Getting Started with Zend Framework

April 13, 2014viralsolani 1 Comment

Hello Friends

If you want to learn Zend Framework basic. This is good tutorial that I’m sharing with you.

Ref : http://akrabat.com/zend-framework-tutorial/

Zend Framework: Storing session data in database

May 6, 2011May 6, 2011viralsolani Leave a comment

The reason behind saving session data in database is that data become more secure and can be easily retrieved later on.
Let’s look how simple and easy it is to save session data in database using Zend_Session_SaveHandler_DbTable in Zend Framework.
1. Creating database table for holding session data
Before writing code you will need to create a table in the database for holding session data. Execute the following query for this purpose.
CREATE TABLE `session` (
`id` char(32),
`modified` int,
`lifetime` int,
`data` text,
PRIMARY KEY (`id`)
);

2.Making necessary configuration in your bootstrap file.
You will only need only few lines of code in your bootstrap file.
After making database configuration in your bootstrap file, write the following code.
$config = array(
‘name’ => ‘session’,
‘primary’ => ‘id’,
‘modifiedColumn’ => ‘modified’,
‘dataColumn’ => ‘data’,
‘lifetimeColumn’ => ‘lifetime’
);
Zend_Session::setSaveHandler(new
Zend_Session_SaveHandler_DbTable($config));
Zend_Session::start();

In the $config array we tell the name of the table that will store the session information, primary key of the table, column that will store the session modification timestamp(*nix timestamp), column that will store the session data, and the column that save the information about how long the session will last.

After defining this configuration array we call setSaveHandler() method- static method, of the Zend_Session. This setSaveHandler() method accept Zend_Session_SaveHandler_DbTable object. Zend_Session_SaveHandler_DbTable take configuration array as an argument.

We have now done all the necessary configuration. The only thing we will need to do now is to start our session. Session can be started in the bootstrap file, however it’s not necessary for the session to be started here. You can start it in any controller you needed.

Anywhere in your controller, write
$namespace = new Zend_Session_Namespace();
$namespace->name = “Viral”;

and check your session table. The table will not only hold session id, but also the modified timestamp of when session was modified, life time of the session and the session data in special format.
Try it. Its really cool.

Zend Framework SQL Joins Examples

May 6, 2011May 6, 2011viralsolani 1 Comment

You may have custom of using advanced queries. It often requires writing complex queries if you are working on enterprise, large scale web application(s).
The use of joins can never be ignored.
Zend Framework developers have done tremendous job by providing simple method for implementing joins.
Lets look some examples of different type of joins.
Before discussing joins lets consider we have two tables, “authors” and “books”.
These are associated with author_id.

1. Inner Join

The simplest query will be
$select = $this->_db->select()
->from(‘books’,array(‘col1’,’col2’…..))
->joinInner(‘authors’,’books.id=authors.bks_id’,array(‘col1’,’col3’…))
->where(‘where condition here’)
->order(‘column name ASC/DESC’);

2. Left Join

$select = $this->_db->select()
->from(‘books’,array(‘col1’,’col2’…..))
->joinLeft(‘authors’,’books.id=authors.bks_id’,array(‘col1’,’col3’…))
->where(‘where condition here’)
->group(‘group by column name here’)
->order(‘column name ASC/DESC’);

3. Right Join

$select = $this->_db->select()
->from(‘books’,array(‘col1’,’col2’…..))
->joinRight(‘authors’,’books.id=authors.bks_id’,array(‘col1’,’col3’…))
->where(‘where condition here’)
->group(‘group by column name here’)
->order(‘column name ASC/DESC’);

4. Full Join

$select = $this->_db->select()
->from(‘books’,array(‘col1’,’col2’…..))
->joinFull(‘authors’,’books.id=authors.bks_id’,array(‘col1’,’col3’…))
->where(‘where condition here’)
->group(‘group by column name here’)
->order(‘column name ASC/DESC’);

5. Cross Join

Once you write these queries, you can fetch a single row or multiple rows as

Zend Framework Form(Zend_Form) tutorial

May 2, 2011May 2, 2011viralsolani Leave a comment

Here you can see how you can use Zend_Form component for creating html form easily, handling filters and errors messages and how to see how easily you can fetch data from the data source and present that in html form and let the visitors change/modify the existing data and save changes to the data source.
I am gona break this topic in three steps.
1. Creating Zend_Form
Although I’ve already discussed creation of Zend_Form in some of my articles but it will be better to discuss it here again.
Creating Zend form is simple is this.

