Views in DVC

DVC provides a flexible view system with support for multiple file types and predictable lookup paths.

View File Types

Type	Processing	Variables	Best For
.php	Executed as PHP	extract($data)	Dynamic content
.md	Rendered as HTML (CommonMark)	None	Static documentation
.html	Output raw*	None	Static templates

* HTML files can contain PHP if needed, but this is not recommended

View Lookup Paths

Views are discovered in this order:

1. Module Views
   src/app/{module}/views/ (Added via controller's before())
2. Application Views
   src/app/views/ (Global templates)
3. Framework Views
   vendor/bravedave/dvc/views/ (Fallback defaults)

Example controller setup:

protected function before() {
    parent::before();
    $this->viewPath[] = __DIR__ . '/views/'; // Module views
}

Loading Views

PHP Views

// Controller
$this->data = [
    'title' => 'Welcome',
    'users' => $userDTOs
];
$this->load('dashboard.php');

// views/dashboard.php
<h1><?= $title ?></h1>
<ul>
  <?php foreach ($users as $user): ?>
    <li><?= htmlspecialchars($user->name) ?></li>
  <?php endforeach ?>
</ul>

Markdown Views

// Controller
$this->load('docs/intro.md');

// views/docs/intro.md
# Documentation
Static content with **CommonMark** support

Best Practices

1. PHP Views

   • Use for dynamic content
   • Always escape output (htmlspecialchars())
   • Keep business logic in controllers

2. Markdown Views

   • Ideal for static content
   • Supports GitHub-flavored Markdown
   • No variable interpolation

3. Organization

   src/app/
   ├── blog/
   │   └── views/
   │       ├── post.php    # Module-specific
   │       └── list.php
   └── views/
       ├── navbar.php     # Global
       └── footer.php
   

Advanced Notes

• No Template Engine
  DVC deliberately avoids {{variables}} syntax for simplicity
• Security
  The _protectedLoad method uses isolated variable scoping
• Performance
  MD files are compiled once (with caching via CommonMark)

---

View Resolution Flow

flowchart TD
  A["load('view')"] --> B{Exists in?}
  B -->|Module| C[src/app/module/views/]
  B -->|App| D[src/app/views/]
  B -->|Framework| E[vendor/bravedave/dvc/views/]
  C --> F[Process based on type]