AI blog · DotApp PHP Framework 2.0

Callable strings in DotApp PHP Framework

Routes, middleware hooks, and DotApp::call() share one grammar: Shop:Home@index!. The module name, the class, the method, an optional folder prefix (# middleware, * models), and an optional trailing ! that skips dependency injection. This article is the complete Shop route file with every common form, plus when to keep DI and when to turn it off.

Common mistakes

Grammar

Namespaces: module and listeners Dotsystems\App\Modules\Shop, controllers ...\Shop\Controllers, middleware ...\Shop\Middleware, models ...\Shop\Models. Methods are public static. There is no $this. Routing verbs and STATIC_ROUTE: How routing works in DotApp PHP Framework. Container bind / resolve: Dependency injection.

With ! vs without

Trailing ! means: do not run DI reflection for this callable. The method should take $request (and any extra args you pass through DotApp::call), then construct what it needs. That is the usual choice for hot paths: list POST, save, toggles, anything you hit on every catalog request.

<?php
namespace Dotsystems\App\Modules\Shop\Controllers;

use Dotsystems\App\Parts\Renderer;

class Home extends \Dotsystems\App\Parts\Controller
{
    public static function index($request)
    {
        return Renderer::new()
            ->module('Shop')
            ->setView('home')
            ->setViewVar('title', 'Shop')
            ->renderView();
    }
}
    

Route: Shop:Home@index!. Drop the ! only when you want a type-hinted service from the container:

public static function catalog($request, \Dotsystems\App\Parts\Renderer $renderer)
{
    return $renderer->module(static::modulename())
        ->setView('catalog')
        ->setViewVar('title', 'Catalog')
        ->renderView();
}
    

Route: Shop:Home@catalog (no bang). Bind custom services in initialize($dotApp) with $dotApp->bind / singleton, then type-hint them. Wrong with !: public static function index($request, Renderer $renderer) — $renderer is not injected, the signature lies, and the method breaks.

DotApp::call()

The same strings work outside routing. Extra arguments are forwarded after the callable.

use Dotsystems\App\DotApp;

DotApp::call('Shop:Home@helper!', $arg1);
DotApp::call('#Shop:AuthGate@check!', $request);
$row = DotApp::call('*Shop:Item@get!', $id);
    

Inside a controller you can also static::call('otherMethod', $request) or static::call('OtherModule:Page@withShell!', $title, $html).

Closures on routes

A closure is a valid route target. The first argument is $request. Default resolution may inject extra type-hints; wrap with NoDI when you want the function exactly as written.

use Dotsystems\App\Parts\NoDI;
use Dotsystems\App\Parts\Response;

Router::get($p . '/ping', function ($request) {
    return 'ok';
}, Router::STATIC_ROUTE);

Router::get($p . '/health', new NoDI(function ($request) {
    return new Response(200, 'ok');
}), Router::STATIC_ROUTE);
    

Prefer a controller string for anything non-trivial so the Shop module stays searchable. Closures are fine for tiny health checks.

Complete module.init.php

Fallbacks, then every callable form. Boot order: How module initialization works in DotApp PHP Framework.

<?php
namespace Dotsystems\App\Modules\Shop;

use Dotsystems\App\DotApp;
use Dotsystems\App\Parts\Config;
use Dotsystems\App\Parts\NoDI;
use Dotsystems\App\Parts\Renderer;
use Dotsystems\App\Parts\Response;
use Dotsystems\App\Parts\Router;

class Module extends \Dotsystems\App\Parts\Module
{
    public function initialize($dotApp)
    {
        Config::module('Shop', 'prefix') ?? Config::module('Shop', 'prefix', '/shop');
        $p = Config::module('Shop', 'prefix');

        $dotApp->singleton('shopRenderer', function () {
            return Renderer::new();
        });

        Router::get($p . '/', 'Shop:Home@index!', Router::STATIC_ROUTE);

        Router::get($p . '/catalog', 'Shop:Home@catalog');

        Router::get($p . '/item/{id:i}', 'Shop:Home@item!');

        Router::post($p . '/save', 'Shop:Home@save!')
            ->before('#Shop:AuthGate@check!');

        Router::post($p . '/items/list', 'Shop:Items@list!', Router::STATIC_ROUTE);

        Router::get($p . '/ping', function ($request) {
            return 'ok';
        }, Router::STATIC_ROUTE);

        Router::get($p . '/health', new NoDI(function ($request) {
            return new Response(200, 'ok');
        }), Router::STATIC_ROUTE);

        Router::get($p . '/from-model/{id:i}', function ($request) {
            $id = (int) ($request->matchData()['id'] ?? 0);
            $row = DotApp::call('*Shop:Item@get!', $id);
            if ($row === null) {
                return new Response(404, 'Not found');
            }
            return Renderer::new()
                ->module('Shop')
                ->setView('item')
                ->setViewVar('item', $row)
                ->renderView();
        });
    }

    public function initializeRoutes()
    {
        return ['/shop', '/shop/*'];
    }

    public function initializeCondition($routeMatch)
    {
        return $routeMatch;
    }
}

new Module($dotApp);