Depot

Introduction

This project is also based on the desperation to sort and find my electronic components. Some integrated circuits (ICs) accumulated in various boxes and the question of whether I own that or the other IC, had to be painstakingly researched. Above all, there were at one time several places where components were stored or partly kept at a plant. The idea was born, but it took long time to implement it. Klosterneuburg, October 2023 Thomas Kuschel KW4NZ.

Workflow (since 0.0.1)

In git we start to make a new branch named b1_basic_backend, where we start developing our project. The first run with simply renaming entries from a copy of the component com_banners did not work as expected. So let us start at the very beginning:

Adding basic files for component (b1_basic_backend)

With the git branch b1_basic_backend Add the following basic six files:

1. admin

   • src/Extension/DepotComponent.php: The main extension file for the component.
   • services/provider.php: It tells Joomla how to initialize or boot the component.
   • src/Controller/DisplayController.php: The default Controller for the component.
   • src/View/Parts/HtmlView.php: The Html View for the "Parts" page.
   • tmpl/parts/default.php: The layout file for the "Parts" page.

2. depot.xml: XML manifest file that tells Joomla! how to install the component.

Description of each file:

1. DepotComponent.php

This file contains class for the extension. The class extends MVCComponent.

2. provider.php

This is a special file that tells Joomla how to initialize the component - which services it requires and how they should be provided.

The service provider file registers dependencies the component will use. Here, we have included two dependencies:

• DispatcherFactory is needed to create the Dispatcher class instance, and then Joomla will call dispatch() on this Dispatcher object, as the next step in running the component.

• MVCFactory is needed to create the Controller, View, Model and Table class instances on behalf of the component.

3. DisplayController.php

This is a default controller for the component. It simply sets its default view and leaves the rest to its parent.

When you view the component through URL, Joomla uses the controller to execute the task. The task is the name of method in the controller file. If you do not pass the controller or task in the URL, it defaults to Display Controller and display Task.

The default view is the name of the component. So, here we need to override the default view to parts.

4. HtmlView.php

This file contains class HtmlView that extends BaseHtmlView. The BaseHtmlView is the base class for a Joomla View.

The view gets the data from the model to be output by the layout file.

For example:

$this->msg = $this->get('Msg');

This method converts the get('Msg') call into a getMsg() call on the model, which is the method which you have to provide in the model.

The view file displays data using the template layout file - $tpl, which defaults to default.php.

5. default.php

This file holds the template for the page. When no specific layout is requested for a view, Joomla will load the template in the default.php file.

<h2>Welcome to Depot Component!</h2>

6. depot.xml

This file tells Joomla how to install the component and what file are included.

In the administration part, we include a link to the menu and include files and folders (services, src, tmpl and so on) which are in the parent folder admin of the component. While installing the component, these will get copied to the Joomla administrator/components/com_depot.

Installation the component

Create a .zip file of the com_depot directory. Then inside the Joomla Administration upload this .zip package.

Now you should see a new link "Depot" in the "Compnents" section of the menu. If you click it, you should see the default "Depot" page.

Language files

We create two language files for the system and the component Depot at the directory /admin/language/en-GB/ naming it

• com_depot.ini
• com_depot.sys.ini

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