Veev is NOT an MVC framework. This is a modular design pattern. There are modules, schema, interfaces and templates. A module is a folder that has a controller and multiple views. A module can also have sub-modules. Also a module can have Node JS files that can be run as background processes. Similar to models in MVC paradigm, Veev has "schema" files written in either JSON or php arrays. A schema describes a database table and how a database table should appear in HTML/XML or insert/update form. Interfaces allow the app to be connected to external resources such as Database, Email, SMS, Google, Facebook, etc.. A view can be excapsulated inside a template. You can have seperate templates for various sections of a web site.

Veev has:

• Automated minimal configuration
• SEO Friendly URL auto-routing
• Schema based data-table and form builder
• User groups and access control to modules
• Sophisticated form inputs such as Currency, Numeric, Richtext, File, Folder, Autocomplete etc..
• A smart alternative for object relational mapping (read on)
• Database schema migration helper (with your preferred version control system)
• Managed background process handler written in Node JS
• Comprehensive error reporting and logs indexing
• Easy localization / globalization
• Award Winning Arc JS front-end framework is included - for Single Page Applications
• TinyMCE and FontAwsome integrated BoilerPlate templates
• Example App with User Management and Blogging

1. Clone this repo (or extract the zip file) to a folder under var/www/html or htdocs
2. Start your web server [Apache / WAMP / MAMP / LAMP]
3. Make sure apache can write to the directory (or you will have to manually write the .htaccess and framework/config.php)
4. Navigate to http://localhost/veev or the folder you cloned this repo into.
5. Provide database server username/password, and modify default settings as needed.
6. Set-up script will populate the database (from database.sql), generate .htaccess and framework/config.php

• Your database settings are now in framework/config.php

• N.B: If you rename or move the project folder, you will need configure.php; delete .htaccess and framework/config.php to reconfigure. Do the same when deployed to staging or production server. On production server, delete the configure.php once configured.

• Navigate to http://localhost/veev/admin In development config, you do not need credentials to access admin dashboard.

A module is a section of a website, like Admin section, Dashboard, Shopping cart, Blog etc.. All contents of each of these modules is put inside a single folder. There is a module controller for every module.

@example.module.php

There can be many functions in a module controller, and a view file corresponding to each of these functions. An HTTP request will load a module, execute a function and render the view.

Just like the old TinyF(x), on HTTP requests, related module is loaded and the related method in the module is invoked. The invoked method receives an array of HTTP parameters. It should return an associative array, which will be converted to variables for the view. When the method returns, the related view is rendered, then put in to the template as defined on the top of the module.

To help in processing the HTTP requests in modules, you can use various interfaces such as: Database, ImageMagic, EMail, GCM etc..

To help in rendering HTML in views, there is a library of helper methods such as: render_data_view, render_form, render_table, flash_message, render_dropdown, shorten_string, slugify, beautify_datetime

These are pretty self explainatory. You can look up all these on framework/render.php

In the example app, you will find three modules: index, user and admin. The module controller file name starts with an '@' and ends with the extension '.module.php'. All the other files are views, if not starting with an underscore (_), in which case those are shared view partials.

Format: http://example.com/module/method/parameter/s

Eg: http://example.com/user/log-in/

• This http request will first load the module ~/modules/user/@user.module.php
• Then invoke the function log_in($params) - NOTICE the dash is converted to an underscore
• If this was a POST request (user clicked "Log In" - submit), post fields (username/password) will be put in to $params

You can put a module inside a module, then it become a sub-module.

http://example.com/module/submodule/method/parameter/s

Eg: http://example.com/admin/users/edit/8

• This http request will load the module ~/modules/admin/users/@users.module.php
• Then invoke the function edit($params)
• Since this is a GET request, $params[0] will be 8

To move a website section into another master section, all you need to do is to move a single folder into another. (and edit any urls as necessory)

Also, you can copy a module from one project to another. On a Linux server, you can create a SymLink to share a module between two websites.

We recommend using absolute URLs Whenever Not Impossible You can use BASE_URL and BASE_URL_STATIC to refer to website root url. Eg:

<a href="<?php echo BASE_URL; ?>dashboard">Dashboard</a>

<img src="<?php echo BASE_URL_STATIC; ?>images/flower.jpg" />

<script src="<?php echo BASE_URL_STATIC; ?>js/script.js"></script>

BASE_URL_STATIC is defined in framework/config.php You may later want to leverage static content to a cookieless subdomain. If you use BASE_URL_STATIC, you only need to change this in one place. Also, for uploading files to this static directory, use STATIC_FILES_ROOT. This is the relative path from website root to static content path.

To connect to the database from the module, all you need to call is:

$db = connect_database();

This will connect to the database as defined in framework/config.php If the primary key of a table is 'id' and set to auto_increment, this database abstraction object makes things like Insert, Update and Delete much easy.

