# Controllers in QloApps

A Controller handles and keeps up to date, synchronization events between the View and the Model in an MVC architecture. It is responsible for handling all events and performs actions to be taken. If an action is required to modify data, the Controller will "ask" the Model to adjust the data, and the Model will then inform the View that the data has been modified so that the View itself can be updated.

In reality, all QloApps controllers override the Controller class via another inheriting class:

AdminController,
FrontController,

You can find these in the folder /classes/controller.

# The FrontController class

Class' characteristics are mentioned below:

Property	Description
$template	Template name for page content.
$css_files	Array list of CSS files.
$js_files	Array list of JavaScript files.
$errors	Array of errors that have occurred.
$guestAllowed	Whether a signed-out customer can access the page..
$initialized	Whether the init() function has been called.
$iso	The ISO code of the currently selected language.
$n	The number of items per page.
$orderBy	The field used to sort.
$orderWay	Whether to sort is ascending or descending ("ASC" or "DESC").
$p	Current number of the page.
$ajax	If the ajax parameter is detected in request, set this flag to true.

# Execution order of the controllers' function

_contruct(): Sets all the controller's member variables.
init(): Initializes the controller.
setMedia() or setMobileMedia(): Adds all JavaScript and CSS specifics to the page so that they can be combined, compressed and cached (see QloApps's CCC tool, in the back office "Performance" page, under the "Advanced preferences" menu).
postProcess(): Handles ajaxProcess.
initHeader(): Called before initContent().
initContent(): Initializes the content.
initFooter(): Called after initContent().
display() or displayAjax(): Displays the content for page for page or ajax request. For all ajax requests displayAjax() is used instead.

# Existing front office controller

Below are the default controls, as well as the theme files used by them.

Controller's Filename	Description
AddressController.php	Used by address.php to edit a customer's address.
AddressesController.php	Used by addresses.php to get customer's addresses.
AttachmentController.php
AuthController.php	Used by authentication.php for customer login.
BestSalesController.php	Used by best-sales.php to get best-sellers.
CartController.php	Used by cart.php to manage the customer's cart.
CategoryController	Used by category.php to get productcategories.
ChangeCurrencyController.php
CmsController.php	Used by cms.php to get a CMS page.
CompareController.php	Used by products-comparison.php to compare products.
ContactController.php	Used by contact-form.php to send messages.
DiscountController.php	Used by discount.php to get a customer's vouchers.
GetFileController.php
GuestTrackingController.php	Used by guest-tracking.php to manage guest orders.
HistoryController.php	Used by history.php to get a customer's orders.
IdentityController.php	Used by identity.php for customer's personal info.
IndexController.php	Used by index.php to display the homepage.
ManufacturerController.php	Used by manufacturer.php to get manufacturers.
MyAccountController.php	Used by my-account.php to manage customer account.
NewProductsController.php	Used by new-products.php to get new products.
OrderConfirmationController.php	Used by order-confirmation.php for order confirmation.
OrderController.php	Used by order.php to manage the five-step checkout.
OrderDetailController.php	Used by order-detail.php to get a customer order.
OrderFollowController.php	Used by order-follow.php to get a customer's returns.
OrderOpcController.php	Used by order-opc.php to manage one-page checkout.
OrderReturnController.php	Used by order-return.php to get a merchandise return.
OrderSlipController.php	Used by order-slip.php to get a customer's credit slips.
PageNotFoundController.php	Used by 404.php to manage the "Page not found" page.
ParentOrderController.php	Manages shared order code.
PasswordController.php	Used by password.php to reset a lost password.
PdfInvoiceController.php
PdfOrderReturnController.php
PdfOrderSlipController.php
PricesDropController.php	Used by prices-drop.php to get discounted products.
ProductController.php	Used by product.php to get a product.
SearchController.php	Used by search.php to get search results.
SitemapController.php	Used by sitemap.php to get the sitemap.
StatisticsController.php
StoresController.php	Used by stores.php to get website information
SupplierController.php	Used by supplier.php to get suppliers.

# The AdminController class

Class' characteristics are mentioned below:

Property	Description
$controller_name	Name of the controller.
$css_files	Array list of CSS files.
$js_files	Array list of JavaScript files.
$errors	Array of errors that have occurred.
$token	Admin tokens to verify request authenticity.
$table	Table used by controller to access data .
$className	Class name to with table object model.
$ajax	If the ajax parameter is detected in request, set this flag to true.

# Execution order of the controllers' function

_contruct(): Sets all the controller's member variables.
init(): Initializes the controller.
setMedia() or setMobileMedia(): Adds all JavaScript and CSS specifics to the page so that they can be combined, compressed and cached (see QloApps's CCC tool, in the back office "Performance" page, under the "Advanced preferences" menu).
postProcess(): Handles ajaxProcess.
initHeader(): Called before initContent().
initContent(): Initializes the content.
initFooter(): Called after initContent().
display(): Displays the content for page for page.

# Overriding a controller

Thanks to object inheritance, you can adjust the behaviors of a controller, or add some new ones.

QloApps controllers are all stored in the /controllers folder, and use the "Core" suffix.

For instance, when working with the Category controller:

File: /controllers/CategoryController.php
Class: CategoryControllerCore

For overriding a controller, first you have to build a new class without the "Core" suffix, and place its file in the /override/controllers folder.

For example, when the Category Controller is overridden:

File: /override/controllers/front/CategoryController.php
Class: CategoryController extends CategoryControllerCore

Now to override core class method, redefine the method in the parent class again in the child class.

class CategoryController extends CategoryControllerCore
{
   public function initContent()
   {
      //your logic here
      if ($this->category->active) {
         $this->context->smarty->assign('category_active', true);
      }
      parent::initContent()
   }
}

Classes can be overridden same as controller.

Module Override To override a module class place the class in override folder as it as the exists in Qloapps folder.

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