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.. index::
   single: Controller

Controller

A controller is a PHP function you create that reads information from the Request object and creates and returns a Response object. The response could be an HTML page, JSON, XML, a file download, a redirect, a 404 error or anything else you can dream up. The controller executes whatever arbitrary logic your application needs to render the content of a page.

Tip

If you haven't already created your first working page, check out :doc:`/page_creation` and then come back!

.. index::
   single: Controller; Simple example

A Simple Controller

While a controller can be any PHP callable (a function, method on an object, or a Closure), a controller is usually a method inside a controller class:

// src/Controller/LuckyController.php
namespace App\Controller;

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;
use Symfony\Component\Routing\Annotation\Route;

class LuckyController
{
    /**
     * @Route("/lucky/number/{max}", name="app_lucky_number")
     */
    public function number($max)
    {
        $number = random_int(0, $max);

        return new Response(
            '<html><body>Lucky number: '.$number.'</body></html>'
        );
    }
}

The controller is the number() method, which lives inside a controller class LuckyController.

This controller is pretty straightforward:

  • line 2: Symfony takes advantage of PHP's namespace functionality to namespace the entire controller class.
  • line 4: Symfony again takes advantage of PHP's namespace functionality: the use keyword imports the Response class, which the controller must return.
  • line 7: The class can technically be called anything, but it's suffixed with Controller by convention.
  • line 12: The action method is allowed to have a $max argument thanks to the {max} :doc:`wildcard in the route </routing>`.
  • line 16: The controller creates and returns a Response object.
.. index::
   single: Controller; Routes and controllers

Mapping a URL to a Controller

In order to view the result of this controller, you need to map a URL to it via a route. This was done above with the @Route("/lucky/number/{max}") :ref:`route annotation <annotation-routes>`.

To see your page, go to this URL in your browser:

http://localhost:8000/lucky/number/100

For more information on routing, see :doc:`/routing`.

.. index::
   single: Controller; Base controller class

The Base Controller Class & Services

To make life nicer, Symfony comes with an optional base controller class called :class:`Symfony\\Bundle\\FrameworkBundle\\Controller\\AbstractController`. You can extend it to get access to some helper methods.

Add the use statement atop your controller class and then modify LuckyController to extend it:

// src/Controller/LuckyController.php
namespace App\Controller;

+ use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController;

- class LuckyController
+ class LuckyController extends AbstractController
{
    // ...
}

That's it! You now have access to methods like :ref:`$this->render() <controller-rendering-templates>` and many others that you'll learn about next.

.. index::
   single: Controller; Redirecting

Generating URLs

The :method:`Symfony\\Bundle\\FrameworkBundle\\Controller\\AbstractController::generateUrl` method is just a helper method that generates the URL for a given route:

$url = $this->generateUrl('app_lucky_number', array('max' => 10));

Redirecting

If you want to redirect the user to another page, use the redirectToRoute() and redirect() methods:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\RedirectResponse;

// ...
public function index()
{
    // redirects to the "homepage" route
    return $this->redirectToRoute('homepage');

    // redirectToRoute is a shortcut for:
    // return new RedirectResponse($this->generateUrl('homepage'));

    // does a permanent - 301 redirect
    return $this->redirectToRoute('homepage', array(), 301);

    // redirect to a route with parameters
    return $this->redirectToRoute('app_lucky_number', array('max' => 10));

    // redirects to a route and mantains the original query string parameters
    return $this->redirectToRoute('blog_show', $request->query->all());

    // redirects externally
    return $this->redirect('http://symfony.com/doc');
}

Caution!

The redirect() method does not check its destination in any way. If you redirect to a URL provided by end-users, your application may be open to the unvalidated redirects security vulnerability.

.. index::
   single: Controller; Rendering templates

Rendering Templates

If you're serving HTML, you'll want to render a template. The render() method renders a template and puts that content into a Response object for you:

// renders templates/lucky/number.html.twig
return $this->render('lucky/number.html.twig', array('number' => $number));

Templating and Twig are explained more in the :doc:`Creating and Using Templates article </templating>`.

.. index::
   single: Controller; Accessing services

Fetching Services

Symfony comes packed with a lot of useful objects, called :doc:`services </service_container>`. These are used for rendering templates, sending emails, querying the database and any other "work" you can think of.

If you need a service in a controller, type-hint an argument with its class (or interface) name. Symfony will automatically pass you the service you need:

use Psr\Log\LoggerInterface
// ...

/**
 * @Route("/lucky/number/{max}")
 */
public function number($max, LoggerInterface $logger)
{
    $logger->info('We are logging!');
    // ...
}

Awesome!