class CustomForm extend Zend_Form
{
public function init()
{
}
}

defined a class by extending it from Zend_Form. This allow access to many of methods already defined in Zend_Form.
The only thing you need to do is to override init() method and create your own element such as input box, select statement, checkboxes, radio buttons and so on.
Defining your own elements don’t take much code. Have a look at the following code.

class CustomForm extend Zend_Form
{
public function init()
{
$this->setMethod('post');
$this->setAction('process/form');

$username = $this->createElement('text','username');
$username->setLabel('Username:')
->setAttrib('size',50);

$this->addElement($username);
}
}

In the code above we have overridden init() method of Zend_Form, set the form request method and action and then defined input element called username. You can put as many elements in this form as you wish. The last statement is used to add element to the forms. To add several elements to the form at once, use addElements() passing array of elements as an argument. You will look an example in the next example.

My entire form look likes

class CustomForm extends Zend_Form
{
public function init()
{
$this->setMethod('post');
$id = $this->createElement('hidden','id');
$firstname = $this->createElement('text','firstname');
$firstname->setLabel('First Name:')
->setAttrib('size',50);
$lastname = $this->createElement('text','lastname');
$lastname->setLabel('Last Name:')
->setAttrib('size',50);
$username = $this->createElement('text','username');
$username->setLabel('Username:')
->setAttrib('size',50);
$email = $this->createElement('text','email');
$email->setLabel('Email:')
->setAttrib('size',50);
$password = $this->createElement('password','password');
$password->setLabel('Password:')
->setAttrib('size',50);
$password2 = $this->createElement('password','password2');
$password2->setLabel('Confirm Password::')
->setAttrib('size',50);
$register = $this->createElement('submit','register');
$register->setLabel("Register")
->setIgnore(true);
$this->addElements(array(
$firstname,
$lastname,
$username,
$email,
$password,
$password2,
$id,
$register
));
}
}

Most of the functions are simple and self explanatory. The only method that I think I’d better explain here is setIgnore() method. The method setIgnore() has a very valuable usage. Well, if we see the entire form you will feel that we need all values when form is submitted. The only value we don’t need is the value of the submit button as this only used to submit the form. We are not interested in its value, so we call setIgnore() method passing Boolean value true.

2. As we have now created a form, next step is to create its object in controller and write code that will save data for us. Create a controller as

class UsersController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
.....

public function addAction()
{
//$this->_helper->layout->disableLayout();
$users = new Users();
$form = new CustomForm();
$this->view->form = $form;

if ($this->getRequest()->isPost()) {
$formData = $this->_request->getPost();
if ($form->isValid($formData)) {
if ($formData['password'] != $formData['password2']) {
$this->view->errorMsg = "Password and Confirm Password must match.";
$this->render('add');
return;
}
unset($formData['password2']);
unset($formData['register']);
$users->insert($formData);
}
}
}
}

What we are doing here, is pretty simple. Create an object of Users model. Well I haven’t discussed Users model yet. I would discuss it for you soon. The next line creates an object of the form created earlier. Next we assign the form to the view template, in our case the template is add.phtml.
Next few lines are of much importance.
We check whether the request is first one or the post back. If form has been submitted, method $this->getRequest()->isPost() return ture. In this case we will need to take care of the data being submitted.
To handle the post back we get the data been posted back through form, check its validity, check if the password and confirm password matches, and insert the values in the “users” table using $users->insert(); statement.
If form is not valid, the code for inserting the data in the database will not be executed.
Now lets discuss “Users” model.
We have a table in our database called “users” containing different fields such as username, firstname, lastname etc.
We will need to create our model as

class Users extends Zend_Db_Table
{
protected $_name = "users";
}

That’s it, a simple model.
3. The third step in creating a full fledge form application in Zend Framework is presentation layer, called view/template.
In your scripts/users/ directory create add.phtml and put the following code in it

<h3>Add User</h3>
<?php
if ($this->errorMsg) {
echo $this->errorMsg;
}
?>
<?php
// for displaying form
echo $this->form;
?>

