Controllers

Controllers handle business logic and behavior within a WordPress MVC (WPMVC) application. They respond to hooks, orchestrate models and views, and encapsulate the application’s control flow.

Storage Path

Controller classes live under:

[path to project]/app/Controllers/

Each controller corresponds to a PHP class that typically extends the base Controller class.

Generating Controllers (Ayuco)

Use the Ayuco CLI tool to create controllers and methods easily:

php ayuco create controller:{Controller@method}

• {Controller@method} — the controller class name

Additional methods can be defined with extra @method segments.

Examples

Create a controller MyController with one method:

php ayuco create controller:MyController@print_hello_world

This produces:

app/Controlleres/MyController

<?php

namespace MyNamespace\Controllers;

use WPMVC\MVC\Controller;

class MyController extends Controller
{
    public function print_hello_world()
    {
    }
}

Controller Basics

Controllers extend the core Controller class provided by the framework. They:

• Encapsulate business logic and algorithms.
• Coordinate models and views.
• Respond to WordPress hooks or handle actions.

Using Views Inside Controllers

Controllers can render or return views via the built-in view helper:

app/Controlleres/MyController

class MyController extends Controller
{
    public function print_hello_world()
    {
        // Get a rendered view without printing
        $view = $this->view->get( 'hello-world' );

        // Print a view directly
        $this->view->show( 'hello-world' );
    }
}

If a controller method is bound to a WordPress action hook, a returned view will be automatically printed.

Example returning a view for an action hook:

app/Controlleres/MyController

class MyController extends Controller
{
    /**
     * @hook woocommerce_thankyou
     */
    public function print_hello_world()
    {
        return $this->view->get( 'shortcode.hello-world' );
    }
}

Accessing User Info

Controllers make it easy to access the current logged-in user with $this->user:

app/Controlleres/MyController

class MyController extends Controller
{
    public function show_user_info()
    {
        if ($this->user) {
            $this->view->show( 'hello-world', [
                'display_name' => $this->user->display_name,
                'email'        => $this->user->user_email,
            ] );
        }
    }
}

This provides standard WordPress user data inside controllers.

Automated Controllers

WPMVC offers automated controllers for post models that provide extra built-in functionality out-of-the-box, such as:

• Automatically generating meta boxes based on model metadata
• Handling save operations without extra code

How it Works

When you register a Post Model and create a controller that extends the ModelController, the framework:

1. Builds a meta box using the model's configured aliases and a corresponding view template.
2. Performs model save logic automatically callbacks.

Customizing Automated Controllers

Controllers extending the automated base class can override hookable callbacks:

on_metabox(&$model)

Called before the meta box is rendered.

app/Controlleres/MyController

class MyController extends Controller
{
    protected $model = MyModel::class;

    public function on_metabox( &$model )
    {
        if ( $model->css === 'white' ) {
            $model->css = '#fff';
        }
    }
}

on_save(&$model)

Called before the model is saved; ideal for custom save logic.

app/Controlleres/MyController

public function on_save(&$model)
{
    if ( Request::input( 'force_trash', false) ) {
        $model->post_status = 'trash';
    }
}

Autosave Support

Controllers can optionally enable WordPress autosave handling:

app/Controlleres/MyController

class MyController extends Controller
{
    protected $autosave = true;

    public function on_save(&$model)
    {
        // Custom logic, including during autosave
    }
}

Enabling $autosave allows the on_save method to be invoked even during WP autosave events.