What other services can you type-hint? To see them, use the debug:autowiring console command:

$ php bin/console debug:autowiring

If you need control over the exact value of an argument, you can :ref:`bind <services-binding>` the argument by its name:

.. configuration-block::

    .. code-block:: yaml

        # config/services.yaml
        services:
            # ...

            # explicitly configure the service
            App\Controller\LuckyController:
                public: true
                bind:
                    # for any $logger argument, pass this specific service
                    $logger: '@monolog.logger.doctrine'
                    # for any $projectDir argument, pass this parameter value
                    $projectDir: '%kernel.project_dir%'

    .. code-block:: xml

        <!-- config/services.xml -->
        <?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" ?>
        <container xmlns="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services"
            xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
            xsi:schemaLocation="http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services
                http://symfony.com/schema/dic/services/services-1.0.xsd">

            <services>
                <!-- ... -->

                <!-- Explicitly configure the service -->
                <service id="App\Controller\LuckyController" public="true">
                    <bind key="$logger"
                        type="service"
                        id="monolog.logger.doctrine"
                    />
                    <bind key="$projectDir">%kernel.project_dir%</bind>
                </service>
            </services>
        </container>

    .. code-block:: php

        // config/services.php
        use App\Controller\LuckyController;
        use Symfony\Component\DependencyInjection\Reference;

        $container->register(LuckyController::class)
            ->setPublic(true)
            ->setBindings(array(
                '$logger' => new Reference('monolog.logger.doctrine'),
                '$projectDir' => '%kernel.project_dir%'
            ))
        ;

Like with all services, you can also use regular :ref:`constructor injection <services-constructor-injection>` in your controllers.

.. versionadded:: 4.1
    The ability to bind scalar values to controller arguments was introduced in
    Symfony 4.1. Previously you could only bind services.

For more information about services, see the :doc:`/service_container` article.

Generating Controllers

To save time, you can install Symfony Maker and tell Symfony to generate a new controller class:

$ php bin/console make:controller BrandNewController

created: src/Controller/BrandNewController.php

If you want to generate an entire CRUD from a Doctrine :doc:`entity </doctrine>`, use:

$ php bin/console make:crud Product

.. versionadded:: 1.2
    The ``make:crud`` command was introduced in MakerBundle 1.2.


.. index::
   single: Controller; Managing errors
   single: Controller; 404 pages

Managing Errors and 404 Pages

When things are not found, you should return a 404 response. To do this, throw a special type of exception:

use Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException;

// ...
public function index()
{
    // retrieve the object from database
    $product = ...;
    if (!$product) {
        throw $this->createNotFoundException('The product does not exist');

        // the above is just a shortcut for:
        // throw new NotFoundHttpException('The product does not exist');
    }

    return $this->render(...);
}

The :method:`Symfony\\Bundle\\FrameworkBundle\\Controller\\AbstractController::createNotFoundException` method is just a shortcut to create a special :class:`Symfony\\Component\\HttpKernel\\Exception\\NotFoundHttpException` object, which ultimately triggers a 404 HTTP response inside Symfony.

If you throw an exception that extends or is an instance of :class:`Symfony\\Component\\HttpKernel\\Exception\\HttpException`, Symfony will use the appropriate HTTP status code. Otherwise, the response will have a 500 HTTP status code:

// this exception ultimately generates a 500 status error
throw new \Exception('Something went wrong!');

In every case, an error page is shown to the end user and a full debug error page is shown to the developer (i.e. when you're in "Debug" mode - see :ref:`page-creation-environments`).

To customize the error page that's shown to the user, see the :doc:`/controller/error_pages` article.

The Request object as a Controller Argument

What if you need to read query parameters, grab a request header or get access to an uploaded file? All of that information is stored in Symfony's Request object. To get it in your controller, add it as an argument and type-hint it with the Request class:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;

public function index(Request $request, $firstName, $lastName)
{
    $page = $request->query->get('page', 1);

    // ...
}

:ref:`Keep reading <request-object-info>` for more information about using the Request object.

.. index::
   single: Controller; The session
   single: Session

Managing the Session

Symfony provides a session service that you can use to store information about the user between requests. Session is enabled by default, but will only be started if you read or write from it.

Session storage and other configuration can be controlled under the :ref:`framework.session configuration <config-framework-session>` in config/packages/framework.yaml.

To get the session, add an argument and type-hint it with :class:`Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\SessionInterface`:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Session\SessionInterface;

public function index(SessionInterface $session)
{
    // stores an attribute for reuse during a later user request
    $session->set('foo', 'bar');

    // gets the attribute set by another controller in another request
    $foobar = $session->get('foobar');

    // uses a default value if the attribute doesn't exist
    $filters = $session->get('filters', array());
}

Stored attributes remain in the session for the remainder of that user's session.

Tip

Every SessionInterface implementation is supported. If you have your own implementation, type-hint this in the argument instead.

For more info, see :doc:`/session`.

.. index::
   single: Session; Flash messages

Flash Messages

You can also store special messages, called "flash" messages, on the user's session. By design, flash messages are meant to be used exactly once: they vanish from the session automatically as soon as you retrieve them. This feature makes "flash" messages particularly great for storing user notifications.