The code above is self explanatory.
The above process only shows a form and submits data to the database. If you want to create edit form, you will need to make a bit of change in your controller.
Let’s create another action called editAction containing the following code.

class UsersController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
.....

public function editAction()
{
//$this->_helper->layout->disableLayout();
$users = new Users();
$form = new CustomForm();

$id = $this->_getParam("id",1);
$select = $users->select()
->where("id = ?",$id);
$data = $users->fetchRow($select);
$form->populate($data->toArray());
if ($this->getRequest()->isPost()) {
$formData = $this->_request->getPost();
if ($form->isValid($formData)) {
if ($formData['password'] != $formData['password2']) {
$this->view->errorMsg = "Password and Confirm Password must match.";
$this->render('add');
return;
}
unset($formData['password2']);
unset($formData['register']);
//Zend_Debug::dump($formData);exit;
$users->update($formData,"id = $id");
}
}
$this->view->form = $form;
}

}

You can clearly see that I’ve made only few lines of changes.
First I get the id of the user through $this->_getParam() method. I then create a select statement on the users table and then fetch a row. Once I get the data row, I populate the form using populate() method.
The only thing you will need now, is to create a view template in your scripts/users/ directory named edit.phtml and write the following code.

<?php
if ($this->errorMsg) {
echo $this->errorMsg;
}
?>
<?php
// for displaying form
echo $this->form;
?>

Well I was thinking to explain everything in three steps, but I think it would be incomplete if I don’t explain how to show the data inserted in the database. For this reason I going to add 4th step.
4. Showing list of data
Create an action called indexAction in your controller with the following code.

class UsersController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
public function indexAction()
{
//$this->_helper->layout->disableLayout();
$users = new Users();
$data = $users->fetchAll($users->select());
$this->view->data = $data->toArray();
//Zend_Debug::dump($data->toArray());
}

.....

}

First we create an object of our mode. And then fetch the data using the fetchAll() method. The last statement assigns the fetched data to the view template.
Now create scripts/users/index.phtml and write the following code in it.

<h4>List of users</h4>
<h5><a href="add">Add new user</a></h5>
<table>
<thead> 
<tr>
<th>First Name</th>
<th>Last Name</th>
<th>Username</th>
<th>Email</th>
<th>Action</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tboody>
<?php foreach ($this->data as $d) {?>
<tr>
<td><?=$d['firstname']?></td>
<td><?=$d['lastname']?></td>
<td><?=$d['username']?></td>
<td><?=$d['email']?></td>
<td><a href="edit/id/<?=$d['id']?>">Edit</a></td>
</tr>
<?php }?>
</tbody>
</table>

Here we are creating a table that shows the list of data.

Applying Zend_Form decorators to all elements

May 2, 2011May 2, 2011viralsolani Leave a comment

Hear is a simple way to set decorators to all form elements at once.
Take a look at the following code.

class SimpleForm extends Zend_Form
{
public function __construct($options = null)
{
parent::__construct($options);
$countryList=array(
'United States',
'United Kindom',
'Pakistan'
);

$firstName = $this->createElement('text', 'firstName');
$firstName ->addValidator('alnum')
->addValidator('regex', false, array('/^[a-z]+/'))
->addValidator('stringLength', false, array(6, 20))
->setRequired(true)
-> setLabel('First Name:')
->addFilter('StringToLower');

$lastName = $this->createElement('text', 'lastName');
$lastName ->addValidator('StringLength', false, array(6))
->setRequired(true)
-> setLabel('Last Name:');

$address1 = $this->createElement('text', 'address1');
$address1->setLabel('Address1:')
->addValidator('StringLength', false,array(3,50))
->setValue('')
->setRequired(true);

$address2 = $this->createElement('text', 'address2');
$address2->setLabel('Address2:')
->addValidator('StringLength', false,array(3,50))
->setValue('')
->setRequired(false);

$postalCode = $this->createElement('text', 'postalCode');
$postalCode->setLabel('Postalcode:')
->addValidator('StringLength', false,array(3,15))
->setValue('')
->setRequired(false);

$city = $this->createElement('text', 'city');
$city->setLabel('City:')
->setValue('')
->setRequired(false)
->setAttrib('tabindex','6');

