- Basic Routing
- Route Parameters
- Route Filters
- Named Routes
- Route Groups
- Sub-Domain Routing
- Route Prefixing
- Route Model Binding
- Throwing 404 Errors
- Routing To Controllers
Most of the routes for your application will be defined in the app/routes.php file. The simplest Laravel routes consist of a URI and a Closure callback.
Basic GET Route
Route::get('/', function()
{
return 'Hello World';
});
Basic POST Route
Route::post('foo/bar', function()
{
return 'Hello World';
});
Registering A Route Responding To Any HTTP Verb
Route::any('foo', function()
{
return 'Hello World';
});
Forcing A Route To Be Served Over HTTPS
Route::get('foo', array('https', function()
{
return 'Must be over HTTPS';
}));
Often, you will need to generate URLs to your routes, you may do so using the URL::to method:
$url = URL::to('foo');
Route::get('user/{id}', function($id)
{
return 'User '.$id;
});
Optional Route Parameters
Route::get('user/{name?}', function($name = null)
{
return $name;
});
Optional Route Parameters With Defaults
Route::get('user/{name?}', function($name = 'John')
{
return $name;
});
Regular Expression Route Constraints
Route::get('user/{name}', function($name)
{
//
})
->where('name', '[A-Za-z]+');
Route::get('user/{id}', function($id)
{
//
})
->where('id', '[0-9]+');
Of course, you may pass an array of constraints when necessary:
Route::get('user/{id}/{name}', function($id, $name)
{
//
})
->where(array('id' => '[0-9]+', 'name' => '[a-z]+'))
Route filters provide a convenient way of limiting access to a given route, which is useful for creating areas of your site which require authentication. There are several filters included in the Laravel framework, including an auth filter, an auth.basic filter, a guest filter, and a csrffilter. These are located in the app/filters.php file.
Defining A Route Filter
Route::filter('old', function()
{
if (Input::get('age') < 200)
{
return Redirect::to('home');
}
});
If a response is returned from a filter, that response will be considered the response to the request and the route will not be executed, and any after filters on the route will also be cancelled.
Attaching A Filter To A Route
Route::get('user', array('before' => 'old', function()
{
return 'You are over 200 years old!';
}));
Attaching Multiple Filters To A Route
Route::get('user', array('before' => 'auth|old', function()
{
return 'You are authenticated and over 200 years old!';
}));
Specifying Filter Parameters
Route::filter('age', function($route, $request, $value)
{
//
});
Route::get('user', array('before' => 'age:200', function()
{
return 'Hello World';
}));
After filters receive a $response as the third argument passed to the filter:
Route::filter('log', function($route, $request, $response, $value)
{
//
});
Pattern Based Filters
You may also specify that a filter applies to an entire set of routes based on their URI.
Route::filter('admin', function()
{
//
});
Route::when('admin/*', 'admin');
In the example above, the admin filter would be applied to all routes beginning with admin/. The asterisk is used as a wildcard, and will match any combination of characters.
You may also constrain pattern filters by HTTP verbs:
Route::when('admin/*', 'admin', array('post'));
Filter Classes
For advanced filtering, you may wish to use a class instead of a Closure. Since filter classes are resolved out of the application IoC Container, you will be able to utilize dependency injection in these filters for greater testability.
Defining A Filter Class
class FooFilter {
public function filter()
{
// Filter logic...
}
}
Registering A Class Based Filter
Route::filter('foo', 'FooFilter');
Named routes make referring to routes when generating redirects or URLs more convenient. You may specify a name for a route like so:
Route::get('user/profile', array('as' => 'profile', function()
{
//
}));
You may also specify route names for controller actions:
Route::get('user/profile', array('as' => 'profile', 'uses' => 'UserController@showProfile'));
Now, you may use the route's name when generating URLs or redirects:
$url = URL::route('profile');
$redirect = Redirect::route('profile');
You may access the name of a route that is running via the currentRouteName method:
$name = Route::currentRouteName();
Sometimes you may need to apply filters to a group of routes. Instead of specifying the filter on each route, you may use a route group:
Route::group(array('before' => 'auth'), function()
{
Route::get('/', function()
{
// Has Auth Filter
});
Route::get('user/profile', function()
{
// Has Auth Filter
});
});
Laravel routes are also able to handle wildcard sub-domains, and pass you wildcard parameters from the domain:
Registering Sub-Domain Routes
Route::group(array('domain' => '{account}.myapp.com'), function()
{
Route::get('user/{id}', function($account, $id)
{
//
});
});
A group of routes may be prefixed by using the prefix option in the attributes array of a group:
Prefixing Grouped Routes
Route::group(array('prefix' => 'admin'), function()
{
Route::get('user', function()
{
//
});
});
Model binding provides a convenient way to inject model instances into your routes. For example, instead of injecting a user's ID, you can inject the entire User model instance that matches the given ID. First, use the Route::model method to specify the model that should be used for a given parameter:
Binding A Parameter To A Model
Route::model('user', 'User');
Next, define a route that contains a {user} parameter:
Route::get('profile/{user}', function(User $user)
{
//
});
Since we have bound the {user} parameter to the User model, a User instance will be injected into the route. So, for example, a request to profile/1 will inject the User instance which has an ID of 1.
Note: If a matching model instance is not found in the database, a 404 error will be thrown.
If you wish to specify your own "not found" behavior, you may pass a Closure as the third argument to the model method:
Route::model('user', 'User', function()
{
throw new NotFoundException;
});
Sometimes you may wish to use your own resolver for route parameters. Simply use the Route::bind method:
Route::bind('user', function($value, $route)
{
return User::where('name', $value)->first();
});
There are two ways to manually trigger a 404 error from a route. First, you may use the App::abort method:
App::abort(404);
Second, you may throw an instance of Symfony\Component\HttpKernel\Exception\NotFoundHttpException.
More information on handling 404 exceptions and using custom responses for these errors may be found in the errors section of the documentation.
Laravel allows you to not only route to Closures, but also to controller classes, and even allows the creation of resource controllers.
See the documentation on Controllers for more details.