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Contents 1 Implementing a static file Producer Into different CMS/Frameworks 1.1 Intro 1.2 Producer Features 1.3 Producer Basics 2 Implementation 2.1 Possible Solution #1 2.2 CakePHP Exmaple 2.3 Problems 2.4 Possible Solutions #2

Implementing a static file Producer Into different CMS/Frameworks

Intro

The static file producer is a concept developed by the Mir Coders, to fit the need for a very resource friendly content distribution.

Producer Features

Here are some basic features of a producer. We try to add these functions to another CMS.

• The producer is creating a static presentation of a specific part of the website (articles, images, start page, archive page)
• The producer is able to create pieces of a website (only the newswire or only the comments etc pp)

Producer Basics

Here are some basics to keep in mind

• In the MVC model, the producer is the controller
• To be more exact, the producers.xml, the producer configuration file, is the controller and the producer itself is the dispatcher (sometimes called the request handler)
• The producer does not work based on a user request
• The producer is not a cache. All cache system out there are request based, they will NOT work as a producer.

Implementation

The main problem with implementation of a producer into a normal CMS, is the request based structure

• Usually the user request is passed through a request handler
• The controller is called, all the needed data is acquired and handed over to the view
• The View is calling the template system to render the page
• The finished page will either be printed out to the user directly from the view object, or
• the finished page is handed back to the request handler for caching and output

Possible Solution #1

A very easy solution is the simulation of a user request

• Find the dispatcher / request handler of the CMS
• Recreate the dispatcher as a external module
• Call the dispatcher with the specific url and save the generated page into a static file.

CakePHP Exmaple

Here a small Proof on Concept in CakePHP.

In CakePHP we have a the follwing structure of a request

• Index.php / Bootstrap / Router are doing the basic setup of the site
• Call of the dispatcher with the url
• Dispatcher is calling the controller based on the url
• Dispatcher hands over the controller to the view
• View is calling the Template with all the data etc...
• View is printing out the page

So...

• We move all the logic from the producers.xml into the CakePHP controllers (article controller with view function)
• We simulate the a user request by calling the dispatcher with a url

• bootstrap.php includes all the needed classes to have the dispather avalibale
• producer.php creates and calls the dispatcher

Problems

Only the generation of the hole page is possible.

• If you have a CMS where you can separate the page into pieces, you only can merge these modules together on the view level, that means, inside the templates.
• Very often you can not request the content of a piece from the controller
• If you can request the the content of the page from the controller, it is usually the hole page as string

Possible Solutions #2

yeah, well, have a deep dive down into some CMS code and tell us.

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