly from a controller or a middleware, so then is the controller "who decides" what service to use (from all the available) based on the input from the request.
In the end, it works at the same, but it is going to allow you to work more naturally.
I have to say thanks to rizqi, a user from the questions channel of the slack chat of Laravel.
He personally created a golden article about this. Please read it because it solves this issue completely and in a very right way.
laravel registry pattern
The fact that you define that your controller works with ServiceInterface is ok
If you have to choose the concrete implementation of the service basing on a previous step (that, as i've understood, happens in a previous request) storing the value in session or in database is right too, as you have no alternative: to choose the implementation you have to know the value of the input
The important point is to 'isolate' the resolution of the concrete implementation from the input value in one place: for example create a method that takes this value as a parameter and returns the concrete implementation of the service from the value:
public function getServiceImplementation($input_val)
{
switch($input_val)
{
case 1 : return new Service1();
case 2 : return new Service2();
}
}
and in your controller:
public function controllerMethod()
{
//create and assign the service implementation
$this->service = ( new ServiceChooser() )->getServiceImplementation( Session::get('input_val') );
}
In this example i've used a different class to store the method, but you can place the method in the controller or use a Simple Factory pattern, depending on where the service should be resolved in your application
It's an interesting problem. I'm currently using Laravel 5.5 and have been mulling it over. I also want my service provider to return a specific class (implementing an interface) based upon user input. I think it's better to manually pass the input from the controller so it's easier to see what's going on. I would also store the possible values of the class names in the config.
So based upon the Service classes and interface you've defined above i came up with this:
/config/services.php
return [
'classes': [
'service1' => 'Service1',
'service2' => 'Service2',
]
]
/app/Http/Controllers/MainController.php
public function index(ServiceRequest $request)
{
$service = app()->makeWith(ServiceInterface::class, ['service'=>$request->get('service)]);
// ... do something with your service
}
/app/Http/Requests/ServiceRequest.php
public function rules(): array
$availableServices = array_keys(config('services.classes'));
return [
'service' => [
'required',
Rule::in($availableServices)
]
];
}
/app/Providers/CustomServiceProvider.php
class CustomServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
public function boot() {}
public function register()
{
// Parameters are passed from the controller action
$this->app->bind(
ServiceInterface::class,
function($app, $parameters) {
$serviceConfigKey = $parameters['service'];
$className = '\\App\\Services\\' . config('services.classes.' . $serviceConfigKey);
return new $className;
}
);
}
}
This way we can validate the input to ensure we are passing a valid service, then the controller handles passing the input from the Request object into the ServiceProvider. I just think when it comes to maintaining this code it will be clear what is going on as opposed to using the request object directly in the ServiceProvider.
PS Remember to register the CustomServiceProvider!
I find the best way to deal with this is using a factory pattern. You can create a class say ServiceFactory and it has a single method create() it can accept an argument which is used to dynamically choose which concrete class to instantiate.
It has a case statement based on the argument.
It will use App::make(ServiceOne::class) or App::make(ServiceTwo::class).depending on which one is required.
You are then able to inject this into your controller (or service which depends on the factory).
You can then mock it in a service unit test.
Recently, I had to implement a similar logic where I was to implement a method to perform mobile top-ups for multiple networks in our application. So, I decided to implement the logic using Factory and Bridge pattern. Factory to create an instance of the concrete Service class based on the user input, and then, the Bridge pattern to set closely related classes into separate hierarchies and route the request to the respective class.
In the controller's method, both Factory and Service classes are injected. The TopUpServiceFactory's create method creates an object of the concrete class. The TopUpService class then routes the request to that concrete class method.
class TopUpController extends Controller
{
public function topUp(Request $request, TopUpServiceFactoryInterface $serviceFactory, TopUpServiceInterface $topUpService)
{
$serviceFactory->create($request->networkCode);
$topUpService->TopUp($request->all());
}
}
The TopUpServiceFactoryInterface and TopUpServiceInterface are bound to TopUpServiceFactory and TopUpService concrete Classes respectively in Service Container.
class AppServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider
{
public function register()
{
$this->app->bind(TopUpServiceFactoryInterface::class, TopUpServiceFactory::class);
$this->app->bind(TopUpServiceInterface::class, TopUpService::class);
}
}
The create method accepts user input and creates an object of the respective class based on the user input.
class TopUpServiceFactory implements TopUpServiceFactoryInterface
{
public function create(string $networkCode)
{
switch ($networkCode) {
case 'network1':
app()->bind(NetworkServiceInterface::class, Network1Service::class);
break;
case 'network2':
app()->bind(NetworkServiceInterface::class, Network2Service::class);
break;
default:
app()->bind(NetworkServiceInterface::class, DefaultNetworkService::class);
break;
}
}
}
The Service Class then picks the object of NetworkService Class and forwards the request.
class TopUpService implements TopUpServiceInterface
{
public function topUp(array $requestParams)
{
$networkService = app()->get(NetworkServiceInterface::class);
$networkService->topUp($requestParams);
}
}
All network's concrete classes implement a common interface NetworkServiceInterface, which is used to inject dependency dynamically, implementing Liskov Substitution Principle
class Network1Service implements NetworkServiceInterface
{
public function topUp(array $requestParam)
{
Process Topup ......
}
}
class Network2Service implements NetworkServiceInterface
{
public function topUp(array $requestParam)
{
Process Topup ......
}
}
...
