File structure

Dotkernel Light follows the PSR-4 standards.

It is a good practice to standardize the file structure of projects.

When using Dotkernel Light, the following structure is installed by default:

Dotkernel Light File Structure!

Special purpose folders

  • .github - containes workflow files
  • .laminas-ci - contains laminas-ci workflow files

bin folder

This folder contents are

  • clear-config-cache.php - Removes the config cache file data/cache/config-cache.php; available only when development mode is enabled

config folder

This folder contains all application-related config files:

  • config.php - Registers ConfigProviders for installing packages
  • container.php - Main service container that provides access to all registered services
  • development.config.php.dist - Activates debug mode; gets symlinked as development.config.php when enabling development mode
  • pipeline.php - Contains a list of middlewares, in the order of their execution
  • twig-cs-fixer.php - Configuration file for Twig code style checker/fixer

config/autoload folder

This folder contains all service-related local and global config files:

  • app.global.php - Configures basic app variables
  • dependencies.global.php - Config file to set global dependencies that should be accessible by all modules
  • development.local.php.dist - Gets symlinked as development.local.php when enabling development mode; activates error handlers
  • error-handling.global.php - Configures and activates error logs
  • local.php.dist - Local config file where you can overwrite application name and URL
  • mezzio.global.php - Mezzio core config file
  • templates.global.php - dotkernel/dot-twigrenderer config file

data/cache folder

This folder is a storage for service caches.

log folder

This folder stores daily log files. When you access the application from the browser, (if not already created) a new log file gets created in the format specified in the config/autoload/error-handling.global.php config file under the stream array key.

public folder

This folder contains all publicly available assets and serves as the entry point of the application:

  • css and js - Contains the css and js file(s) generated by the webpack (npm) from the assets folder
  • fonts and images - Contain the font and image file(s) copied by the webpack (npm) from the assets folder
  • uploads - a folder that normally contains admin avatar images
  • .htaccess - server configuration file used by Apache web server; it enables the URL rewrite functionality
  • index.php - the application's main entry point
  • robots.txt.dist - a sample robots.txt file that allows/denies bot access to certain areas of your application; activate it by duplicating the file as robots.txt and comment out the lines that don't match your environment

src directory

This folder contains a separate folder for each Module.

These are the modules included by default:

  • App - Core functionality, from authentication, to rendering, to error reporting
  • Page - Contains functionality for displaying a page

Module contents

Each Module folder, in turn, should contain the following folders, unless they are empty:

  • src/Controller - Action classes
  • src/Service - Service classes

The above example is just some of the folders a project may include, but they should give you an idea about the recommended structure. Other classes the src folder may include are InputFilter, EventListener, Helper, Command, Factory etc.

The src folder in each Module folder normally also contains these files:

  • ConfigProvider.php - Configuration data for the module
  • RoutesDelegator.php - Module specific route registrations

templates directory for modules

This directory contains the template files.

twig is used as Templating Engine. All template files have the extension .html.twig.