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Using RouteReference

Sometimes, when generating links to a resource, you need to modify the default router's behavior.

Example use cases are:

  • Language switch links
  • Download links
  • Passing a Content item instead of a Location (and using its mainLocationId)

RouteReference represents a route (to a Location object, a declared route, etc.) with its parameters and can be passed to the Router for generating a link. RouteReference works like Symfony's ControllerReference for sub-requests.

The advantage of a RouteReference is that its parameters can be modified later, and then passed to the router (e.g. to generate a link to the same location in several different languages).

Furthermore, the RouteReference generation process can be extended to fit specific needs.

Twig

Prototype:

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ez_route( [routing_resource[, parameters_hash]] )
  • routing_resource can be any valid resource (route name, Location object, etc.). If omitted (null), the current route will be taken into account.
  • parameters_hash is a hash with arbitrary key/values. It will be passed to the router in the end.

Minimal usage is pretty straightforward:

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{% set routeRef = ez_route( "my_route" ) %}


{% set routeRef = ez_route( location ) %}


<a href="{{ path( routeRef ) }}">My link</a>

Passing parameters and playing with the RouteReference:

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{% set routeRef = ez_route( "my_route", {"some": "thing"} ) %}


{% do routeRef.set( "foo", ["bar", "baz"] ) %}


{% do routeRef.setRoute( "another_route" ) %}

<a href="{{ path( routeRef ) }}">My link</a>

PHP

You can generate links based on a RouteReference from PHP too, with the RouteReferenceGenerator service.

Assuming you're in a controller:

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/** @var \eZ\Publish\Core\MVC\Symfony\Routing\Generator\RouteReferenceGeneratorInterface $routeRefGenerator */
$routeRefGenerator = $this->get( 'ezpublish.route_reference.generator' );
$routeRef = $routeRefGenerator->generate( 'my_route', [ 'some' => 'thing' ]);
$routeRef->set( 'foo', [ 'bar', 'baz' ] );
$routeRef->setRoute( 'another_route' );

$link = $this->generateUrl($routeRef);

Extending the RouteReference generation process

When generating the route reference, the RouteReferenceGenerator service sends the MVCEvents::ROUTE_REFERENCE_GENERATION (ezpublish.routing.reference_generation) event. This event can be listened to in order to modify the final route reference (adding/changing parameters, changing the route name, etc.).

All listeners receive the eZ\Publish\Core\MVC\Symfony\Event\RouteReferenceGenerationEvent object, which contains the current request object and the route reference.

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<?php

namespace Acme\AcmeExampleBundle\EventListener;

use eZ\Publish\Core\MVC\Symfony\Event\RouteReferenceGenerationEvent;
use eZ\Publish\Core\MVC\Symfony\MVCEvents;
use Symfony\Component\EventDispatcher\EventSubscriberInterface;

class MyRouteReferenceListener implements EventSubscriberInterface
{
    public static function getSubscribedEvents()
    {
        return [
            MVCEvents::ROUTE_REFERENCE_GENERATION => 'onRouteReferenceGeneration'
        ];
    }

    public function onRouteReferenceGeneration(RouteReferenceGenerationEvent $event)
    {
        $routeReference = $event->getRouteReference();
        $request = $event->getRequest();

        // Let's say you want to change the route name if "some_parameter" param is present
        if ( $routeReference->has( 'some_parameter' ) )
        {
            $routeReference->setRoute( 'a_specific_route' );
            // Remove "some_parameter", as you don't need it any more
            $routeReference->remove( 'some_parameter' );
            // Add another parameter
            $routeReference->set( 'another_parameter', [ 'parameters', 'are', 'fun' ] );
        }
    }
}

Service declaration (in AcmeExampleBundle/Resources/config/services.yml):

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parameters:
    acme.my_route_reference_listener.class: Acme\AcmeExampleBundle\EventListener\MyRouteReferenceListener

services:
    acme.my_route_reference_listener:
        class: '%acme.my_route_reference_listener.class%'
        tags:
            - { name: kernel.event_subscriber }

Example

A real-life implementation example on RouteReference is the LanguageSwitcher (eZ\Publish\Core\MVC\Symfony\EventListener\LanguageSwitchListener).