Describes Magento 1.X routing process and shows how to create custom router

1. Magento Routing
Follow the Request

2. Magento Routing
Zend Model: Module/Controller/Action

3. Magento Routing
Zend Model: Module/Controller/Action
Magento knows this scheme very well and
how to go to the right action on the base of
request.
Route like /contacts/index/index will work as
good as /contacts
At least result will be the same :)

4. Magento Routing
Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Front

5. Magento Routing
Dispatch Routers are defined in Core config.
xml
There 2 of them by default

6. Magento Routing
As area is Frontend let's see what Standard
router suggests.

7. Magento Routing
All routes are defined in xml files, though
programmatically they can be defined too
with the help of observer.

8. Magento Routing
Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Front

9. Magento Routing
Now we can match route with request and do
dispatch

10. Magento Routing
Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Action

11. Magento Routing
Magento Core has 3 Routers which called
one by one
Admin -> Standard -> Default
Admin - catches all admin routes
Standard - catches frontend routes
Default - catches any request which was not catched
by previous two. And send customer to the default route
- 404 page or home page.

12. Magento Routing
Mage_Core_Controller_Varien_Router_Defaul
t

13. Magento Routing
Default router does not do any dispatch job.
It only tells $request object that it should
follow to the defined /module/controller/action

14. Magento Routing
Standard Router will do dispatch as now he
knows where to go.

15. Magento Routing
Custom router
- configure xml
- put the Router into Controller/Front
directory
(it is a convention not a rule)
- use default Router as an example

16. Magento Routing
Custom router
- to do less moves extend from Standard
- programmatic way to add router on the fly
located in Mage_Cms module

17. Thanks
- Magic "While"
for Magic
- Song: "Taiyou Iwaku Moeyo Chaos"
for support
- Stepan Tanasiychuk @stfalcon
for inspiration