vaibhavpandeyvpz/phew

Simple (just 2 classes) and native PHP view engine with support for inheritance (layouts).

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github.com/vaibhavpandeyvpz/phew

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Dependents: 1

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pkg:composer/vaibhavpandeyvpz/phew

2.0.0 2025-12-28 04:40 UTC

Requires

  • php: ^8.2

Requires (Dev)

MIT c8fa724f68560eb309036267dd49a1e9acd7baa8

  • Vaibhav Pandey <contact.woop@vaibhavpandey.com>

templateviewengine

This package is auto-updated.

Last update: 2025-12-28 04:42:33 UTC

README

A simple, lightweight, and native PHP view engine with support for template inheritance (layouts), blocks, partials, and namespaces. Built with just 2 core classes and zero dependencies.

Latest Version Downloads PHP Version License Build Status

Features

  • 🚀 Lightweight: Just 2 core classes, zero dependencies
  • 📦 Native PHP: No compilation, no special syntax to learn
  • 🎨 Layout Inheritance: Extend parent templates with blocks
  • 🧩 Partials: Reusable template fragments
  • 📁 Namespaces: Organize templates with namespaces
  • 🔧 Extensible: Register custom functions and extensions
  • ✅ Type Safe: Full PHP 8.2+ type hints and strict types
  • 🧪 Well Tested: 100% code coverage

Requirements

  • PHP 8.2 or higher

Installation

Install via Composer:

composer require vaibhavpandeyvpz/phew

Quick Start

Basic Usage

<?php

use Phew\View;

// Create a view instance
$view = new View();

// Add template folder
$view->add(__DIR__ . '/templates');

// Render a template
echo $view->fetch('welcome.php', ['name' => 'World']);

templates/welcome.php:

Hello, <?= $name ?>!

Using ArrayAccess for Variables

<?php

use Phew\View;

$view = new View();
$view->add(__DIR__ . '/templates');

// Set variables using array syntax
$view['title'] = 'My Page';
$view['user'] = ['name' => 'John', 'email' => 'john@example.com'];

// Variables are available in all templates
echo $view->fetch('page.php');

templates/page.php:

<h1><?= $title ?></h1>
<p>Welcome, <?= $user['name'] ?>!</p>

Layout Inheritance

Layouts allow you to define a base template and inject content into it:

templates/layout.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title><?= $this->block('title') ?></title>
</head>
<body>
    <header><?= $this->block('header') ?></header>
    <main><?= $this->block('content') ?></main>
</body>
</html>

templates/page.php:

<?php
$this->begin('title');
?>My Page Title<?php
$this->end();

$this->begin('header');
?>Welcome<?php
$this->end();

$this->layout('layout.php');
?>
<p>This is the main content.</p>

Blocks

Blocks allow you to define reusable content sections:

<?php
// Define a block
$this->begin('sidebar');
?>
<ul>
    <li>Item 1</li>
    <li>Item 2</li>
</ul>
<?php
$this->end();

// Use the block later
echo $this->block('sidebar');

Block Append Mode

You can append content to existing blocks:

<?php
// First definition
$this->begin('scripts', true);
?>console.log('First script');<?php
$this->end();

// Appends to existing block
$this->begin('scripts', true);
?>console.log('Second script');<?php
$this->end();

// Outputs both scripts
echo $this->block('scripts');

Partials

Partials are reusable template fragments:

templates/partials/header.php:

<header>
    <h1><?= $title ?></h1>
    <nav>...</nav>
</header>

templates/page.php:

<?= $this->fetch('partials/header.php', ['title' => 'My Site']) ?>
<main>Content here</main>

Namespaces

Organize templates using namespaces:

<?php

$view = new View();

// Add folders with namespaces
$view->add(__DIR__ . '/admin/templates', 'admin');
$view->add(__DIR__ . '/public/templates', 'public');

// Use namespace when fetching
echo $view->fetch('admin:dashboard.php');
echo $view->fetch('public:home.php');

Custom Functions

Register custom functions that can be called from templates:

<?php

$view = new View();
$view->add(__DIR__ . '/templates');

// Register a function
$view->register('uppercase', fn(string $str) => strtoupper($str));
$view->register('formatDate', function($date) {
    return date('Y-m-d', strtotime($date));
});

templates/page.php:

<p><?= $this->uppercase('hello world') ?></p>
<p><?= $this->formatDate('2024-01-01') ?></p>

HTML Escaping

Use the e() method to escape HTML output:

<?php
$userInput = '<script>alert("XSS")</script>';
?>

<p><?= $this->e($userInput) ?></p>
<!-- Outputs: &lt;script&gt;alert(&quot;XSS&quot;)&lt;/script&gt; -->

Extensions

Create extensions to add custom functionality:

<?php

use Phew\ExtensionInterface;
use Phew\ViewInterface;

class MyExtension implements ExtensionInterface
{
    public function extend(ViewInterface $view): void
    {
        $view->register('myFunction', fn() => 'Hello from extension!');
    }
}

$view = new View();
$view->install(new MyExtension());

Error Handling

The engine throws Phew\ViewException when errors occur:

<?php

use Phew\View;
use Phew\ViewException;

try {
    $view = new View();
    echo $view->fetch('nonexistent.php');
} catch (ViewException $e) {
    echo 'Template error: ' . $e->getMessage();
}

Advanced Examples

Complex Layout with Multiple Blocks

templates/layout.php:

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <title><?= $this->block('title') ?> - <?= $siteName ?></title>
    <?= $this->block('head') ?>
</head>
<body>
    <?= $this->block('header') ?>
    <main><?= $this->block('content') ?></main>
    <?= $this->block('footer') ?>
</body>
</html>

templates/article.php:

<?php
$this->begin('title');
?>Article Title<?php
$this->end();

$this->begin('head');
?><meta name="description" content="Article description"><?php
$this->end();

$this->begin('header');
?><?= $this->fetch('partials/nav.php') ?><?php
$this->end();

$this->begin('content');
?>
<article>
    <h1><?= $article['title'] ?></h1>
    <p><?= $article['content'] ?></p>
</article>
<?php
$this->end();

$this->begin('footer');
?><?= $this->fetch('partials/footer.php') ?><?php
$this->end();

$this->layout('layout.php', ['siteName' => 'My Blog']);

API Reference

View Class

  • add(string $folder, string $ns = ''): static - Add a template folder
  • fetch(string $template, ?array $vars = null): string - Render a template
  • find(string $template): string - Find template path
  • register(string $function, callable $callback): static - Register a function
  • invoke(string $function, array $arguments): mixed - Invoke a registered function
  • install(ExtensionInterface $extension): static - Install an extension
  • Implements ArrayAccess for variable management

Template Methods (available in templates)

  • $this->begin(string $name, bool $append = false): void - Start a block
  • $this->end(): void - End current block
  • $this->block(string $name): string - Get block content
  • $this->layout(string $name, ?array $vars = null): void - Set layout
  • $this->fetch(string $name, ?array $vars = null): string - Render partial
  • $this->e(mixed $value): string - Escape HTML
  • $this->{function}(...$args) - Call registered function

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

Support

For issues, questions, or feature requests, please use the GitHub issue tracker.