ViewModel Binding Example

Hello World from the ExampleController viewModelBindingAction action Normal Action View Binding
Hello Romayne Eastmond info@calgarywebdev.com ViewModel Binding

At the top of this page we have an example of how normal action view binding happens, as well as binding data via a provided view model. The framework is capable of providing a MVVM approach to development. In previous examples there is automatic binding to a model, in the example below, we see that using return $this->viewModel(); provides view model binding to the view.

In this example, the view accepts an instance of a Person class and binds it to a special variable called $this->view->boundModel;, which is naturally accessible within the view as $this->boundModel;.

Below the ExampleController has been shortened for the purposes of this example. 

<?php
    class ExampleController extends FrontController
    {
        /**
         * URL: Example/viewModelBindingAction/
         * Alias: view-model-binding-example/
         *
         * @annotation DependenciesLocations(People)
         * @annotation DependencyInjection(PersonService, PersonViewModel)
         *
         * @return View
         */
        public function viewModelBindingAction()
        {
            $this->createExampleDisplayTemplate("ViewModel Binding Example", "_viewModelBinding");

            $this->view->content = "Hello World from the <b>ExampleController viewModelBindingAction</b> action";

            return $this->viewModel(PeopleService::get());
        }
    } /*end of class ExampleController*/

Below the PersonService has been shortened for the purposes of this example. 

<?php
    class PeopleService
    {
        /**
         * Get a single Person object
         *
         * @return Person
         */
        public static function get()
        {
            $person = new Person();

            $person->firstName = "Romayne";
            $person->lastName = "Eastmond";
            $person->emailAddress = "info@calgarywebdev.com";

            return $person;
        }
    } /*end of class PeopleService*/

Below the application/views/templates/Example/_viewModelBinding.php, which is the partial view currently dislayed at the top of this page, has been shortened for the purposes of this example. 

<p class="page-header">
    <?php echo $this->content;?> <span class="label label-info"><i class="fa fa-arrow-left"></i> Normal Action View Binding</span>
    <br/>
    Hello <?php echo $this->boundModel->firstName ." " .$this->boundModel->lastName ." " .$this->boundModel->emailAddress;?> <span class="label label-info"><i class="fa fa-arrow-left"></i> ViewModel Binding</span>
</p>

One Use Case To Consider

Since view models can be accessed from the view using the $this->boundModel; variable, they can be serialized or unserialized and used to fill javascript frameworks that would also benefit from a MVVM approach.