Concept of MVC Modules

Modules

All of our Web Applications uses a zend framework extension called Modular Extensions which adds "Modular MVC" or "Modules". This means that you can keep all logic together in a tidy format and easily move code from one installation to another. A module contains a details.php which has all of the "meta-data" and installation instructions for the module. Creating modules is pretty easy when you know how.

Models, Views and Controllers

All modules are based on the Model-View-Controller development pattern. MVC is a software approach that separates application logic from presentation. In practice, it permits your web pages to contain minimal scripting since the presentation is separate from the PHP scripting.

The Model represents your data structures. Typically your model classes will contain functions that help you retrieve, insert, and update information in your database.

The View is the information that is being presented to a user. A View will normally be a web page, but in CodeIgniter, a view can also be a page fragment like a header or footer. It can also be an RSS page, or any other type of "page".

The Controller serves as an intermediary between the Model, the View, and any other resources needed to process the HTTP request and generate a web page.

The application utilizes a Model-View-Controller (MVC) structure. MVC separates code by concern, allowing developers to maintain and extend small segments of code specific to a given function verses a plethora of nested, interdependent files. It is highly recommended that you familiarize yourself with the form and function of MVC before proceeding to modify and extend OpenCart. For more information regarding MVC, please refer to Wikipedia.