Other Helpful Features

The Trongate PHP Framework

Documentation

Introduction

Quick Start

Basic Concepts

Understanding Routing

Controllers

Views

Assets

Modules Calling Modules

Parent & Child Modules

Database Operations

Modules within Modules

Templates & Themes

Helpers Explained

Form Handling

Working with Files

The Module Import Wizard

Authorization & Authentication

The API Explorer

Best Practices

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The Trongate PHP Framework

Helpers Explained

Other Helpful Features

Trongate includes several useful features that are not part of any specific helper file or class but play an integral role in streamlining web development. These features can be accessed from within any module controller or view file.

The Anchor Function

The anchor() function generates a clickable text link pointing to a URL relative to BASE_URL.

For instance, if the website example.com has a homepage located at:

A contact page at https://example.com/contact can be linked using:

This function accepts up to three parameters:

$target_url ~ The destination URL.
$text ~ The displayed link text.
$attributes (optional) ~ An array of key-value pairs added to the opening 'a' tag.

This function supports both internal and external links by providing a full URL as an argument.

Security Note: The anchor() function does not escape the link text. For user-generated or database content, consider combining with the out() function to prevent XSS attacks:

When using HTML in links (such as Font Awesome icons), make sure the content is from a trusted source:

For user-generated content, use in combination with the out() function. For example:

The IP Address Function

The ip_address() function returns the IP address of the current visitor. Syntax:

Example usage in a view file:

Generating Random Strings

The make_rand_str() function generates random strings. Example:

The first argument specifies the string length. Passing true as a second argument ensures uppercase output:

Characters prone to misinterpretation (e.g., '0', '1', 'l') are excluded for clarity, particularly in scenarios where users read codes aloud.

APPPATH

The APPPATH constant returns the absolute file path of the application directory. Example:

Within a view file, the APPPATH can be rendered using PHP short tags, like so:

The BASE_URL constant is also available, returning the main website URL as defined in config.php:

The JSON Function

The json() function provides a visual representation of data within controllers or views. Syntax:

The optional second argument, when set to true, terminates script execution after displaying the data.

Example usage in a view file:

Sample output:

screenshot — Screenshot showing sample output after having invoked the `json()` function.

The Out Function

The out() function escapes and formats strings for safe output in different contexts. Parameters:

$input ~ The string to escape.
$encoding (optional) ~ Character encoding (default: 'UTF-8').
$output_format (optional) ~ Output format: 'html' (default), 'xml', 'json', 'javascript', or 'attribute'.

Example 1: Safe Output from JSON Data

Example 2: Securing Database Output

More details pertaining to the out() function are available from here.