Elefant Cheat Sheet

www.elefantcms.com

Getting Started

These are the steps to get Elefant up and running.
`git clone http://github.com/jbroadway/elefant.git`
Point a virtualhost to the new `elefant` folder
`cd elefant`
`chmod -R 777 cache conf css files install layouts`
`./conf/elefant install` or `example.com/install/` via web

Utilities

`./conf/elefant build-app <name>`	Generate app skeleton
`./conf/elefant backup <path>`	Backup your website
`./conf/elefant export-db <file>`	Backup your database
`./conf/elefant`	List all available commands

Folder Structure

`apps`	Your applications
`cache`	Cached templates
`conf`	Configuration files
`css`	Stylesheets
`files`	Uploaded files
`index.php`	Front controller
`install`	Web installer
`js`	Javascript files
`lang`	Translations
`layouts`	Design templates
`lib`	Core classes
`tests`	Unit tests

Request Routing

`/`	→	`conf('General', 'default_handler')`
`/appname`	→	`apps/appname/handlers/index.php`
`/appname/handler`	→	`apps/appname/handlers/handler.php`
`/appname/handler/extra`	→	`apps/appname/handlers/handler/extra.php`
Cascade occurs in reverse order until a matching handler is found.

App Structure

`apps/appname/`
`conf`	Configuration files
`forms`	Form validations
`handlers`	Request handlers
`lib`	Custom classes
`models`	Data models
`views`	App templates

Available Objects

These are made available inside handlers.
`$this`	Controller object
`$memcache`	Memcache object
`$page`	Page object
`$tpl`	Template object

Core Classes

Useful properties, methods, and usage patterns of the core classes.

Controller

`->run($uri, $data=array())`	Resolves and returns the output of a handler.
`->handle($handler)`	Returns the output of a handler by file name.
`->restful($obj)`	Create a RESTful API from an object.
`->redirect($uri)`	Redirect the current request to `$uri`.
`->hook($type, $data)`	Run any handlers assigned to a hook type.
`->error($code=404, $title, $msg)`	Trigger the default error handler.
`->params($one, $two, ...)`	Retrieve specified request parameters.
`->request_method()`	Get the request method.
`->get_put_data()`	Get data from a PUT request.
`->get_raw_post_data()`	Get the raw data from a POST request.
`->flush($data)`	Flush chunked data to client.
`->is_https()`	Check if using HTTPS
`->force_https()`	Redirect to HTTPS if using HTTP.
`->force_http()`	Redirect to HTTP if using HTTPS.
`->require_login()`	Require authentication to continue.
`->require_admin()`	Require admin auth to continue.
`->add_notification($msg)`	Add a notification for the current admin.

Direct-to-database helper functions

All functions except `db_error()` and `db_lastid()` accept `$sql` plus an array or variable number of values for replacement of placeholders, for example: `$res = db_execute('select * from mytable where id = ?', $id);`
`db_execute()`	Execute a statement and return true/false.
`db_single()`	Fetch a single object.
`db_shift()`	Fetch the a single value from the first result returned.
`db_fetch_array()`	Fetch an array of all result objects.
`db_shift_array()`	Fetch an array of a single field.
`db_pairs()`	Fetch an associative array of two fields.
`db_lastid()`	Get the last inserted id value (int).
`db_error()`	Get the last error message, or false if no error.

Form

`$f = new Form($method, $rules)`	Constructor method.
`if ($f->submit()) { // handle form }`	Is the form submitted and valid?
`Form::verify_value($value, $type, $validator)`	Validate any data value.
`$f->merge_values($obj)`	Merge `$_GET` or `$_POST` values with an object for pre-filling a re-rendered form.
`$f->failed = array()`	Fields that failed validation.
`$f->method = 'post'`	Required request method.
`$f->rules = array()`	Validation rules.
`$f->verify_csrf = true`	Whether to prevent CSRF attacks.
`$f->error = false`	The reason submit() failed to pass.

I18n

`i18n_get($str)`	Translate a string into the current language.
`i18n_getf($str, $vals)`	Like `i18n_get()` with `vsprintf()`.
`$language`	The current language.
`$locale`	The current locale.
`$charset = 'UTF-8'`	The current language's character set.
`$fullname`	The full name of the current language.
`$url_includes_lang`	Whether the URL includes the language, e.g., `/fr/index`.
`$new_request_uri`	The URL with the prefixed language removed.
`$negotiation`	Negotiation method used to determine language.
`$error`	Any error that occurs in the class.

Model

Usage:
`class Mytable extends Model { /* custom methods */ }`	Create model for `mytable` db table.
`$m = new Mytable(array( 'name'=>'John', 'age'=>30 )); $m->put();`	Insert a new object.
`echo $m->id;`	The ID from the inserted object.
`$m = new Mytable(1);`	Fetch object by ID.
`$m->age = 31; $m->put();`	Update the object.
`$obj = $m->orig ();`	Return the original (non-Model) object.
`$m->remove()`	Delete the object.
`$res = $m->query() ->where('age > 30') ->order('name asc') ->fetch(20, 0);`	Build a custom query and fetch the results. `$res` is an array of `Mytable` objects.
Additional fetch methods:
`->fetch_assoc()`	Fetch a key/value pair of two fields.
`->fetch_field()`	Fetch an array of one fields.
`->fetch_orig()`	Fetch the original (non-Model) objects.

Page

`->render()`	Renders the page with its layout templates.
`->add_script($script, $to='head')`	Add script to `$head` or `$tail`.
`$body = ''`	Body content.
`$head = ''`	Extra scripts for `<head>` section.
`$tail = ''`	Extra scripts before `</body>.`
`$layout = 'default'`	Design template.
`$title = ''`	Page title.
`$menu_title = ''`	Alternate navigation title.
`$window_title = ''`	Alternate browser window title.

Template

`->render($template, $data)`	Render a template file.
`->run_includes($template)`	Run and include handlers in a string.
`->sanitize($value)`	Sanitize a string for safe output. Prevents XSS.
`$charset = 'UTF-8'`	Template character set.
`{{ var }}`	In-template variable substitution.
`{{ var\|filter_name }}`	Variable filtering.
`{" Text "}`	In-template translatable text.
`{% foreach foo %} {% end %}`	In-template looping.
`{% if foo %} {% elseif bar %} {% else %} {% end %}`	In-template conditional logic.
`{! app/handler?param=value !}`	Call a handler from a template.
`{# app/handler?param=value #}`	Hard-code handler output in a template.

User

Extends `Model` with the following:
`User::encrypt_pass($plain)`	Generates a random salt and encrypts a string.
`User::require_login()`	Checks if a user has been logged in.
`User::require_admin()`	Checks if a user has been logged in as an admin.
`User::is_valid()`	Check if the user is valid.
`User::logout($redirect_to)`	Log the current user out.