Introduction to MVC Programming using Agavi, part 4th

Introduction to MVC Programming with Agavi, Part 4: Creating a Agavi search engine with multiple output types (XML, RSS, or soap)

Brief introduction

In part 3rd of this series, you experience a task that you often encounter when building web-based applications: Implement a management module that allows administrators to perform CRUD operations through the Web interface. You also explored the Agavi security model, building a login system to authenticate users to secure access to application resources.

Now continue Agavi learning to add more functionality to this WASP (Web Car Sales Platform) sample application. You will implement a search engine that allows users to search the database directly and get a list that matches specific criteria. Furthermore, Agavi provides developers with a complex framework that allows them to easily add support for applications to multiple output types (XML, RSS, or SOAP). This article will learn how to return XML encoding results from search engines with minimal programming support.

Working with search criteria

Common abbreviations

API: Application Programming Interface

CRUD: Creating, reading, updating, and deleting

CVS: Concurrent Version Systems

DOM: Document Object Model

HTML: Hypertext Markup Language

HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol

MVC: Model-View-controller

PDF: Portable Document Format

RSS: a really easy aggregation

URL: Uniform Resource Locator

XML: Extensible Markup Language

So far, the WASP application can accept the vehicle inventory submitted by the reseller and store it in the database for approval. The management module developed in part 3rd of this series allows administrators to review and approve these submitted manifests for display on the Web site. Administrators can also define the length of time each manifest is displayed on the site.

To make it easier for potential buyers to find a vehicle that meets their needs, it's a good idea to add a search feature to your application. The search interface will receive specific conditions from the buyer, search for approved listings to find the cars that meet the conditions, and finally display the results for further inspection.

First, add a new searchaction to the Listing module using the Agavi build script:

shell>　agavi　action-wizard
Module　name:　Listing　
Action　name:　Search　
Space-separated　list　of　views　to　create　for　Search　[Success]:　Error　Success　

and update the application's routing table and add a new route for this Action, as shown in Listing 1:

Listing 1. Listing/searchaction Routing Definition

<?xml　version="1.0"　encoding="UTF-8"?>
<ae:configurations　xmlns:ae="http://agavi.org/agavi/config/global/envelope/1.0"
　xmlns="http://agavi.org/agavi/config/parts/routing/1.0">
　<ae:configuration>
　　<routes>
　　　...
　　　<!--　action　for　listing　pages　"/listing"　-->
　　　<route　name="listing"　pattern="^/listing"　module="Listing">
　　　　<route　name=".create"　pattern="^/create$"　action="Create"　/>
　　　　<route　name=".display"　pattern="^/display/(id:\d+)$"　action="Display"　/>
　　　　<route　name=".search"　pattern="^/search$"　action="Search"　/>
　　　</route>
　　　...
　　</routes>
　</ae:configuration>
</ae:configurations>