Views¶

Introduction¶

Horizon's views are built on top of Twig, and we have implemented an additional layer of parsing to help implement an optional Blade-like syntax, automatic localization, and a unique take on components.

Registering views¶

Default directory¶

The default view service provider registers a loader which automatically looks for files in the /app/views/ directory. Placing your view files in this location is the quickest way to get going and requires no configuration.

Custom service provider¶

The default view provider is at Horizon\View\ViewServiceProvider which provides extensions and the primary view loader. You can write your own provider to register a new directory by providing a Horizon\View\ViewLoader instance.

namespace App\View;

use Horizon\Framework\Application;
use Horizon\Support\Services\ServiceProvider;

class CustomViewServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider {

    private $viewDirectory = '/app/views';

    public function register() {
        $this->bind('Horizon\View\ViewLoader', function() {
            return new ViewLoader(Application::path($this->viewDirectory));
        });
    }

    public function provides() {
        return array(
            'Horizon\View\ViewLoader'
        );
    }

}

Extensions¶

You can use a view extension to build on top of templates, add your own functions, or implement new syntax. View extensions consist of three parts:

1. Transpiler tags – Defined tags preceded by a @ character which get converted into Twig syntax. For example, the @if statement, or @csrf function are "transpiled" into Twig syntax.
2. Globals – Variables that are accessible in the environment of every view file, such as $request and $route.
3. Functions – Custom functions that can be called in Twig blocks, like {{ session() }}.

Defining an extension¶

The default extension loader looks for all files in App\View\Extensions, so you can immediately register an extension by creating it in that namespace. It should extend Horizon\View\ViewExtension.

namespace App\View\Extensions;

use Horizon\View\ViewExtension;
use Twig_SimpleFunction;

class CustomExtension extends ViewExtension {

    protected function twigKernelTime() {
        return new Twig_SimpleFunction('kernel_time', function () {
            return Profiler::time('kernel');
        });
    }

}

In the example above, we instantly add a new function kernel_time() to the Twig environment by declaring a new method starting with twig.