Interface

Interface

Tecnodesign framework provides a simple way of developing interfaces that are based on the models and its relations.

It's easier to create a custom InterfaceClass for each project, that extends Tecnodesign_Interface and customize its behaviors and add new features.

Each interface instance is defined by a YAML file at config:tecnodesign:data-dir. Suppose we have a country.yml file with this information:

---
title: Countries
model: CountryModel
credential: [ Administrator ]
options:
  scope: string
  list: [ country, region ]
  search: [ country, region ]
actions:
  create: false
  delete: false
  company:
    title: Companies
    relation: CompanyModel

So, if you want to create a basic CRUD-like interface for managing the countries, simply add this content to your page:

echo InterfaceClass::run('country'); 

All the definitions will be loaded from the model and interface configuration file. If it's the above example, you'd have the default actions available, with the create and delete actions disabled and a new interface for managing the related CompanyModel.

If you want to load all of your eligible interfaces, you may instead simply run:

echo InterfaceClass::run();

And it would display a list of interfaces to be loaded.

URL patterns

Suppose you create an administrative interface at http://example.com/admin and load all interfaces in it. As the interface and its properties are loaded, the URL will be filled with patterns:

/[interface1]/[interface1 action]/[interface1 id]/[interface2]/[interface2 action]...

So you could update the country Brazil (br) at: http://example.com/admin/country/update/br, and list all companies within this country at: http://example.com/admin/country/preview/br/company/list.

Interface instance properties (YAML)

By default, the Interface component will try to build everything based on the model schema. You cn override and control specifically what should be done at the interface by updating its .yml file.

Property	Type	Description
title	(optional) string	Title to be used for interface listings. If empty or not set, will default to the model label.
model	string	Class name of the model. Should be a Tecnodesign_Model instance.
credential	(optional) array/bool	Credentials needed to access this interface. Might also be true for authenticated users.
options	(optional) array	Additional interface options. Here you can override the model schema scope and add form options.
actions	(optional) array	Each action configuration or relation description (described below). Defaults to InterfaceClass::$actionsAvailable.

Each action defined might be a new action specific for this interface, a relation definition (that will trigger a sub interface) or customization options for the existing interfaces (like setting credentials for a specific action).

Interface action

Existing actions and new actions can be customized to add new functionalities and applications to the interface:

Property	Type	Description
position	(optional) integer	Action order in relation to other actions. If the same position occurs, the actions will be ordered by occurrence.
action	string	Method to be invoked at the model or interface instance before the action is rendered.
identified	(optional) bool	If this action requires that the instance has an id to be invoked.
batch	(optional) bool	If this action can be applied to more than one record at once.
renderer	(optional) string	Method to be invoked at the model or interface instance to render the action. Might also be a template name to be called.
credential	(optional) array/bool	Credentials needed to access this action. If not set, uses the interface instance credentials.