Clean URLS in MVC structure using PHP - php

Question

I am creating a website using the MVC structure. Below is a code I have used to use clean URLS and load the appropriate files. However it only works for the first level.
Say I wanted to visit mywebsite.com/admin it would work, however mywebsite.com/admin/dashboard would not. The problem is in the arrays, how could I get the array to load content after the 2nd level along with the second level.
Would it be best to create an array like this?
Array
- controller
- view
- dashboard
Any help here would be great. Also as a side question. What would be the best way to set up "custom" urls. So if I were to put in mywebsite.com/announcement it would check to see if its got controllers, failing that, check to see if it's got custom content (maybe a file of the same name in "customs" folder, and then if there's nothing execute the 404 page not found stuff) This isn't a priority question though, but loosely associated in how the code works so I thought it best to add.
function hook() {
$params = parse_params();
$url = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];
$url = str_replace('?'.$_SERVER['QUERY_STRING'], '', $url);
$urlArray = array();
$urlArray = explode("/",$url);
var_dump($urlArray);
if (isset($urlArray[2]) & !empty($urlArray[2])) {
$route['controller'] = $urlArray[2];
} else {
$route['controller'] = 'front'; // Default Action
}
if (isset($urlArray[3]) & !empty($urlArray[3])) {
$route['view'] = $urlArray[3];
} else {
$route['view'] = 'index'; // Default Action
}
include(CONTROLLER_PATH.$route['controller'].'.php');
include(VIEW_PATH.$route['controller'].DS.$route['view'].'.php');
var_dump($route['controller']);
var_dump($route['view']);
var_dump($urlArray);
var_dump($params);
// reseting messages
$_SESSION['flash']['notice'] = '';
$_SESSION['flash']['warning'] = '';
}
// Return form array
function parse_params() {
$params = array();
if(!empty($_POST)) {
$params = array_merge($params, $_POST);
}
if(!empty($_GET)) {
$params = array_merge($params, $_GET);
}
return $params;
}

Answer 1

Can you clarify this: "The problem is in the arrays, how could I get the array to load content after the 2nd level along with the second level."
I don't understand how you want this thing to work. I checked your code and it works. Maybe you just need to put $urlArray[1] instead of $urlArray[2] and 2 instead of 3? First element in the array is at index 0.
Usually it's done like this:
Url format:
/controller/action/param1/param2/...
-controller- should be a class. That class has a method/function called -action-.
ex. /shoes/show/121/ --> this will load controller shoes
and execute the method/function show(121)
that will show the shoes that have the id 121 in the
database.
ex. /shoes/list/sport --> this will load controller shoes
and execute function list('sport') that will list all
shoes in the sport category.
As you can see, you only load one controller and from that controller you run only one function and that function will get the rest of the path and use it as parameters.
If you want to have multiple controllers for one URL, then the rest of the controllers will have to be loaded from the main controller. Most MVCs (like CodeIgniter) load only one controller per URL.
Second question:
Best way for pretty urls would be to save them in the db. This means you can have URLs like this:
/I-can-write-anything-here-No-need-to-add-ids-or-controller-names
Then you take this URL and search it in db and get the -controller- and -action- that you need for this URL.
But I have yet to see a popular MVC framework do this. I guess the reason is that the db will get a lot of queries for text matches and that will slow things down.
Popular MVC frameworks use:
/controller/action/param1/param2
This has the benefit that you can directly find the controller/action from the url.
The downside is that you will get urls like:
/shoes/list/sport
//when what you really want is
/shoes/sport
//or just
/sport //if the website only sells shoes
This can be fixed by redirecting /shoes/sport to /shoes/list/sport
If you make your own MVC then you should use OOP because if not, thing will get ugly quick: all actions/functions are in the same namespace.

Answer 2

Personally I would recommend that you use one of the many PHP frameworks that exist as that will take care of the routing for you and let you concentrate on writing your application. CakePHP is one that I've used for a while and it makes my life so much easier.

Answer 3

What I do:
I create a .htaccess file that redirects an url like www.example.com/url/path/or/something to www.example.com/index.php?url=url/path/or/something, so it will be pretty easy to do an explode on your $_GET['url']
Second, it's better because everything a user input, will be redirected to your index.php, so you have FULL control over EVERYTHING.
If you want I can PM you the url to my mvc (bitbucket) so you can have a look on how I do this ;)
(Sorry for the others, but I don't like to put url's to my site in public)
edit:
To be more precise to your particular question; It will solve your problem, because everything goes to index.php and you have full control over the requested url.