Agavi and Zend Framework are two major MVC PHP5 Frameworks today. I am actively using both in two different projects.
I will discuss some differences, starting with Part 1 now: Forms.
Forms are used in nearly any web application where you expect user-input. Following the “never trust your users” rule, proper validation is one major (security-) subtopic of forms.
1. Building simple Forms:
Zend Framework:
a) define your Zend_Form object, once, including validation
/**
* @return Zend_Form
*/
protected function getDemoForm()
{
$form = new Zend_Form();
$form->addElement('textarea', 'comment', array(
'label' => 'comment:',
'required' => true,
'validators' => array(
array('StringLength', array(160), array(1))
)
));
$form->addElement('submit', 'submit', array(
'label' => 'submit',
));
return $form;
}
b) trigger validation in your action, use the result if validation succeeds
$demoForm = $this->getDemoForm();
$request = $this->getRequest();
if ($request->isPost())
{
if ($demoForm>isValid($request->getPost()))
{
doSomeStuff();
redirectToSuccessAction();
}
}
c) pass the form object to your view
$this->view->demoForm = $demoForm;
Agavi:
a) write html code for your form in your view
You know how that works. (Or see the Agavi documentation link below)
b) add validation to your write-action
The Agavi documentation prefers defining validators in a .xml file, per action, app/modules/Posts/validate/Add.xml: (module Post, Action Add)
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ae:configurations
xmlns="http://agavi.org/agavi/config/parts/validators/1.0"
xmlns:ae="http://agavi.org/agavi/config/global/envelope/1.0"
parent="%core.module_dir%/Posts/config/validators.xml"
>
<ae:configuration>
<validators>
<validator class="string">
<arguments>
<argument>title</argument>
</arguments>
<errors>
<error>The title field has an invalid value.</error>
<error for="required">Please provide a title.</error>
<error for="max_error">The title must be shorter than 255 characters.</error>
</errors>
<ae:parameters>
<ae:parameter name="max">255</ae:parameter>
</ae:parameters>
</validator>
</validators>
</ae:configuration>
</ae:configurations>
c) formpopulationfilter magic
“All we need to do is re-display our form on the error page and the AgaviFormPopulationFilter will perform all of those duties. To re-display the form we could either include it in the ErrorViews template or we could set the input template in the view.”
2. The Zend Framework way
+ Encapsulation
+ Abstraction
+ DRY
3. The Agavi way
- I have to keep an eye to input names, as they are needed at more than one place. Beware of templating guys changing the input names, breaking stuff.
- validating an action, not a single form/form object
- breaks the DRY principle, code duplication occurs
4. Conclusion
I prefer Zend Framework over Agavi for forms. The main reason is the encapsulation in ZF with the Zend_Form object.
I can have more separated forms with separate validation on one page. I can reuse forms withouth having (that much) duplicate code anywhere. I don’t have to make changes to multiple locations if changing input names or validation, just one object holds every needed information/configuration. Zend_Form also does the html output for me, application-persistent interface guaranteed (styling is done via css or decorators per form/element).
Sources:
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