View Helpers

In This Article

Menu

The menu() helper is used for rendering menus from navigation containers. By default, the menu will be rendered using HTML UL and LI tags, but the helper also allows using a partial view script.

Methods in the Menu helper:

Method signature Description
getUlClass() : string Retrieve the CSS class used when rendering ul elements in renderMenu().
setUlClass(string $class) : self Set the CSS class to use when rendering ul elements in renderMenu().
getOnlyActiveBranch() : bool Retrieve the flag specifying whether or not to render only the active branch of a container.
setOnlyActiveBranch(bool $flag) : self Set the flag specifying whether or not to render only the active branch of a container.
getRenderParents() : bool Retrieve the flag specifying whether or not to render parent pages when rendering the active branch of a container.
setRenderParents(bool $flag) : self Set the flag specifying whether or not to render parent pages when rendering the active branch of a container. When set to false, only the deepest active menu will be rendered.
getPartial() : string|array Retrieve a partial view script that should be used for rendering breadcrumbs. If a partial view script is set, the helper's render() method will use the renderPartial() method. The helper expects the partial to be a string or an array with two elements. If the partial is a string, it denotes the name of the partial script to use. If it is an array, the first element will be used as the name of the partial view script, and the second element is the module where the script is found.
setPartial(string|array $partial) : self Set the partial view script to use when rendering breadcrumbs; see getPartial() for acceptable values.
htmlify(/* ... */) : string Overrides the method from the abstract class, with the argument list AbstractPage $page, bool $escapeLabel = true, bool $addClassToListItem = false. Returns span elements if the page has no href.
renderMenu(AbstractContainer $container = null, $options = []) : string Default rendering method; renders a container as an HTML UL list. If $container is not given, the container registered in the helper will be rendered. $options is used for overriding options specified temporarily without resetting the values in the helper instance; if none are set, those already provided to the helper will be used. Options are an associative array where each key corresponds to an option in the helper. See the table below for recognized options.
renderPartial(AbstractContainer $container = null, string|array $partial = null) : string Used for rendering the menu using a partial view script.
renderSubMenu(/* ... */) : string Renders the deepest menu level of a container's active branch. Accepts the arguments AbstractContainer $container, string $ulClass = null, string|int $indent = null (an integer value indicates number of spaces to use), string $liActiveClass = null.

The following are options recognized by the renderMenu() method:

Option name Description
indent Indentation. Expects a string or an int value.
minDepth Minimum depth. Expects an int or null (no minimum depth).
maxDepth Maximum depth. Expects an int or null (no maximum depth).
ulClass CSS class for ul element. Expects a string.
onlyActiveBranch Whether only active branch should be rendered. Expects a boolean value.
renderParents Whether parents should be rendered if only rendering active branch. Expects a boolean value.

Basic usage

This example shows how to render a menu from a container registered/found in the view helper. Notice how pages are filtered out based on visibility and ACL.

In a view script or layout:

<?= $this->navigation()->menu()->render() ?>

Or:

<?= $this->navigation()->menu() ?>

Output:

<ul class="navigation">
    <li>
        <a title="Go Home" href="/">Home</a>
    </li>
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products">Products</a>
        <ul>
            <li class="active">
                <a href="/products/server">Foo Server</a>
                <ul>
                    <li class="active">
                        <a href="/products/server/faq">FAQ</a>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/products/server/editions">Editions</a>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/products/server/requirements">System Requirements</a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/studio">Foo Studio</a>
                <ul>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/products/studio/customers">Customer Stories</a>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/products/studio/support">Support</a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a title="About us" href="/company/about">Company</a>
        <ul>
            <li>
                <a href="/company/about/investors">Investor Relations</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a class="rss" href="/company/news">News</a>
                <ul>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/company/news/press">Press Releases</a>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/archive">Archive</a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/community">Community</a>
        <ul>
            <li>
                <a href="/community/account">My Account</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a class="external" href="http://forums.example.com/">Forums</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

Calling renderMenu() directly

This example shows how to render a menu that is not registered in the view helper by calling renderMenu() directly and specifying options.

<?php
// render only the 'Community' menu
$community = $this->navigation()->findOneByLabel('Community');
$options = [
    'indent'  => 16,
    'ulClass' => 'community'
];
echo $this->navigation()
          ->menu()
          ->renderMenu($community, $options);
?>

Output:

<ul class="community">
    <li>
        <a href="/community/account">My Account</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a class="external" href="http://forums.example.com/">Forums</a>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering the deepest active menu

This example shows how renderSubMenu() will render the deepest sub menu of the active branch.

Calling renderSubMenu($container, $ulClass, $indent) is equivalent to calling renderMenu($container, $options) with the following options:

[
    'ulClass'          => $ulClass,
    'indent'           => $indent,
    'minDepth'         => null,
    'maxDepth'         => null,
    'onlyActiveBranch' => true,
    'renderParents'    => false,
]

<?= $this->navigation()
    ->menu()
    ->renderSubMenu(null, 'sidebar', 4) ?>

The output will be the same if 'FAQ' or 'Foo Server' is active:

<ul class="sidebar">
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products/server/faq">FAQ</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/products/server/editions">Editions</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/products/server/requirements">System Requirements</a>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering with maximum depth

<?= $this->navigation()
    ->menu()
    ->setMaxDepth(1) ?>

Output:

<ul class="navigation">
    <li>
        <a title="Go Home" href="/">Home</a>
    </li>
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products">Products</a>
        <ul>
            <li class="active">
                <a href="/products/server">Foo Server</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/studio">Foo Studio</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a title="About us" href="/company/about">Company</a>
        <ul>
            <li>
                <a href="/company/about/investors">Investor Relations</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a class="rss" href="/company/news">News</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/community">Community</a>
        <ul>
            <li>
                <a href="/community/account">My Account</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a class="external" href="http://forums.example.com/">Forums</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering with minimum depth

<?= $this->navigation()
    ->menu()
    ->setMinDepth(1) ?>

Output:

<ul class="navigation">
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products/server">Foo Server</a>
        <ul>
            <li class="active">
                <a href="/products/server/faq">FAQ</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/server/editions">Editions</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/server/requirements">System Requirements</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/products/studio">Foo Studio</a>
        <ul>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/studio/customers">Customer Stories</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/studio/support">Support</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/company/about/investors">Investor Relations</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a class="rss" href="/company/news">News</a>
        <ul>
            <li>
                <a href="/company/news/press">Press Releases</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/archive">Archive</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/community/account">My Account</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a class="external" href="http://forums.example.com/">Forums</a>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering only the active branch

<?= $this->navigation()
    ->menu()
    ->setOnlyActiveBranch(true) ?>

Output:

<ul class="navigation">
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products">Products</a>
        <ul>
            <li class="active">
                <a href="/products/server">Foo Server</a>
                <ul>
                    <li class="active">
                        <a href="/products/server/faq">FAQ</a>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/products/server/editions">Editions</a>
                    </li>
                    <li>
                        <a href="/products/server/requirements">System Requirements</a>
                    </li>
                </ul>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering only the active branch with minimum depth

<?= $this->navigation()
    ->menu()
    ->setOnlyActiveBranch(true)
    ->setMinDepth(1) ?>

Output:

<ul class="navigation">
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products/server">Foo Server</a>
        <ul>
            <li class="active">
                <a href="/products/server/faq">FAQ</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/server/editions">Editions</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/server/requirements">System Requirements</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering only the active branch with maximum depth

<?= $this->navigation()
    ->menu()
    ->setOnlyActiveBranch(true)
    ->setMaxDepth(1) ?>

Output:

<ul class="navigation">
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products">Products</a>
        <ul>
            <li class="active">
                <a href="/products/server">Foo Server</a>
            </li>
            <li>
                <a href="/products/studio">Foo Studio</a>
            </li>
        </ul>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering only the active branch with maximum depth and no parents

<?= $this->navigation()
    ->menu()
    ->setOnlyActiveBranch(true)
    ->setRenderParents(false)
    ->setMaxDepth(1) ?>

Output:

<ul class="navigation">
    <li class="active">
        <a href="/products/server">Foo Server</a>
    </li>
    <li>
        <a href="/products/studio">Foo Studio</a>
    </li>
</ul>

Rendering a custom menu using a partial view script

This example shows how to render a custom menu using a partial view script. By calling setPartial(), you can specify a partial view script that will be used when calling render(); when a partial is specified, that method will proxy to the renderPartial() method.

The renderPartial() method will assign the container to the view with the key container.

In a layout:

$this->navigation()->menu()->setPartial('my-module/partials/menu');
echo $this->navigation()->menu()->render();

In module/MyModule/view/my-module/partials/menu.phtml:

foreach ($this->container as $page) {
    echo $this->navigation()->menu()->htmlify($page) . PHP_EOL;
}

Output:

<a title="Go Home" href="/">Home</a>
<a href="/products">Products</a>
<a title="About us" href="/company/about">Company</a>
<a href="/community">Community</a>

Using additional parameters in partial view scripts

Starting with version 2.6.0, you can assign custom variables to a partial script.

In a layout:

// Set partial
$this->navigation()->menu()->setPartial('my-module/partials/menu');

// Output menu
echo $this->navigation()->menu()->renderPartialWithParams(
    [
        'headline' => 'Links',
    ]
);

In module/MyModule/view/my-module/partials/menu.phtml:

<h1><?= $headline ?></h1>

<?php
foreach ($this->container as $page) {
    echo $this->navigation()->menu()->htmlify($page) . PHP_EOL;
}
?>

Output:

<h1>Links</h1>
<a title="Go Home" href="/">Home</a>
<a href="/products">Products</a>
<a title="About us" href="/company/about">Company</a>
<a href="/community">Community</a>

Using menu options in partial view scripts

In a layout:

// Set options
$this->navigation()->menu()
    ->setUlClass('my-nav')
    ->setPartial('my-module/partials/menu');

// Output menu
echo $this->navigation()->menu()->render();

In module/MyModule/view/my-module/partials/menu.phtml:

<div class"<?= $this->navigation()->menu()->getUlClass() ?>">
    <?php
    foreach ($this->container as $page) {
        echo $this->navigation()->menu()->htmlify($page) . PHP_EOL;
    }
    ?>
</div>

Output:

<div class="my-nav">
    <a title="Go Home" href="/">Home</a>
    <a href="/products">Products</a>
    <a title="About us" href="/company/about">Company</a>
    <a href="/community">Community</a>
</div>

Using ACLs with partial view scripts

If you want to use an ACL within your partial view script, then you will have to check the access to a page manually.

In module/MyModule/view/my-module/partials/menu.phtml:

foreach ($this->container as $page) {
    if ($this->navigation()->accept($page)) {
        echo $this->navigation()->menu()->htmlify($page) . PHP_EOL;
    }
}

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