For an example:

// This could be a submitted form ($_POST becomes $params)
// $params = array('title' => 'Lorem ipsum', 'content' => 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit ...');
$db->insert('blog', $params);
//	INSERT INTO `blog`(`title`, `content`) VALUES('Lorem ipsum', 'Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit ...')

// $params = array('id' => 4, 'password' => '86f7as54dfg8769...');
$db->update('user', $params);
//	UPDATE `user` SET `password` = '86f7as54dfg8769...' WHERE id = 4

$db->delete('blog', $params[0]);	//	$params[0] = 6 (from GET parameter 1 - http://example.com/admin/delete-blog-post/8)
//	DELETE FROM `blog` WHERE id = 6

$data['content'] = $db->select(
				array('content.id, content.title, `user`.`name` AS username, category.`name` AS category, content.description'),
				array('content', array('user', /*'id',*/ 'user_id'), array('category', /*'id',*/ 'cat_id')),
				8);
		//	SELECT content.id, content.title, `user`.`name`, category.`name`, content.description
		//	FROM content
		//		LEFT JOIN category ON category.id = content.cat_id
		//		LEFT JOIN `user` ON `user`.id = content.user_id
		//	WHERE content.id = 8

$count = 0;	//	Number of records will be set to this
$data['content'] = $db->select(
				array('content.id, title, `user`.`name` AS username, category.`name` AS category, description'),
				array('content', array('user', 'user_id'), array('category', 'cat_id')),
				'cat_id = 3', 0, 10, $count, false);	//	If the 7th parameter (debug flag) is set to true, The query will display and the script terminated.
		//
		//	SELECT content.id, content.title, `user`.`name`, category.`name`, content.description
		//	FROM content
		//		LEFT JOIN category ON category.id = content.cat_id
		//		LEFT JOIN `user` ON `user`.id = content.user_id
		//	WHERE cat_id = 3
		//	LIMIT 0, 10

When initially deploying, you can upload database.sql along with the project, and the set-up script populates the initial database from that. Any database change afterwards can be migrated using the Database tool in Developer module from Veev extras. You do not have to write database migration scripts. Use whatever database management tool you are confortable with, and Veev will monitor any change to the database and write the migration scripts for you (veev-extras: developer/database). These database migration scripts can be deployed with Git or any version control tool you prefer. The developer/database tool from the server side can be used to apply these migration scripts at your discretion.

Unleash the full potential of Rocket-Fuelled Paper-Planes.! Treacle for CURD

These makes it easy to generate HTML content. The first three view helpers generate HTML content for data from a database.

For the first three data related view helpers you need to define data schema as follows: This is like a 'model' in conventional php frameworks, but much simpler. Veev abstracts the rest for you inteligently and intuitively.

Of course you can define these in a seperate folder and include in module controller, but why not define them in module controller itself..

$pages_schema = array(
				'title' 		=> array('Title', 		'key' => true),
				'en' 			=> array('English', 	'display' => 'richtext', 'table' => false),
				'ch' 			=> array('Chinese', 	'display' => 'richtext', 'table' => false),
				'atatus' 		=> array('Status', 		'enum' => array(-1 => 'Rejected', 0 => 'Pending', 1 => 'Approved', 2 => 'Starred')),
				'slides' 		=> array('Slides', 		'display' => 'folder', 'path' => 'user/images/uploads/{stub}', 'table' => false),
				'edit' 		=> array('Edit', 		'form' => false, 'cmd' => 'admin/pages/{key}', 'default' => true),
				'view' 		=> array('View', 		'form' => false, 'cmd' => '{key}')
			);

First let's understand the schema of this schema, the keywords and structure.

This is to mark that this field is the primary key. When a form is generated, this will be a hidden field.

If this is set to false, this field will not be displayed on the table, but only on form, and data view.

Valid values are: enum, autofill, calendar, calendar+clock, password, textarea, richtext, email, currency, numeric, check, checkbox, file, folder. These are further explained below.

Renders a select (drop-down) on form, and maps a key value in database to a more descriptive string for table and data view. A status-id or a user-level may have an integer column in the database, but a text representation when displaying to the user.

Similar to enum, but renders an auto complete textbox on form. As the user types in the text field, this will show enum options that contains what user types. Enum key field will be the value on form POST data. You may need to include the relevent support JavaScript [~/static/js/select2filter.js]

On the form, renders a calendar controller to select a date. You may need to include the relevent support JavaScript [/static/js/calendar.js] and php partial view [/interfaces/calendar.php]

An input with type="password". [native HTML]

A numeric input box. This will be validated and zeros grouped in to 3s.

• Support JavaScript [~/static/js/script.js]

A currency input box. This will be validated and zeros grouped in to 3s. This is similar to numeric, but in addition a '$' sign is displayed in the front.

• Support JavaScript [~/static/js/script.js]

A textarea input that softly resizes to contain text content.

