Routes are simple in Dotz Framework.
## Class / Method Auto Routing
When you set up a controller class with a name ClassController and a method ‘index‘, this index controller will be auto-enabled to become accessible with the url:
http://yourappurl.com/class/index
Dotz Framework takes the class name (less the suffix) and the method name as the first two URI elements and attempts to route to them when a custom url or resource rule is not defined in the configs/router.txt file.
## Custom URL Rules
You can define custom URLs that lead to a specific controller in your app.
If you have the need for a custom URL, add a “uri”:”method@classname” property inside the ‘custom’ object In configs/routers.txt:
{
// other properties...
custom: {
"custom-uri":"method@ClassnameController"
}
// other properties...
}Where method is the method name in ClassnameController class. The @ symbol separates the method from the class name.
## REST Resources
REST API routes typically get bundled by objects, with each class holding various methods for each HTTP method.
That is why we have designed their routes as follows.
In configs/routers.txt, add a new uri in the following format inside the rest property object:
{
// other properties...
rest: {
"uri-for-resource":"ControllerNameForResource"
}
// other properties...
}The HTTP method of the request will then determine which method of ControllerNameForResource is utilized.
## Home Page
The home page or the default app page can be defined in the default property of the configs/router.txt file:
{
"default":"index@PagesController",
}## 404 Error Page
The 404 error page or the not found page can be defined in the notFound property of the configs/router.txt file:
{
"notFound":"notFound@PagesController",
}## Multi level URIs
You may have noticed that custom urls supported by Dotz are single level. In your application you may come across a need for urls that span several levels.
How do you configure Dotz to have multi level URIs? It’s really simple:
In your custom routes, like all other routes, you can pass in any number of additional URI elements so:
www.yourapp.com/some-custom-uri/can/have/this/many/path/segments
And each of these elements of the URI will be passed along as a separate argument to the controller assigned to ‘some-custom-uri’.
So you can set-up the ‘some-customer-uri’ controller to be a pure decision making controller directing the user to the appropriate sub-controller based on the remaining URI path elements it receives as arguments.
No limits!
A note on JSON formatting
Each config file is meant to be a JSON object with definition properties.
Be sure to follow correct protocols while working with these files.
Slight errors, such as:
– a comma at the end of the last property definition,
– or using single quotes instead of double quotes
…will cause the entire config file to become unavailable to the Dotz Framework.
We recommend using https://jsonformatter.curiousconcept.com/ to verify your JSON is valid.
