Zend_Application Requirements

<ac:macro ac:name="toc"><ac:parameter ac:name="style">disc</ac:parameter><ac:parameter ac:name="indent">20px</ac:parameter></ac:macro>

<h2>What it should do</h2>
<ul>
<li>Define environments
<ul>
<li>Define common default environments: development, testing, production</li>
<li>Allow for user-specified environments (e.g., staging2, qa, etc)</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Provide hooks to common application initialization events/resources
<ul>
<li>Identify common events/resources
<ul>
<li>configuration</li>
<li>route setup</li>
<li>controller/module directory setup</li>
<li>view and layout setup</li>
<li>db initialization</li>
<li>i8n resources</li>
<li>etc</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Allow plugin architecture for events/resources
<ul>
<li>Would allow arbitrary resources
<ul>
<li>Resources should be objects</li>
<li>Application class should either be subclassed to add resources, or have methods to add resources</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Proxy front controller dispatching <ac:emoticon ac:name="question" />
<ul>
<li>dispatching Application object should dispatch front controller</li>
<li>dispatching should bootstrap if bootstrapping has not occurred</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Initialization events/resources should:
<ul>
<li>act as factories for appropriate objects
<ul>
<li>use sensible defaults</li>
<li>allow specifying classes for given initializers</li>
<li>would potentially require rewriting objects to accept configuration arrays in the constructors</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>allow for injecting objects instead of factory usage</li>
<li>be allowed to run independently</li>
<li>be allowed to run all at once</li>
<li>allow for dependencies
<ul>
<li>i.e., if one initializer depends on another, it should trigger it</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Resources should contain a reference to the application object
<ul>
<li>for dependencies and configuration</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Be configuration driven
<ul>
<li>Should allow passing configuration or location of configuration file to constructor</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Allow for programmatic use
<ul>
<li>Should allow complete initialization programmatically</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Initialize the PHP environment (preferably at instantiation, but potentially by calling a method)
<ul>
<li>error_reporting</li>
<li>display_errors</li>
<li>etc. – any INI value, basically</li>
<li>Initialize the include_path, library, and autoloading
<ul>
<li>allow specifying the include_path</li>
<li>Allow specifying alternate autoloading classes</li>
<li>initialize autoloading</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Setup and/or invoke module bootstrapping
<ul>
<li>Standard bootstrap location per module</li>
<li>Module bootstrapping should use objects (potentially same or alternate bootstrap interface), and utilize standard, configurable naming convention (such as Module_Bootstrap)</li>
<li>Should occur prior to routing (to allow loading routes and plugins)</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>

<h2>Use Cases</h2>

<p><strong>Please note:</strong> the code samples below should not necessarily be indicative of the expected or final API.</p>

<ul>
<li>Obviously, for bootstrapping the front controller</li>
<li>Also, for bootstrapping service scripts
<ul>
<li>Why?
<ul>
<li>Why invoke the whole MVC for services?</li>
<li>Typically, services need faster response times</li>
<li>Services may cache data differently</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Example:
<ac:macro ac:name="code"><ac:default-parameter>php</ac:default-parameter><ac:plain-text-body><![CDATA[
require_once APPLICATION_PATH . '/Bootstrap.php';
$app = new Bootstrap(APPLICATION_ENV, APPLICATION_PATH . '/config/site.ini');
$app->initDb();
$app->initModules();

$server = new Zend_XmlRpc_Server();
$server->setClass(new Bta_Model_Paste);
echo $server->handle();
]]></ac:plain-text-body></ac:macro></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Job scripts
<ul>
<li>Why?
<ul>
<li>Many things are better left to cronjobs: search index generation, mailing, etc.</li>
<li>Cronjobs need the same environment as the application</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Example:
<ac:macro ac:name="code"><ac:default-parameter>php</ac:default-parameter><ac:plain-text-body><![CDATA[
require_once APPLICATION_PATH . '/Bootstrap.php';
$app = new Bootstrap(APPLICATION_ENV, APPLICATION_PATH . '/config/site.ini');
$app->initLucene();
$config = $app->getConfig();

$spider = new Bta_Search_Spider($config->lucene);
$spider->process();
]]></ac:plain-text-body></ac:macro></li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Testing
<ul>
<li>Why?
<ul>
<li>No-brainer: you need to test your applications</li>
<li>Testing requires its own environment</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li>Example:
<ac:macro ac:name="code"><ac:default-parameter>php</ac:default-parameter><ac:plain-text-body><![CDATA[
require_once APPLICATION_PATH . '/Bootstrap.php';
$app = new Bootstrap('testing', APPLICATION_PATH . '/config/site.ini');
$app->bootstrap();
]]></ac:plain-text-body></ac:macro></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ul>