• Support JavaScript [~/static/js/script.js]

On the module:

global $pages_schema;
$data = array();
$db = connect_database();

$data['schema'] = $pages_schema;
$data['pages'] = $db->select(
				array('stub', 'en', 'ch'),
				'content');
		//	SELECT stub, en, ch FROM content
return $data;

On the view:

render_table($schema, $pages, 'tbl-pages');

This will generate a nice table to display the records. You can use the static/css/datatable.css for a fine visual style compatible with this.

@module:

global $pages_schema;
$data = array();
$db = connect_database();

$data['schema'] = $pages_schema;
$data['page'] = mysql_fetch_assoc(
				$db->select(
					array('stub', 'en', 'ch'),
					'content', 'stub = \''.$params[0].'\''));
		//	SELECT stub, en, ch FROM content WHERE stub = 'home'
return $data;

On the view:

render_form($schema, $page, 'admin/save-page');

That should work for editing an existing record. For adding a new record, you need to make $page = array(/with empty values/);

This is very similar to render_form, but read-only.

On the templates/home.php you can find line. From the module or view, you can put a flash message to be displayed there (on top of the page, right under the masthead.

To put a message there, call this function: @module

flash_message('Blog post saved', 'success');

flash_message('Wrong Username or Password', 'error');

flash_message('You don't have permission to edit this', 'warning');

These messages are displayed only once. Once displayed, it is removed. You can call this function as many times from the module or view. If a flash message is displayed on a view, it is removed from displaying on the template. i.e: The view takes precedence here.

This renders an associative array to a select input

Navigation Builder generates a ul>li mark-up for a navigation menu for an array of meta data. You have to define the links in a php array in the following format:

$navigation = array(
	array('title' => 'Home', 'icon' => 'fa-home'),
	array('title' => 'Blog', 'icon' => 'fa-newspaper-o', 'method' => 'blog'),
	array('title' => 'About', 'icon' => 'fa-info-circle', 'method' => 'about'),
	array('title' => 'Contact', 'icon' => 'fa-envelope-o', 'method' => 'contact'));
if (isset($user))	//	Conditionally show this link
	$navigation[] = array('title' => 'My Blog', 'icon' => 'fa-newspaper-o', 'module' => 'user', 'method' => 'blog');
render_navigation($navigation);

icon, method and module are optional. icon is any font-awsome class-name.

Shortens a given string to the given limit, breaks at the end of a word. Three dots are appended to the end if the string is actually shortened.

Makes a string sutable for displaying on the URL.

Converts a timestamp or MySQL date-time to a more readable format. This could range from

• 5 seconds ago
• 3 minutes ago
• 2:15 hours ago
• Yesterday 2:30 pm
• Monday 2:30 pm
• 7th June
• 5 July 2012

These can be localized with advanced localization library for veev

The web application you are building may have various interfaces. You may need saupport libraries for these. These are stored in interfaces folder. If you are running several applications on a Linux server, we suggest SymLink these folders of all apps to a single shared folder.

Some of the provided interfaces are: Database, Email, Google-Cloud-Messaging, User-Tracking, Image-Resizing (php GD). We have discussed about database abstraction/interface earlier.

To send an Email:

@module

include 'interfaces/email.php';
send_email('to@example.com', array('name' => 'John', 'message' => 'Hello John, This is Email body'), 'template', 'Email Subject');

Similar to module views, you can create template.php in ~/email/ folder. Email will be rendered and sent as a multipart message.

This framework sets a unique ID cookie on every browser. This unique ID is derived with IP-address and time. You can access this on global variable $user_id and use to identify returning visitors.

This library has some nifty php_gd based functions to cut, crop, resize images inside php.

First you need to open an image file. This function returns a bitmap image object that can be processed using these functions.

Once processed, each of the following functions returns a similar bitmap image object. This function writes that to a file.

A square shaped thumbnail can be generated with this. Image will be cropped 'as needed' to make it a square, then resized.

If you don't want to crop, only provide the width or height. If both provided, image 'may be' cropped as needed.

You can custom crop an image with this function. Providing all the intricate parameters is up to you. This is the base function used by the above functions.

$rect = array('width' => 80, 'height' => 80, 'top' => 10, 'left' => 10)

$new_size = array('width' => 80, 'height' => 80)

php is executed for each request; and after the response is delivered, it is no longer running. With Veev you can write Node JS modules and invoke them from php code. Node JS modules are loaded by the accompanying background service which is continuously running. You can monitor, start and stop this background service from Veev admin dashboard.

@module

$bg = new background();
$job = $bg->process('index', 'example', array());
$_SESSION['background-job-id'] = $job['jobId'];
...
$status = $bg->status($_SESSION['background-job-id']);

example.js

module.exports = {
	run: function(database, stat, params){
		//	Target steps
		stat.total = 2;
		//
		//	Notify back completion of a single step
		stat.hitStep();
		//
		stat.result = 'Result of the Process';
		//
		stat.hitStep();
	}
}

See bgproc_example on index module for a working example