Matching Multiple URLs with parameters using Zend_Controller_Router_Route_Regex in Zend Framework

Question

i am developing a Rest Controller with Zend and i am confused with the mapping of urls to the Router.

Basically i read about Zend Router and i could not plan my urls in order to satisfy the mentioned routes.

These are some of my urls that should be mapped to Routers.

1. http://localhost/api/v1/tags.xml

2. http://localhost/api/v1/tags.xml?abc=true (param: abc=true)

3. http://localhost/api/v1/tags/123456.xml (param: 123456.xml)

4. http://localhost/api/v1/tags/123456/pings.xml (params: 123456, pings.xml)

5. http://localhost/api/v1/tags/123456/pings.xml?a=1&b=2 (params: 123456, pings.xml, a=1, b=2)

6. http://localhost/api/v1/tags/123456/pings/count.xml (params: 123456, pings, count.xml)

I am planning such that for the url patterns 1 to 3, "tags" should be the controller and for the url patterns 4 to 6, "pings" should be the controller.

Now i am unsure about how to configure the routers such that the above scenarios will work. Note that i cannot change these urls. I can offer 100 of my reputation score to the good answer.

Construct

Why do you have/need "public/index.php" at the start of all of these URLs? – Potamic

They are not mandatory and i removed them. I am only worried about the routing of these urls to their respective controllers and actions, passing the needed parameters. – Construct

Try to be consistent, and your routes will appear clearly. > "tags" should be the controller and for the url patterns 4 to 6, "pings" should be the controller. < Makes no sense to me. – Jan

All i wanted is that, the requests should route to different controllers for patterns 1 to 3 and 4 to 6. In general scenario, all the above requests will route to "api" controller (if the module is default), but that would make the process hectic. So i am looking for a way to route the requests to different controllers. How can i achieve this? – Construct

Answer 1

First two URLs can be combined to one router.

$r = new Zend_Controller_Router_Route_Regex('api/v1/tags.xml',
                array('controller' => 'tags', 'action' => 'index'));
$router->addRoute('route1', $r);

To differentiate the first two routes, check for the presence of the abc parameter in your tags controller. Add the following in your tags controller, index action.

if($this->_getParam('abc') == "true")
{
//route 2
} else {
// route 1
}

Similarly, routes 4 and 5 can be combined into one route.

I have explained for Route 6. For route 3, you can use the same logic.

$r = new Zend_Controller_Router_Route_Regex('api/v1/tags/(.*)/pings/(.*)',
                array('controller' => 'pings', 'action' => 'index'),
array(1 => 'param1',2=>'param2')
);
$router->addRoute('route6', $r);

The parameters can then accessed like the following in pings controller.

$this->_getParam('param1') and $this->_getParam('param2')

For Route 5 :

$r = new Zend_Controller_Router_Route_Regex('api/v1/tags/(.*)/pings.xml',
                array('controller' => 'pings', 'action' => 'index'),
array(1 => 'param1')
);
$router->addRoute('route5', $r);

The parameters (part of the URL after ?) will not be handled in the Router. By default, they will be passed to your controller.

To get a specifc parameter value passed in your URL, use the following in your controller.

$this->_getParam('a');

The logic is use (.*) in your route and assign them a parameter name and access them in your controller

Nester

@emaillenin Thanks, that worked perfectly, but i could not get the regex format for the 5th case. Can you please post an example for that? I could not get the parameters a=1&b=2. – Construct

@dskanth pings.xml is a static part of the URL? – Nester

Sorry for being late, but yes, pings.xml is the static part of 5th url, i want the part after that. – Construct

updated the answer for Route 5. where is your 100 bounty offer;) – Nester

Thanks a lot emaillenin. I am pleased with your replies. I can offer you bounty points only after 2 days, as you might be knowing the process of bounty. – Construct

By the way, i would be awarding you 100 reputation by tomorrow :). If you have time, you can look into my another question here: #5179201 – Construct

Answer 2

Here's a starter for a piece of algorithm that distills the controller, indexed params, and extension from the request, which you could incorporate into an extended version of Zend_Rest_Route::match():

public function match( $request )
{
    $path = $request->getPathInfo();

    // distill extension (if any) and the remaining path
    preg_match( '~(?U:(?<path>.*))(?:\.(?<extension>[^\.]*))?$~', $path, $matches );
    $this->_values[ '_extension' ] = isset( $matches[ 'extension' ] ) ? $matches[ 'extension' ] : null;
    $path = isset( $matches[ 'path' ] ) ? $matches[ 'path' ] : '';

    // split the path into segments
    $pathSegments = preg_split( '~' . self::URI_DELIMITER . '~', $path, -1, PREG_SPLIT_NO_EMPTY );

    // leave if no path segments found? up to you to decide, but I put it in anyway
    if( 0 == ( $length = count( $pathSegments ) ) )
    {
        return false;
    }

    // initialize some vars
    $params = array();
    $controller = null;

    // start finding the controller 
    // (presumes controller found at segment 0, 2, 4, etc...)
    for( $i = 0; $i < $length; $i += 2 )
    {
        // you should probably check here if this is a valid REST controller 
        // (see Zend_Rest_Route::_checkRestfulController() )
        $controller = $params[] = $pathSegments[ $i ];
        if( isset( $pathSegments[ $i + 1 ] ) )
        {
            $params[] = $pathSegments[ $i + 1 ];
        }
    }
    // remove the param which is the actual controller
    array_splice( $params, $i - 2, 1 );

    // set the controller
    $this->_values[ 'controller' ] = $controller;

    // merge the params and defaults
    $this->_values = array_merge( $this->_values, $params, $this->_defaults );

    return $this->_values;
}

It's hardly tested, and thus not production material of course. But it should get you started.

What this DOES give you so far is:
The controller
The extension
The indexed parameters

What this DOES NOT give you is:
The action (post, put, delete, etc. The algorithm for this is already in Zend_Rest_Route::match() )
The named parameters (Zend_Controller_Request_Http takes care of that already)

EDIT
I realize this answer might be considered a bit vague so far. The point is to merge this algorithm with the match() algorithm of Zend_Rest_Route. But this above code still needs a lot of attention; you want to account for modules too probably (as does Zend_Rest_Route), and maybe even an optional baseUrl (not sure how ZF deals with this internally actually).

Memnon