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Version: 12.x

Controllers

Controllers are tasked with two primary responsibilities: serving the requested data and constructing the corresponding response.

To generate new controllers you may use the apiato:generate:controller interactive command:

php artisan apiato:generate:controller

Definition & Principles

Read Porto SAP Documentation (#Controllers).

Rules

  • All API Controllers:
    • MUST be placed in the app/Containers/{Section}/{Container}/UI/API/Controllers directory.
    • MUST extend the App\Ship\Parents\Controllers\ApiController class.
    • MUST format their responses via a Transformer.
  • All Web Controllers:
    • MUST be placed in the app/Containers/{Section}/{Container}/UI/WEB/Controllers directory.
    • MUST extend the App\Ship\Parents\Controllers\WebController class.
  • Controllers:
    • MUST only call the run or transactionalRun method of Actions.
    • SHOULD pass the Request object to the Action instead of passing data from the request.

Folder Structure

app
└── Containers
└── Section
└── Container
└── UI
├── API
│ └── Controllers
│ ├── ControllerA.php
│ ├── ControllerB.php
│ └── ...
└── WEB
└── Controllers
├── ControllerA.php
├── ControllerB.php
└── ...

Code Example

API Controller

use App\Ship\Parents\Controllers\ApiController;

class Controller extends ApiController
{
public function __construct(
private readonly SampleAction $sampleAction,
) {
}

public function __invoke(SampleRequest $request): array
{
$sample = $this->sampleAction->run($request);

return $this->transform($sample, SampleTransformer::class);
}
}

Web Controller

use App\Ship\Parents\Controllers\WebController;

class Controller extends WebController
{
public function show(): Factory|View|Application
{
return view('sectionName@containerName::view-name');
}
}
tip

In case you want to handle the same Action differently based on the UI type (e.g., API, Web, CLI), you can set the UI on Action with setUI method.

$action = app(Action::class);
$action->setUI('web');

and get the UI in your Action with getUI method.

$action->getUI(); // will return 'web'

Response Helpers Methods

transform

This method is incredibly useful and will be used in most cases.

  • The first required parameter accepts data as an object or a Collection of objects.
  • The second required parameter is the transformer class.
  • The third optional parameter allows you to specify the includes that should be returned in the response.
  • The fourth optional parameter lets you include metadata in the response. This metadata will be returned under the meta key in the custom key.
// With Includes
$this->transform($resource, ResourceTransformer::class, ['foo', 'bar']);
// With Meta
$this->transform($resource, ResourceTransformer::class, meta: ['foo' => 'bar', 'baz' => 1]);

// Response
{
"data": {},
"meta": {
"include": [...],
"custom": {
"foo": "bar",
"baz": 1
},
"pagination": {}
}
}

withMeta

This method enables you to add metadata to the response, and it MUST be used in conjunction with the transform method. This is different from the meta parameter in the transform method. This metadata will be returned directly under the meta key.

You can use this method in conjunction with the meta parameter in the transform method.

$metaData = ['foo' => 999, 'bar'];

$this->withMeta($metaData)->transform($sample, SampleTransformer::class, meta: ['foo' => 'bar', 'baz' => 1]);

// Response
{
"data": {},
"meta": {
"foo": 999,
"0": "bar",
"include": [...],
"custom": {
"foo": "bar",
"baz": 1
},
"pagination": {}
}
}

json

This method allows you to pass an array of data that will be represented as JSON.

$this->json($data)

created

This method allows you to return a response with a 201 status code.

$this->created($data)

deleted

This method allows you to return a response with a 202 status code.

$this->deleted($deletedModel)

// Response
{
"message": "Model (1) Deleted Successfully."
}

accepted

This method allows you to return a response with a 202 status code.

$this->accepted($data)

noContent

This method allows you to return a response with a 204 status code.

$this->noContent()