Vedi Menu Bundle Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation

   composer require blackator/vedi-menu-bundle
   

   Ensure BlackatorVediMenuBundle is enabled in config/bundles.php (Symfony Flex handles this automatically).

2. First Use Case: Basic YAML Menu

   • Create a YAML file at config/menu/main_menu.yaml:

     items:
       - label: 'Home'
         route: 'home'
       - label: 'About'
         route: 'about'
     

   • Inject VediMenu in a controller and load the menu:

     use Blackator\Bundle\VediMenuBundle\Loaders\YamlMenuLoader;
     use Blackator\Bundle\VediMenuBundle\Service\VediMenu;
     
     public function index(VediMenu $vediMenu): Response {
         $menu = $vediMenu->create(new YamlMenuLoader($this->getParameter('kernel.project_dir').'/config/menu/main_menu.yaml'), 'main');
         return $this->render('home/index.html.twig', ['menu' => $menu]);
     }
     

   • Render in Twig:

     {{ render_menu(menu) }}
     

3. Default Template The bundle provides a default Twig template at @VediMenu/default.html.twig. Override it by copying it to templates/bundles/vedimenu/default.html.twig.

Implementation Patterns

Core Workflow

1. Menu Definition Define menus in YAML (or extend AbstractMenuLoader for custom formats like JSON/XML). Example:

   # config/menu/admin_menu.yaml
   items:
     - label: 'Dashboard'
       route: 'admin_dashboard'
       children:
         - label: 'Users'
           route: 'admin_users'
   

2. Dynamic Menu Loading Load menus dynamically based on user roles or other logic:

   public function index(VediMenu $vediMenu, Security $security): Response {
       $role = $security->getUser()->getRoles()[0] ?? 'guest';
       $menu = $vediMenu->create(new YamlMenuLoader(...), "menu_{$role}");
       return $this->render('...', ['menu' => $menu]);
   }
   

3. Twig Integration

   • Use render_menu() for full rendering.
   • Access raw menu data with menu.items or iterate manually:

     <ul>
       {% for item in menu.items %}
         <li><a href="{{ path(item.route) }}">{{ item.label }}</a></li>
       {% endfor %}
     </ul>
     

4. Menu Extensions Extend AbstractMenuLoader to support custom data sources (e.g., database):

   class DatabaseMenuLoader extends AbstractMenuLoader {
       public function load(): array {
           return $this->entityManager->getRepository(MenuItem::class)->findAll();
       }
   }
   

Best Practices

• Organization: Group menu files by context (e.g., config/menu/admin/, config/menu/public/).
• Caching: Leverage Symfony’s cache system for YAML menus by implementing CacheInterface in your loader.
• Reusability: Create base menu configurations and override them for specific contexts (e.g., main_menu.yaml + main_menu_admin.yaml).

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. Loader Initialization

   • Issue: Forgetting to pass the full path to YAML files (e.g., using relative paths).
   • Fix: Always use $this->getParameter('kernel.project_dir') for absolute paths.

     new YamlMenuLoader($this->getParameter('kernel.project_dir').'/config/menu/main_menu.yaml')
     

2. Twig Template Overrides

   • Issue: Overriding the template path incorrectly (e.g., templates/vedimenu/default.html.twig instead of templates/bundles/vedimenu/default.html.twig).
   • Fix: Use the exact bundle path: @VediMenu/default.html.twig or copy to templates/bundles/vedimenu/.

3. Route Resolution

   • Issue: Routes not found in Twig (path(item.route) fails).
   • Fix: Ensure routes are properly defined in config/routes.yaml and the bundle is loaded before the router.

4. Nested Menus

   • Issue: Children items not rendering in the default template.
   • Fix: Customize the Twig template to handle nested structures:

     {% for item in menu.items %}
       <li>
         <a href="{{ path(item.route) }}">{{ item.label }}</a>
         {% if item.children|length > 0 %}
           <ul>
             {% for child in item.children %}
               <li><a href="{{ path(child.route) }}">{{ child.label }}</a></li>
             {% endfor %}
           </ul>
         {% endif %}
       </li>
     {% endfor %}
     

Debugging Tips

• Dump Menu Data: Use var_dump($menu->getItems()) to inspect loaded data.
• Loader Errors: Check for InvalidArgumentException if YAML is malformed (e.g., missing items key).
• Caching Issues: Clear cache (php bin/console cache:clear) if menus don’t update after changes.

Extension Points

1. Custom Loaders Extend AbstractMenuLoader to support:

   • Database queries.
   • API responses.
   • Environment-specific configurations.

2. Menu Events Listen for menu creation events (if the bundle supports them) to modify menus dynamically:

   // config/services.yaml
   services:
     App\EventListener\MenuSubscriber:
       tags:
         - { name: kernel.event_subscriber }
   

3. Twig Functions Override or extend Twig functions (e.g., render_menu) by creating a custom Twig extension:

   class CustomMenuExtension extends \Twig\Extension\AbstractExtension {
       public function getFunctions() {
           return [
               new \Twig\TwigFunction('custom_render_menu', [$this, 'renderMenu']),
           ];
       }
   }
   

4. Configuration Override bundle parameters in config/packages/vedi_menu.yaml (if supported):

   blackator_vedi_menu:
       default_template: 'custom/path.html.twig'