Setup ZF using svn externals
After you create a project with zf tool, put it on SVN, you might want to include inside /library the ZF, but you want to have the bleeding edge all the time. You can include it as a svn external like this:
cd library/ svn propset svn:externals 'Zend http://framework.zend.com/svn/framework/standard/trunk/library/Zend/' .
Next time when you run svn up, your project will fetch the latest ZF from it's repo.
Setup controllers and actions inside a module using zf tool
I've been trying to move some old code into separate modules for easier use later on. I installed zend framework and zend tool and created a new project:
zf create project myproject
Adding a new module is easy as pie:
zf create module mymodule
This creates the /application/modules/mymodule folder with complete MVC structure inside (controllers, models and views folders).
My module was not working so after a bit of looking around i've found Akrabat's post that some light on the subject. You have to add to /application/configs.ini the following inside the [production] section:
# enabling modules resources.frontController.moduleDirectory = APPLICATION_PATH "/modules" resources.modules[] = ""
Good, now we should have a working module, except we don't have any controllers. Trying to create a controller proved a bit tricky as zf tool would not pleace them in the right place, inside the modules/mymodule/controllers but in the default /application/controllers. The same applies for actions. With a bit of help from TheAshMan on #zftalk i found the right answer:
# create controller Photos_IndexController at /application/modules/controllers/Photos_IndexController.php zf create controller Photos_Index 1 mymodule # create the action view inside the Photos_IndexController zf create action view Photos_Index 1 mymodule
Hope this helps someone as it took me a few hours to figure it out 
How to update your Twitter status using Zend Framework
After reading the NetTuts tutorial on how to update your Twitter status using CodeIgniter, I wanted to show how to update your Twitter status using Zend Framework.
For this tutorial you need to install Zend Framework and Zend_Tool first.
Step 1: setup apache vhost by creating the /etc/apache2/sites-available/twitter as follows:
<VirtualHost *:80>
ServerAdmin romeo.cioaba@spotonearth.com
DocumentRoot /home/mimir/Zend/workspaces/DefaultWorkspace7/twitter
ServerName twitter.dev
ServerAlias www.twitter.dev
ErrorLog /home/mimir/Zend/workspaces/DefaultWorkspace7/logs/twitter_error_log
CustomLog /home/mimir/Zend/workspaces/DefaultWorkspace7/logs/twitter_access_log combined
<Directory "/home/mimir/Zend/workspaces/DefaultWorkspace7/twitter/">
Options Indexes FollowSymLinks
AllowOverride All
Order allow,deny
Allow from all
</Directory>
</VirtualHost>
You will need to change the DocumentRoot and Directory directives to match your configuration.
Step 2: add twitter.dev to your hosts file:
127.0.0.1 twitter.dev www.twitter.dev
Step 3: create the Zend Framework project
# i switch to my Zend Studio workspace, where apache is reading his sites from: # cd Zend/workspaces/DefaultWorkspace7/ zf create project twitter
Step 4: restart apache
sudo /etc/init.d/apache2 restart
At this point you should have a default Zend Framework project that you can browse at http://twitter.dev/public/. How let's change our status
Replace the content of IndexController with the following:
<?php
class IndexController extends Zend_Controller_Action
{
public function init()
{
/* Initialize action controller here */
}
public function indexAction()
{
// we create the form
$updateForm = new Zend_Form();
$status = new Zend_Form_Element_Text('status');
$status->setLabel('New Twitter Status')
->setRequired(true)
->addFilter('StripTags')
->addFilter('StringTrim')
->addValidator('NotEmpty');
$submit = new Zend_Form_Element_Submit('submit');
$submit->setLabel('Update');
$updateForm->addElements(array($status, $submit));
// we send the form to the view
$this->view->updateForm = $updateForm;
// we check if there was any POST
if ($this->getRequest()->isPost()){
$formData = $this->_request->getPost();
// checking if the form data is valid (if we have a new status or not)
if ($this->view->updateForm->isValid($formData)){
// our form is valid, we can update our status
$twitterStatus = $formData['status'];
$twitter = new Zend_Service_Twitter('myusername', 'mypassword');
$response = $twitter->status->update($twitterStatus);
}
}
}
}
Also replace the view for the index action of IndexController with:
<h1>Welcome to the Twitter Update Tutorial</h1> <?php echo $this->updateForm?>
TADA! You can now check your twitter account and see that twitter status is updated every time you submit the form -:)
Install Zend Framework and Zend_Tool using PEAR on Ubuntu
I work every day with Zend Framework and the easiest way i find to install it is by using the PEAR packages offered by the betta channel ZF Campus
Here is what you have to do install Zend Framework and Zend_Tool using PEAR on Ubuntu:
sudo pear channel-discover pear.zfcampus.org sudo pear install zfcampus/zf # for some reason the installer does not correctly link the zf.php and Zend_Tool won't work # so we need to setup a symlink sudo ln -s /usr/share/php/zf.php /usr/bin/zf.php
That's it! You can now test your install:
zf show version
In my care the output was this one:
mimir@orion:~$ zf show version Zend Framework Version: 1.9.2
Zend Framework tutorials – RFC
After a talk on #zftalk I'm thinking to start witting a site that would allow the Zend Framework community to submit learning material.
The site is going to be called Zend Framework Tips
I have a few ideas of my own, but i want to hear more from you.