Mvc

DEVELOPER DOCUMENTATION > MVC STRUCTURE

MVC structure

The Core software is moving towards a general MVC-type architecture, with our own specific flavor.

C-Controller

• Controls the flow of execution, for any content related to the user action.
• Sends updates to the model, as result of user actions.
• Retrieves information from the model, as necessary.
• Gives data to the view.

ElkArte core controllers are in /admin and /controllers folders.

V-View

• Receives from the controller data to present.
• It displays in any format or way.

Templates, and generally themes, play the role of view.

M-Model

• Deals with the data, the information the application works with.
• Adds, retrieves, updates, removes information from the database.

ElkArte has .subs files, and classes in /subs folder, to play the role of 'model'.

Add-ons

Add-ons can easily be designed in a similar way. This section concerns mainly medium-big add-ons, and/or add-ons which add actions of their own. (;action=)
Add-ons can be installed anywhere, but it is recommended for them to have their own folders, in /packages directory.
Mockup sample: https://github.com/norv/elkarte/tree/dirs_test6/addons/gallery

Add-ons can use two ways to add custom actions to the forum:

• Register their own action through a hook; or,
• Make a controller file for the action, respecting the following placement and naming patterns.
  Lets say the action is 'home'.
  • /addon_dir/controllers/HomeController.controller.php
  • HomeController is a class (with a public constructor with no parameters, ElkArte will create it automagically)
  • With a method called action_home().
    Implement your home page starting with this method, and ElkArte will load and display it to the user when the add-on is installed, without other need to register it separately.

We recommend that you structure the rest of your add-on files in a similar way as described above:

• If you have any database calls to make, make a .subs file (or more) for functions working with the database. Load and execute them from the controller, where needed by your feature.
• If you have data to display to the user (who doesn't? ;)), make a .template file (or more) for your sub-templates. In the controller method, set the template file and sub-template in the contextual array.