This document discusses resource routing in ExpressionEngine (EE), which is the stage in a request where the server/application decides what resource to provide based on the URL and request information. It describes how EE currently routes URLs to templates and why changing this approach could be beneficial. It then outlines some options for customizing routing, including native EE template routes, extension hooks, and add-ons like Structure and Resource Router, providing examples of how they could be used.

1. RESOURCE
ROUTING
IN EE
@michaelrog
#EEconf 2014

2. RESOURCE
ROUTING FOR
TRIPLE-DIGIT
GROWTH!!!!!!1
@michaelrog
#EEconf 2014

3. WELCOME

4. WHAT IS RESOURCE
ROUTING?
The stage in a request where the server
and/or application decides what
resource to provide, and in what form,
based on the URL, info in the request,
and the characteristics of the server
environment.

5. WHAT IS RESOURCE
ROUTING?
The stage in a request where the server
and/or application decides what
resource to provide, and in what form,
based on the URL, info in the request,
and the characteristics of the server
environment.

6. WHAT IS RESOURCE
ROUTING?
This happens when…
• Apache gives you a file
• Apache gives you a file based on an .htaccess
rewrite/directive
• Wikipedia decides what article to give you
• an API decides what controller to instantiate
• EE decides what template to process

7. HOW DOES EE ROUTE
URLS TO TEMPLATES?

9. WHY WOULD WE
WANT TO CHANGE IT?
To break out of the group/template scheme
• Templates should be organized by content type,
not content values
• Hierarchical content
• Ambiguous/conflicting segments
To add pre-routing functionality
• Business logic should live in the app
• Templates are views
Performance

10. THIS IS (USUALLY) BAD:
{if segment 2 == "category"}
{embed="blog/.category"}
{if:elseif segment_2 == "view"}
{embed="blog/.single"}
{if:else}
{embed="blog/.listing"}
{/if}

11. HOW CAN WE CHANGE IT?

12. NATIVE TEMPLATE ROUTES

13. NATIVE TEMPLATE ROUTES
• One route per template
• Can contain static or dynamic segments
/products/boots
/products/{product_name:alpha_dash}
• Segments can contain multiple variables
/{month:integer}-{day:integer}-{year:integer}
/{date:regex[(d{2}-d{2}-d{4})]}
• Segments can be bound by multiple rules
{variable:rule1|rule2[arg0, arg1, ...]|...}

14. NATIVE TEMPLATE ROUTES
• Order matters
/events/{type:alpha_dash}
/events/{date:regex[(d{2}-d{2}-d{4})]}
• Include All Segments
/name/{first_name:alpha}/{last_name:alpha}/
{suffix:regex[(i|v|x)+]}
/name/{first_name:alpha}/{last_name:alpha}
/name/{first_name:alpha}

15. EXTENSION HOOKS

16. SESSIONS_END
$this->extensions->call('sessions_end', $this);
if ($this->extensions->end_script === TRUE)
{
return;
}

17. SESSIONS_END
public sessions_end($sess) {
$redirect = ... ;
$url = ... ;
if ($redirect) {
$this->EE->session = $sess;
$this->EE->functions->redirect($url);
}
return true;
}

18. CORE_TEMPLATE_ROUTE HOOK
$edata = ee()->extensions
->call('core_template_route’,
ee()->uri->uri_string);
if (is_array($edata) && count($edata) == 2)
{
list($template_group, $template) = $edata;
}

19. CORE_TEMPLATE_ROUTE HOOK
public sessions_end($uri) {
$template1 = ... ;
$template2 = ... ;
$where_to_go = (... ? $template1 : $template2);
return array(
'template_group', // Template group name
'template' // Template name
);
}

20. ADD-ONS THAT DO THIS
• Structure
— http://buildwithstructure.com/
• Overrides front-end routes based on hierarchical URIs
• Overrides CP routes based on optional Settings
• Resource Router
— https://github.com/rsanchez/resource_router
• Remap URI routes to an HTTP response, using
CodeIgniter-style routings

21. STRUCTURE
Use case:
• Entries as pages in a hierarchy or taxonomy.

22. STRUCTURE
Each Channel has a default template for its entries, and a
default behavior: Page or Listing

23. STRUCTURE

24. STRUCTURE
Structure even hijacks CP routes a bit: I can make Structure
my CP homepage, and redirect to it after an entry is saved.