$state = $this->createElement('text', 'state');
$state->setLabel('State:')
->setAttrib('maxlength', 2)
->setValue('')
->setRequired(false)
->setAttrib('tabindex','7');

$country = $this->createElement('select', 'country');
$country->setLabel('Country:')
->setAttrib('class','select')
->addMultiOptions($countryList)
->setRequired(false);

$phone = $this->createElement('text', 'phone');
$phone->setLabel('Phone:')
->setAttrib('maxlength', '25')
->setValue('')
->setRequired(true);

$emailAddress = $this->createElement('text', 'emailAddress');
$emailAddress->setLabel('Email:')
->addValidator('StringLength', false,array(5,50))
->addValidator('EmailAddress')
->setValue('')
->setRequired(true);

$this->addElements( array (
$firstName,
$lastName,
$address1,
$address2,
$postalCode,
$city,
$state,
$country,
$phone
));

$this->setElementDecorators(array(
'viewHelper',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'td')),
array('Label',array('tag'=>'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))
));

$this->setDecorators(array(
'FormElements',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'table')),
'Form'
));
}
}

If you have read my previous post on decorators, you will easily understand the code. However those how are new to my blog and decorators may need some explanation.
As usual we are extending our form from Zend_Form, define our constructor, call parent constructor and then define our elements.
The most important line are after we add elements to our form. The code

$this->setElementDecorators(array(
'viewHelper',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'td')),
array('Label',array('tag'=>'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))
));

simply set decorators to all the elements to the form elements. Here we are define that close label in “td”, form elements in “td” and put both these in “tr”.
If you want to set decorators to only few elements then

$this->setElementDecorators(array(
'viewHelper',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'td')),
array('Label',array('tag'=>'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

),array('firstname','lastname'));

This code will set decorators to only fistname and lastname element of the form. Rest of the form elements will be render in the default decorators.
At the end we define

$this->setDecorators(array(
'FormElements',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'table')),
'Form'
));

This define the form level decorators. We are putting “table” tag after “form” tag. So all the row will be wrapped in table.

Zend Form Decorators

May 2, 2011May 2, 2011viralsolani Leave a comment

I’d felt a lot of pain when I first used Zend_Form. The reason was that I wasn’t able to layout form elements the way I wanted them to be. Zend was rendering elements in dt and dd whilst I was looking forward to place them in row and cells.
In short I wasn’t aware of Zend_Form decorators in the beginning and when I studied them for some time I felt uncomfortable using them.
So I decided to use html forms in my phtml files-template file. Though by doing so I achieved the desired layout however I missed entire facilities/functionalities that Zend_Form component provide us such as validation, filtering, dispaying error messages and so on.
When I first created form with Zend_Form component I was served with layout like the following.

Label on the top of the text/ password element.

This is because Zend Framework render form label in “dt” tag and text/password form element in “dt”,”dd” tag and put entire form element in “dl” tag by default.

Code rendered was

<form method="post" action="">
<dl>
<dt><label for="agencyName">User Name:</label></dt>
<dd>
<input type="text" name="agencyName" id="agencyName" value="">
</dd>
<dt><label for="advertiserName">Password</label></dt>
<dd>
<input type="text" name="advertiserName" id="advertiserName" value="">
</dd>
<dt>&nbsp;</dt>
<dd>
<input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" value="Login">
</dd>
<dl>
</form>

This was not the layout I was looking for. I was looking for
layout like the following.

To create form as above one need to put label and individual form element in “td” tag, put that “td” tag in “tr” tag and put all these in “table” tag. E.g

<form action="" method="post">
<table>
<tr>
<td><label for="username">User Name:</label></td>
<td><input type="text" name="username"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><label for="password">Password</label></td>
<td><input type="password" name="password"></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" align="center">
<input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" value="Login"></td>
</tr>
</table>
</form>

Zend form decorators can be used to create above form.

If you are beginner or have little experience working with zend, you may be facing difficulties in rendering Form using Zend_Form the way you want.

In this post I am providing indepth and comprehensive study of how to use Zend_Form_Decorators.

So let’s get started.

Although in the beginning you may find it difficult to use Zend_Form decorators, however once you get used to it and understand the basics, you will find these quite easy, helpful and interesting.