For example, imagine you're processing a :doc:`form </forms>` submission:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;

public function update(Request $request)
{
    // ...

    if ($form->isSubmitted() && $form->isValid()) {
        // do some sort of processing

        $this->addFlash(
            'notice',
            'Your changes were saved!'
        );
        // $this->addFlash() is equivalent to $request->getSession()->getFlashBag()->add()

        return $this->redirectToRoute(...);
    }

    return $this->render(...);
}

After processing the request, the controller sets a flash message in the session and then redirects. The message key (notice in this example) can be anything: you'll use this key to retrieve the message.

In the template of the next page (or even better, in your base layout template), read any flash messages from the session using app.flashes():

{# templates/base.html.twig #}

{# you can read and display just one flash message type... #}
{% for message in app.flashes('notice') %}
    <div class="flash-notice">
        {{ message }}
    </div>
{% endfor %}

{# ...or you can read and display every flash message available #}
{% for label, messages in app.flashes %}
    {% for message in messages %}
        <div class="flash-{{ label }}">
            {{ message }}
        </div>
    {% endfor %}
{% endfor %}

It's common to use notice, warning and error as the keys of the different types of flash messages, but you can use any key that fits your needs.

Tip

You can use the :method:`Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\Session\\Flash\\FlashBagInterface::peek` method instead to retrieve the message while keeping it in the bag.

.. index::
   single: Controller; Response object

The Request and Response Object

As mentioned :ref:`earlier <controller-request-argument>`, Symfony will pass the Request object to any controller argument that is type-hinted with the Request class:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Request;

public function index(Request $request)
{
    $request->isXmlHttpRequest(); // is it an Ajax request?

    $request->getPreferredLanguage(array('en', 'fr'));

    // retrieves GET and POST variables respectively
    $request->query->get('page');
    $request->request->get('page');

    // retrieves SERVER variables
    $request->server->get('HTTP_HOST');

    // retrieves an instance of UploadedFile identified by foo
    $request->files->get('foo');

    // retrieves a COOKIE value
    $request->cookies->get('PHPSESSID');

    // retrieves an HTTP request header, with normalized, lowercase keys
    $request->headers->get('host');
    $request->headers->get('content-type');
}

The Request class has several public properties and methods that return any information you need about the request.

Like the Request, the Response object has also a public headers property. This is a :class:`Symfony\\Component\\HttpFoundation\\ResponseHeaderBag` that has some nice methods for getting and setting response headers. The header names are normalized so that using Content-Type is equivalent to content-type or even content_type.

The only requirement for a controller is to return a Response object:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\Response;

// creates a simple Response with a 200 status code (the default)
$response = new Response('Hello '.$name, Response::HTTP_OK);

// creates a CSS-response with a 200 status code
$response = new Response('<style> ... </style>');
$response->headers->set('Content-Type', 'text/css');

There are special classes that make certain kinds of responses easier. Some of these are mentioned below. To learn more about the Request and Response (and special Response classes), see the :ref:`HttpFoundation component documentation <component-http-foundation-request>`.

Returning JSON Response

To return JSON from a controller, use the json() helper method. This returns a special JsonResponse object that encodes the data automatically:

// ...
public function index()
{
    // returns '{"username":"jane.doe"}' and sets the proper Content-Type header
    return $this->json(array('username' => 'jane.doe'));

    // the shortcut defines three optional arguments
    // return $this->json($data, $status = 200, $headers = array(), $context = array());
}

If the :doc:`serializer service </serializer>` is enabled in your application, it will be used to serialize the data to JSON. Otherwise, the :phpfunction:`json_encode` function is used.

Streaming File Responses

You can use the :method:`Symfony\\Bundle\\FrameworkBundle\\Controller\\AbstractController::file` helper to serve a file from inside a controller:

public function download()
{
    // send the file contents and force the browser to download it
    return $this->file('/path/to/some_file.pdf');
}

The file() helper provides some arguments to configure its behavior:

use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\File\File;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundation\ResponseHeaderBag;

public function download()
{
    // load the file from the filesystem
    $file = new File('/path/to/some_file.pdf');

    return $this->file($file);

    // rename the downloaded file
    return $this->file($file, 'custom_name.pdf');

    // display the file contents in the browser instead of downloading it
    return $this->file('invoice_3241.pdf', 'my_invoice.pdf', ResponseHeaderBag::DISPOSITION_INLINE);
}

Final Thoughts

Whenever you create a page, you'll ultimately need to write some code that contains the logic for that page. In Symfony, this is called a controller, and it's a PHP function where you can do anything in order to return the final Response object that will be returned to the user.

To make life easier, you'll probably extend the base AbstractController class because this gives access to shortcut methods (like render() and redirectToRoute()).

In other articles, you'll learn how to use specific services from inside your controller that will help you persist and fetch objects from a database, process form submissions, handle caching and more.

Keep Going!

Next, learn all about :doc:`rendering templates with Twig </templating>`.

Learn more about Controllers

.. toctree::
    :hidden:

    templating


.. toctree::
    :maxdepth: 1
    :glob:

    controller/*