Getting Started with the URL Generator Component

The way you install and use the URL Generator Component depends on the type of project you are working on:

  • In a Symfony Project, the URL Generator Component is installed through Puli’s Symfony Bundle.
  • In a PHP Application that will never be a dependency of other Composer packages, the URL Generator Component is installed through Puli’s Composer Plugin.
  • In a Composer Package that is a dependency of an application or other packages, the URL Generator Component needs to be installed manually.

In a Symfony Project

Important

Before you continue, install the Puli CLI and the Repository Component in your project.

In a Symfony application, the URL Generator Component is installed through Puli’s Symfony Bundle. If you followed Getting Started with the Repository Component, this bundle is already installed in your application.

With Puli’s UrlGenerator class you can generate URLs for a Puli path. Let’s print the URL of the app/Resources/public/images/logo.png file in a controller:

class PostController
{
    public function indexController()
    {
        $generator = $this->get('puli.url_generator');

        echo $generator->generateUrl('/app/public/images/logo.png');
    }
}

Tip

In Twig templates you can use the resource_url() function of Puli’s Twig Extension. See the documentation of the extension for more information.

Before the above code actually works, you need to tell Puli how to generate your URLs. Add a web server for your web directory with the Puli CLI:

$ php puli.phar server --add localhost web

In the example, the server is named “localhost”, but you can choose any name you like.

Next, publish the resources under /app/public to the server:

$ php puli.phar publish /app/public localhost

Now the URL is generated correctly in the template:

<img src="/images/logo.png" />

You can install all public resources in the web directory with the publish --install command:

$ php puli.phar publish --install
Installing /app/public into web via symlink...

In a PHP Application

Important

Before you continue, install the Puli CLI and the Repository Component in your project.

In a PHP application, the URL Generator Component is installed through Puli’s Composer Plugin. If you followed Getting Started with the Repository Component, this bundle is already installed in your application.

With Puli’s UrlGenerator class you can generate URLs for a Puli path. Use the Puli factory to create the UrlGenerator instance:

$factoryClass = PULI_FACTORY_CLASS;
$factory = new $factoryClass();

$repo = $factory->createRepository();
$discovery = $factory->createDiscovery($repo);
$generator = $factory->createUrlGenerator($discovery);

Note

For performance reasons, Puli services such as $factory or $repo should be created only once per application. Instead of storing them in global variables, it is usually nicer to use a Dependency Injection Container for creating the services on demand. A simple Dependency Injection Container for small projects is Pimple.

Use the generateUrl() method to generate URLs for a resource:

echo $generator->generateUrl('/app/public/images/logo.png');

Tip

Install Puli’s Twig Extension to generate URLs in Twig templates.

This code will echo the URL for the res/public/images/logo.png file. Before the code actually works, you need to tell Puli how to generate your URLs. Add a web server for the document root of your web server with the Puli CLI:

$ php puli.phar server --add localhost public_html

In the example, the server is named “localhost”, but you can choose any name you like. We assume that the document root of the server is the public_html directory in your project.

Next, publish the resources under /app/public to the server:

$ php puli.phar publish /app/public localhost

Now the URL is generated correctly:

echo $generator->generateUrl('/app/public/images/logo.png');
// => /images/logo.png

You can install all public resources in the public_html directory with the publish --install command:

$ php puli.phar publish --install
Installing /app/public into public_html via symlink...

In a Composer Package

Important

Before you continue, install the Puli CLI and the Repository Component in your project.

In a Composer package, the URL Generator Component is installed manually. Before you install the component, set “minimum-stability” to “beta” in composer.json:

{
    "minimum-stability": "beta"
}

Install the component with Composer:

$ composer require puli/url-generator:^1.0

With Puli’s UrlGenerator class you can generate URLs for a Puli path. Use the generateUrl() method to generate URLs for a resource:

echo $generator->generateUrl('/app/public/images/logo.png');

Tip

Install Puli’s Twig Extension to generate URLs in Twig templates.

This code will echo the URL for the res/public/images/logo.png file. However, before this code actually works, the application that uses your package must register a web server and publish your resources there.

You should never create UrlGenerator instances in a Composer package. Instead, let the application that uses your package create the URL generator and pass it to your code. This way, every part of the application uses the same instance and benefits of caching and other optimizations done internally.

Further Reading