To create the login form in the figure 2. you will need the following code

class forms_LoginForm extends Zend_Form
{

public function __construct($option=null)
{

parent::__construct($option);

$this->setMethod('post');

$username=$this->CreateElement('text','username')

->setLabel('User Name:');

$username->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

$password=$this->CreateElement('text','password')

->setLabel('Password');

$password->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

$submit=$this->CreateElement('submit','submit')

->setLabel('Login');

$submit->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors', array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td',
'colspan'=>'2','align'=>'center')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

$this->addElements(array(

$username,
$password,
$submit

));

$this->setDecorators(array(

'FormElements',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'table')),
'Form'

));

}
}

Explanation:

First we extend our form from Zend_From and define our constructor. It is necessary to call parent class constructor before defining anything in your own constructor-by doing so our form will inherit all the functionality of Zend_Form.

After calling parent constructor we set our form method by simply $this->setMethod(‘post’).

Next we create text element and set its label.

The lines after setting label of the form are important because these lines give new look to our form. The code is quite simple. We call setDecorators() method of the form to override the default decorators behavior of the form.
The code

$username->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

is very simple. We are skipping “ViewHelper”, “Description” and “Errors” for now. We will explain it some other time. We can define our decorators for these things as well if we need in future. However leave it as these are for now.

After “Errors” we define array which tell Zend to override the default decorators of

<input name="”username”" type="”text”">

. By doing so zend will wrap “input” tag in .

Next array define tag for label and put label in td tag as

<td><label ..></td>

Next array define tag for the row of the form. This wrap

<label ..>and <input>

in tr tag. The above code will create

<tr>

<td>User Name:</td>

<td><input type=”text” name=”username”></td>

</tr>

However defining decorators for the submit button we have change the code a lit bit.

As label is appearing on the button so we don’t need to define decorator for the label. By leaving decorator for label undefined, it means zend will use its default decorator for the label of the submit button.

And as we want to put button at the center of the row, so we have defined

array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td',
'colspan'=>'2','align'=>'center')),

This will create html as

<td colspan=”2” align=”center”><input type=”submit” ….></td>

Next we add elements to form as

$this->addElements(array(

$username,
$password,
$submit

));

At the end we define decorators for the form-to wrap form elements in the html tag.

I have already said that zend wrap entire element in “dl” tag.

As we have wrap element in the “tg” and “tr” tag properly. So we need to wrap these “td” and “tr”’ in the “table” tag. To do so we have defined

$this->setDecorators(array(

'FormElements',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'table')),
'Form'

));

This code will wrap all “tr” in “table” tag.

Although this form is simple and contain only two fields however you can create very large form by following this procedure.

Next I going to create a form that may help lot of souls. First see the following form.

You can clearly see we have put all the form elements in the single row.

The html of the above form is

<table>
<tr>
<td>
<label for="username">User Name:</label>
</td>
<td><input type=”text” name=”username”></td>
<td>
<label for="password">Password</label>
</td>
<td><input type=”password” name=”password”></td>
<td align="center">
<input type="submit" name="submit" id="submit" value="Login"></td>
</tr>

</table>

You can clearly see that we have wrapped the elements in tags and then wrap those “td” tags in single “tr” tag and then “table” . To create the above form we will make very little changes in our code above.

The new code would be

class forms_LoginForm extends Zend_Form
{

public function __construct($option=null)
{

parent::__construct($option);

$this->setMethod('post');

$username=$this->CreateElement('text','username')

->setLabel('User Name:');

$username->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr', 'openOnly'=>true))

));

$password=$this->CreateElement('text','password')

->setLabel('Password');

$password->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),

));

$submit=$this->CreateElement('submit','submit')

->setLabel('Login');

$submit->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors', array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td',
'colspan'=>'2','align'=>'center')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr', 'closeOnly'=>'true'))

));

$this->addElements(array(

$username,
$password,
$submit

));

$this->setDecorators(array(

'FormElements',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'table')),
'Form'

));

}
}

You can see we done very minor changes in our form.

In the first element “username” setDecorators() we have changed our array as

$username->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr', 'openOnly'=>true))

));

The only changes are in the last line of the array. We have now set ‘openOnly’ => true for the “row”. It means that we are wrapping elements of username in , however we are putting but opening it only- tag would not be closed when Zend will render this element.