25. RESOURCE ROUTER
Use cases:
• to break out of the template_group/template_name
paradigm of traditional EE routing
• to nest URLs on a Structure/Pages URI (pagination,
categories, etc.)
• to point multiple URL patterns to a single template
• to add custom JSON/HTML endpoints that do not warrant
a full EE template
• to remove excess conditional logic in your templates

26. RESOURCE ROUTER
$config['resource_router'] = array(
'uri/pattern' => ...
)

27. RESOURCE ROUTER
{if segment 2 == "category"}
{embed="blog/.category"}
{if:elseif segment_2 == "view"}
{embed="blog/.single"}
{if:else}
{embed="blog/.listing"}
{/if}

28. RESOURCE ROUTER
$config['resource_router'] = array(
'blog/:any' => function ($router, $wildcard) {
if ($wildcard->value == 'category') {
$router->setTemplate('blog/.category');
} elseif ($wildcard->value === 'view') {
$router->setTemplate('blog/.single');
} else {
$router->setTemplate('blog/.listing');
}
}
)

29. RESOURCE ROUTER
Wildcards
• :any
• :num
• :year
• :month
• :day
• :pagination
• :category
• :page:XX
• :all

30. RESOURCE ROUTER
$config['resource_router'] = array(
'blog/:category' => 'site/blog-category',
'blog/:year' => 'site/blog-yearly-archive',
);

31. RESOURCE ROUTER
Validating Wildcards
• :entry_id
• :url_title
• :category_id
• :category_url_title
• :member_id
• :username

32. RESOURCE ROUTER
Callbacks
• $router->setTemplate(string $template)
• $router->set404()
• $router->setGlobal(string $key, $value)
• $router->setVariable(string $key, mixed $value)
• {exp:resource_router:your_var_name}
• $router->setHeader(string $name, string $value)
• $router->json(mixed $data)
• $router->redirect(string $url, int $statusCode)

33. RESOURCE ROUTER
Wildcard functions
• $wildcard->isValidEntryId(array $where)
• $wildcard->isValidUrlTitle(array $where)
• $wildcard->isValidEntry(array $where)
• $wildcard->isValidCategoryId(array $where)
• $wildcard->isValidCategoryUrlTitle(array $where)
• $wildcard->isValidCategory(array $where)
• $wildcard->isValidMemberId(array $where)
• $wildcard->isValidUsername(array $where)
• $wildcard->getMeta(string $column)

34. CASE STUDIES

35. CASE 1:
TAXONOMY + LISTINGS
/ about
/ about / managers
/ about / developers
/ events
/ leasing-info
/ leasing-info / businesses
/ leasing-info / tenants
/ directory
/ directory / forever-21
/ directory / house-of-blues
/ directory / …

36. CASE 1:
TAXONOMY + LISTINGS

37. CASE 2:
ACADEMIC JOURNAL URLS
/ ija
/ ijem
/ ijo
/ ijo / v1
/ ijo / v1 / i3
/ ijo / v1 / i3 / new-frontiers-in-orthopaedics
/ about
/ contact

38. CASE 2:
ACADEMIC JOURNAL URLS
/ij{alpha}
/ij{alpha}/v{integer}
/ij{alpha}/v{integer}/i{integer}
/ij{alpha}/v{integer}/i{integer}/
{url_title:alpha_dash}
/about
/contact

39. CASE 3:
FRONT-END CP + GLOBALS
/ cp
• logged in: redirect me to the add-articles screen
• logged out: show me login screen
/ cp / add-articles
• logged in: show login screen
• logged out: show the login screen
• redirect me to the add articles screen
/ cp / edit-articles
• logged out: show login screen
• logged in member: show 403
• logged in editor: show edit articles screen

40. CASE 3:
FRONT-END CP + GLOBALS
$RR['qmp/:all'] = function($router, $wildcard) {
if (
in_array(ee()->session->userdata('group_id'), array(1,5,6,7,8,9))
) {
if ($wildcard->value == null) {
$router->redirect('qmp/dashboard');
}
}
else {
if ($wildcard->value == null) {
$router->redirect('qmp/login');
}
else {
$router->setTemplate('qmp/login');
}
}
};

41. CASE 4:
MEMBER PROFILE JSON API
• Members publish profiles on one site
• Family sites within the organization display this data

42. CASE 4:
MEMBER PROFILE JSON API
$config['resource_router'] = array(
'api/members' => function($router) {
$query = ee()->db->select('title, url_title')
->where('status', 'open')
->where('channel_id', 1)
->order_by('entry_date', 'ASC')
->limit(10)
->get('channel_titles');
$result = $query->result();
$router->json($result);
}
);

43. CASE 5:
STAGED ROUTES
I want my URL routes to be different based on my
environment.
• Multi-env config + Resource Router FTW!

44. RECAP
Break out of the default URL scheme to:
• Improve template organization
• Deal with hierarchical or complex URL patterns
• Decrease logic in templates
Tools at our disposal
• EE Template Routes
• Structure (or Pages)
• Resource Router
• custom extension

45. QUESTIONS?

46. LEARN MORE
James Smith’s ExpressionEngine URL Schematic:
• http://www.jamessmith.co.uk/articles/expressionengine_url_schematic
EE Template Routes docs:
• https://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/
urls/template_routes.html
EE Extension Hooks docs:
• https://ellislab.com/expressionengine/user-guide/
development/extension_hooks/global/core/index.html
Resource Router docs:
• https://github.com/rsanchez/resource_router
Structure docs:
• http://buildwithstructure.com/documentation

47. RESOURCE
ROUTING
IN EE
@michaelrog
#EEconf 2014