<p>Code layout and coding conventions</p>

By Nabeel

• February 22, 2010

Code Format

phpVMS is written in the MVC format on a custom framework called "Codon". This format allows easy customization, while separating all of the application logic from the HTML views. Some basics:

• Controllers are the "heart" of the application - located in /core/modules
• Views are the HTML output and templates - located in /core/templates
• Models are the data-base layer - located in /core/common

For a great explanation of the MVC format, read: http://net.tutsplus.com/tutorials/other/mvc-for-noobs/

Coding Conventions

To make everyone's life easier, please adhere to these conventions:

1. camelCase on data functions
2. Modules/folders should all be in lowercase (I know the default doesn't adhere to this, but new modules will)
3. Brackets on the next line, and a tab (or 4 spaces) to indent. These are all wrong:

function something(){
echo 'dont code like this';
}

// or

if($something==$somethingelse){
echo 'hey';
}

//or

if($something == $somethingelse)
{ echo "hey"; }

This is right:

if($something == $somethingelse)
{
echo 'see this looks cleaner';

if(1 == 1)
{
echo 'another tab';
}
}

Naming Templates

Name templates with the modulename first in lowercase, an underscore, then a descriptive name (mymodule_viewallthings.tpl)