symfony sandbox

Thank you for downloading the symfony sandbox. This pre-configured symfony project will allow you to experiment with the symfony framework immediately, without any installation or configuration.

Quick start

The sandbox project will work "out of the box", provided that you extract the .tgz archive under the root web directory configured for your server (usually web/).

After unpacking the archive, test the sandbox by requesting the following URL:

http://localhost/sf_sandbox/web/

You should see a congratulations page.

Command line

If you are in the sf_sandbox/ directory, you can use the command line to do usual site management operations. For instance, to clear the cache, type:

$ ./symfony.sh clear-cache                      (*nix)
symfony clear-cache                             (Windows)

To discover all the available actions of the symfony command line, type:

$ ./symfony.sh -T                               (*nix)
symfony -T                                      (Windows)

Environments

The sandbox already contains one application called frontend, accessible through two environments:

• the default environment is the prod one, in which the application is fast but outputs few error messages
• the dev environment is slower but gives access to a lot of information about the current request

To access the frontend application in the dev environment, type:

http://localhost/sf_sandbox/web/frontend_dev.php/
           (don't forget the final /)

Modules

To create a new module mymodule, just type in the command line:

$ ./symfony.sh init-module frontend mymodule    (*nix)
symfony init-module frontend mymodule           (Windows)

To access it, call:

http://localhost/sf_sandbox/web/mymodule

If, at this point, you meet an error, this means that your web server doesn't support mod_rewrite. Delete the .htaccess file from the web/ directory and call instead:

http://localhost/sf_sandbox/web/index.php/mymodule

What's in the sandbox?

The sandbox is an empty symfony project where all the required libraries (symfony, pake, creole, propel and phing) are already included (in the sf_sandbox/lib/ directory). It is configured to work without any configuration if unpacked under the web root, but you can install it anywhere in your disk. In this case,

• delete the 22nd line of the sf_sandbox/apps/frontend/config/settings.yml (relative_url_root: /sf_sandbox/web/)
• create a virtual host in your web server configuration to address the sf_sandbox/web directory

The sandbox is intended for you to practice with symfony in a local computer, not really to develop complex applications that may end up on the web. However, the version of symfony shipped with the sandbox is fully functional and equivalent to the one you can install via PEAR.

Beware that the sandbox is not upgradeable.

Happy symfony!

Feel free to experiment and try the various techniques described in the www.symfony-project.com website. All the tutorials can also work in a sandbox. But in the long run, if you decide to go on with symfony, we advise you to switch to a PEAR installation, which will guarantee you with the possibility to use the latest patches and enhancements.

The symfony team http://www.symfony-project.com/