My goal of asking this question is to ferret out whether there are benefits to injecting Controller directly with the data it needs (more specific approach) opposed to injecting a Model into a Controller (more generic approach). Or to establish whether or not it is just a matter of preference.
Injecting Controller with Model:
Model can be used to run all kinds of queries to retrieve various bits of data, but it is a heavier-weight construct than the data itself. Model essentially contains data, or at least it can access all the data you may need. Example:
class CategoryControllerWithModel
{
private $model;
public function __construct($model)
{
$this->model = $model;
}
// generates HTML for input form
public function genHtml()
{
/* retrieve data */
$categories = $this->model->getCategories();
//...
}
}
//instantiation within Factory Method:
class Factory
{
$model = new CategoryModel();
$controller = new CategoryControllerWithModel($model);
return $controller;
}
Injecting Controller with Data:
Here we do a bit more upfront with in the Factory method but we get a leaner Controller that only receives exactly the data it needs and is so completely separated from the Model that it is not even aware of its existence.
class CategoryControllerWithData
{
private $categories;
public function __construct($categories)
{
$this->categories = $categories;
}
public function genHtml()
{
$categories = $this->categories;
}
}
//instantiation within Factory Method:
class Factory
{
$model = new CategoryModel();
//a bit more work to get the data Controller needs
//benefit: Controller not tied to the Model
$categories = $model->getCategories():
$controller = new CategoryControllerWithData($categories);
return $controller;
}
Question:
I suppose MVC stands for exactly that -- Model, View, Controller, so injecting Model is probably considered to be an "okay" thing to do. If so, am I taking this too far by trying to remove Controller dependency on Model?
Suppose I insist that I want to inject Data into my Controllers rather than the Model. Is this a purely preferential issue do you see any concrete benefits of doing so?
From my point of view, Factory shouldn't be responsible for domain logic. It should only be responsible for building things up.
In this case, where you are injecting data, Factory has to know what categories controller is searching for, are there any filtering and so on.
So I think for controller you should only inject model, keep Factory single responsibility only for building things and controller should be responsible for it's data.
I think it's a matter of "separation of concerns" also I do not think that would be a good example of using MVC. I would think more along these lines:
class FooController
{
public function actionView($alias){
$category = Category::loadByAlias($alias);
..... load and render layouts etc .....
}
public function actionList(){
$categories = Category::loadAll();
..... etc ......
}
}
like this the neither the Controller nor the Factory need to know what needs to be done when you load a category nor do they have to handle active/inactive status, even User access ... etc this is all Model Logic, Model can have beforeLoad and afterLoad functions, conditions for listing all categories, eager or lazy loading of related models etc...
I am working on building a lightweight MVC, mainly for the learning process but I would like it to be good enough to use eventually.
Below is a basic example/demo of how a basic controller might would look, let's assume the URI has been processed and routed to this controller and these 2 methods.
1) I need to get data from database/cache/etc... inside my Model classes, I just need help on how I should load my models into my example controller below, you can see that I have added this below $profileData = $this->model->getProfile($userId) that is just made up and does not exist's, how could I get something like that to work though? Or should I load the model into the class a different way?
2) A lot of pages will require a user to be logged into the site. SHould I process that part below in the controller to check if a user is logged in, example, before building the profile page, check if user is logged in, if not then build a login page instead and add these checks inside of each controller method/page?
/**
* Example Controller
*/
class User_Controller extends Core_Controller {
// domain.com/user/id-53463463
function profile($userId)
{
//GET data from a Model
$profileData = $this->model->getProfile($userId);
$this->view->load('userProfile', $profileData);
}
// domain.com/user/friends/
function friends()
{
//GET data from a Model
$friendsData = $this->model->getFriendlist();
$this->view->load('userFriends', $friendsData);
}
}
core
abstract class Core_Controller {
protected $view;
protected $model;
function __construct(DependencyContainer $dependencyContainer){
$this->view = new Core_View();
//$this->view = $dependencyContainer->get(view);
}
}
There are probably tons of ways to accomplish what you are trying.
The "easiest" is probably to just override the constructor and instantiate the model directly.
in User_Controller:
public function __construct(DependencyContainer $dc) {
parent::__construct($dc);
$this->model = new User_Model();
}
I'm guessing that you are looking for something a little more automated though. If you want the Model to have the same name as the controller minus "_Controller", just use get_class($this) in the constructor and use PHP's string functions to parse out what you want. Once you have that in a variable, you can use that variable to instantiate the model:
in Core_Controller:
public function __construct(DependencyContainer $dc) {
$this->view = new Core_View();
// $model_class should be 'User_Model' now
$model_class = str_replace('_Controller', '_Model', get_class($this));
// now instantiate the model
$this->model = new $model_class();
}
I haven't actually worked with any framework that can only have one model associated with each controller (except may CakePHP? I can't remember). With Symfony, the models and controllers are completely decoupled so you can use any model with any controller. You just instantiate the model as need. Symfony use the Doctrine ORM so for example, in a controller action, if you needed a model you would do something like this:
$model = Doctrine::getTable('User');
It might be worthwhile to consider a design more like that in order to promote a decoupled design and I promise that you will want more than one model in some controller at some point.
2.) As far as authentication. Something that seems to be fairly common is to have some sort of setting (whether in a config file or a member variable) that says whether or not the current action needs the user to be authenticated. This is processed each time the action runs (Yii calls these kinds of things filters). If the user needs to be logged in, it stores the page that they are trying to access, and then redirects them to a log in page (you should only ever have to create one). Once they properly authenticate, it will redirect them back to where they were originally heading.