$password->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),

));

Here we have defined only two arrays -third one is missing. The reason is we are wrapping elements in the “td” tag putting nothing for the row.

At the final change are made in the submit element setDecorators() method call as

$submit->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors', array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td',
'colspan'=>'2','align'=>'center')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr', 'closeOnly'=>'true'))

));

Here also we have made changes in the last line-array(array(‘row’)…..). we have defined ‘closeOnly’ => ‘true’. This will close the tag opened in the first element setDecorators() section.

The rest of the code is same.
The rest of the code is same.

In almost all the websites where you find form will compulsory field indicate those fields either by placing text or image next to that field.

Zend_Form setDescription() can help you out and give you an easy way to achieve this goal. Look at the following form.

In the form above we have placed image next to our username field to tell the user that username is compulsory field.

To achieve this you will need to do very little changes in your previous form.

Code to create the above form is

class forms_LoginForm extends Zend_Form
{

public function __construct($option=null)
{

parent::__construct($option);

$this->setMethod('post');

$email = $this->CreateElement('text','username')

->setLabel('User Name:')

->setDescription('path/to/image');

$email->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
array('Description',array('tag'=>'','escape'=>false)),
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

$password=$this->CreateElement('text','password')

->setLabel('Password')
->setDescription('path/to/image');

$password->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
array('Description',array('tag'=>'','escape'=>false)),
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

$submit=$this->CreateElement('submit','submit')

->setLabel('Login');

$submit->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
'Description',
'Errors', array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td',
'colspan'=>'2','align'=>'center')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

$this->addElements(array(

$username,
$password,
$submit

));

$this->setDecorators(array(

'FormElements',

array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'table')),

'Form'

));

}
}

If you compare the first form and this form code, you will see we have done very minor changes. If you compare this for with the first one, you will easily find the changes. However I will define these change for the beginners.

First we have added setDescription() method to our email and password elements of the form. This will add image as a description, however by default Zend will render description at the next row of the email as well as password fields. To put these images will need to define decorators for it. The only changes we will need to do in the setDecorators() methods are
Array(‘Description’,array(‘tag’=>’’,’escape’=>false)) at the place of “Description”. Look at the following code.

$email->setDecorators(array(

'ViewHelper',
array('Description',array('tag'=>'','escape'=>false)),
'Errors',
array(array('data'=>'HtmlTag'), array('tag' => 'td')),
array('Label', array('tag' => 'td')),
array(array('row'=>'HtmlTag'),array('tag'=>'tr'))

));

you can clearly see these changes in line 3. we have defined decorators for the description of the form element.

Zend Framework for developing Web Application using PHP

April 21, 2011viralsolani 2 Comments

There are many frameworks for developing web applications using PHP. CodeIgniter, CakePHP, Symphony and more.. I’ve not much experience in all the frameworks. I’ve a good experience in using CodeIgniter and some small MVC frameworks.

Recently I am Working on Zend Framework . I noticed Zend Framework is a nice framework to develop web application. Zend finally give special notice to develop a very good framework. And I hope very soon, Zend Framework will lead among all. I found this framework is very essential and powerful.

Recently,

What is Zend Framework?

Zend Framework is a simple, straightforward, open-source software framework for PHP 5 designed to eliminate the tedious details of coding and let you focus on the big picture.
It follows Model-View-Controller (MVC)
ZF follows good coding-convention.

Documentation:
Documentation is really rich. Its not take much time to grasp a basic concept of this framework to develop application. Because there is quick start, api documentation, component based documentation. Overall I rate 10 out of 10 grade in documentation.

