README

A simple, powerful PHP template engine for the Lighthouse framework.

Installation

composer require lighthouse/view

Requirements

PHP 8.2 or higher

Features

PHP-based templates (no new syntax to learn)
Layouts with sections
Partials/includes
Automatic HTML escaping
Global shared data
Dot notation for view paths

Quick Start

Basic Rendering

use Lighthouse\View\View;

$view = new View('/path/to/views');

// Render a view
echo $view->render('welcome', ['name' => 'John']);

views/welcome.php:

<h1>Hello, <?= $view->e($name) ?>!</h1>

Escaping

Always escape user data to prevent XSS attacks:

// In templates, use $view->e() or $view->escape()
<p><?= $view->e($userInput) ?></p>

// For JSON (e.g., in JavaScript)
<script>
    var data = <?= $view->json($data) ?>;
</script>

Layouts

Create a layout template:

views/layouts/main.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title><?= $view->yield('title', 'My App') ?></title>
</head>
<body>
    <header>
        <?= $view->yield('header') ?>
    </header>
    
    <main>
        <?= $view->yield('content') ?>
    </main>
    
    <footer>© 2025</footer>
</body>
</html>

Extend the layout in your view:

views/users/index.php:

<?php $view->extends('layouts.main'); ?>

<?php $view->section('title'); ?>
Users List
<?php $view->endSection(); ?>

<?php $view->section('content'); ?>
<h1>Users</h1>
<ul>
    <?php foreach ($users as $user): ?>
        <li><?= $view->e($user['name']) ?></li>
    <?php endforeach; ?>
</ul>
<?php $view->endSection(); ?>

Partials

Include reusable components:

views/partials/alert.php:

<div class="alert alert-<?= $view->e($type) ?>">
    <?= $view->e($message) ?>
</div>

Usage:

<?php $view->include('partials.alert', ['type' => 'success', 'message' => 'Saved!']); ?>

Or capture the output:

$html = $view->partial('partials.alert', ['type' => 'error', 'message' => 'Failed']);

Shared Data

Share data across all views:

// Share single value
$view->share('appName', 'My Application');

// Share multiple values
$view->share([
    'appName' => 'My Application',
    'version' => '1.0.0',
    'user' => $currentUser,
]);

Access in any template:

<title><?= $view->e($appName) ?></title>

Dot Notation

View paths use dot notation:

$view->render('users.index');      // views/users/index.php
$view->render('admin.users.edit'); // views/admin/users/edit.php
$view->partial('partials.nav');    // views/partials/nav.php

Check View Exists

if ($view->exists('emails.welcome')) {
    echo $view->render('emails.welcome', $data);
}

API Reference

View

Method	Description
`render(string $view, array $data)`	Render a view template
`partial(string $partial, array $data)`	Render and return a partial
`include(string $partial, array $data)`	Render and echo a partial
`extends(string $layout)`	Set layout for current view
`section(string $name)`	Start capturing a section
`endSection()`	End section capture
`yield(string $name, string $default)`	Output section content
`hasSection(string $name)`	Check if section exists
`share(string\|array $key, mixed $value)`	Share data globally
`getShared(?string $key)`	Get shared data
`escape(string $value)`	Escape HTML entities
`e(string $value)`	Alias for escape()
`json(mixed $value)`	Safe JSON encoding
`exists(string $view)`	Check if view file exists
`getBasePath()`	Get views base path
`setBasePath(string $path)`	Set views base path

Template Variables

Inside templates, these variables are available:

$view - The View instance (for helpers)
Any data passed to render() or partial()
Any globally shared data

Testing

composer test

License

MIT License. See LICENSE for details.

Part of the Lighthouse Framework

This package is part of the Lighthouse Framework, an educational PHP framework designed to teach how modern frameworks work internally.

lighthouse / view

Maintainers

Details