Goals of Zend Framework Components:

Zend_Acl

Zend_Acl provides lightweight and flexible access control list (ACL) functionality and privileges management.
Zend_Auth

Zend_Auth provides an API for authentication and includes concrete authentication adapters for common use case scenarios, as well as “Identity 2.0″ adapters such as OpenID and Microsoft InfoCard.
Zend_Cache

Zend_Cache provides a flexible approach toward caching data, including support for tagging, manipulating, iterating, and removing subsets.
Zend_Config

Zend_Config simplifies the use of configuration data for web applications.
Zend_Controller and Zend_View

These components provide the infrastructure for a Model-View-Controller (MVC) website.
Zend_Date

Zend_Date offers a detailed but simple API for manipulating dates and times.
Zend_Db

This is a lightweight database access layer, providing an interface to PDO and other database extensions in PHP. It includes adapters for each database driver, a query profiler, and an API to construct most SELECT statements.
Zend_Db_Table

The Zend_Db_Table component is a lightweight solution for object-oriented programming with databases.
Zend_Feed

This component provides a very simple way to work with live syndicated feeds.
Zend_Filter and Zend_Validate

These components encourage the development of secure websites by providing the basic tools necessary for input filtering and validation.
Zend_Filter_Input

This is a configurable solution for declaring and enforcing filtering and validation rules. This component serves as a “cage” for input data, so they are available to your application only after being validated.
Zend_Form

This component provides an object-oriented interface for building forms, complete with input filtering and rendering capabilities.
Zend_Gdata (Zend Google Data Client)

The Google Data APIs provide read/write access to such services hosted at google.com as Spreadsheets, Calendar, Blogger, and CodeSearch.
Zend_Http_Client

This component provides a client for the HTTP protocol, without requiring any PHP extensions. It drives our web services components.
Zend_Json

Easily convert PHP structures into JSON and vice-versa for use in AJAX-enabled applications.
Zend_Layout

Easily provide sitewide layouts for your MVC applications.
Zend_Loader

Load files, classes, and resources dynamically in your PHP application.
Zend_Locale

Zend_Locale is the Framework’s answer to the question, “How can the same application be used around the whole world?” This component is the foundation of Zend_Date, Zend_Translate, and others.
Zend_Log

Log data to the console, flat files, or a database. Its no-frills, simple, procedural API reduces the hassle of logging to one line of code and is perfect for cron jobs and error logs.
Zend_Mail and Zend_Mime

Almost every Internet application needs to send email. Zend_Mail, assisted by Zend_Mime, creates email messages and sends them.
Zend_Measure

Using Zend_Measure, you can convert measurements into different units of the same type. They can be added, subtracted, and compared against each other.
Zend_Memory

Zend_Memory offers an API for managing data in a limited memory mode. A PHP developer can create a Zend_Memory object to store and access large amounts of data, which would exceed the memory usage limits imposed by some PHP environments.
Zend_Pdf

Portable Document Format (PDF) from Adobe is the de facto standard for cross-platform rich documents. Now, PHP applications can create or read PDF documents on the fly, without the need to call utilities from the shell, depend on PHP extensions, or pay licensing fees. Zend_Pdf can even modify existing PDF documents.
Zend_Registry

The registry is a container for storing objects and values in the application space. By storing an object or value in the registry, the same object or value is always available throughout your application for the lifetime of the request. This mechanism is often an acceptable alternative to using global variables.
Zend_Rest_Client and Zend_Rest_Server

REST Web Services use service-specific XML formats. These ad-hoc standards mean that the manner for accessing a REST web service is different for each service. REST web services typically use URL parameters (GET data) or path information for requesting data and POST data for sending data.
Zend_Search_Lucene

The Apache Lucene engine is a powerful, feature-rich Java search engine that is flexible about document storage and supports many complex query types. Zend_Search_Lucene is a port of this engine written entirely in PHP 5.
Zend_Service: Akismet, Amazon, Audioscrobbler, Delicious, Flickr, Nirvanix, Simpy, StrikeIron and Yahoo!

Web services are important to the PHP developer creating the next generation of mashups and composite applications. The Zend Framework provides wrappers for service APIs from major providers to make it as simple as possible to use those web services from your PHP application.
Zend_Session

Zend_Session helps manage and preserve session data across multiple page requests by the same client.
Zend_Translate

The Zend_Translate component provides the Zend Framework with message translation functionality.
Zend_Uri

Zend_Uri is a component that aids in manipulating and validating Uniform Resource Identifiers (URIs). Zend_Uri exists primarily to service other components such as Zend_Http_Client but is also useful as a standalone utility.
Zend_XmlRpc

Zend_XmlRpc makes it easy to communicate with and create XML-RPC services from PHP.

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Zend_Controller and Zend_View

Zend_Filter and Zend_Validate

Zend_Mail and Zend_Mime

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