action without a view. Need a module?

Question

I want to execute an action which doesnt really need a view. In this example this is a "logout" function, but this could be even an AJAX call (for example, I just need a number back).

Should I add a module? Well, I'd rather do a "flat" script as an action which redirect to the index page, when its done. And in this case, where to put this flat script?

Answer 1

Yes, you still want to create a module (controller) for this.

For a number of reasons: - Should you want to change the behaviour, it's already in your code. - For a logout action you want to manipulate the current (sfUser) user, to get an instance you want to fire up the symfony stack, so why not create the controller. - It's considered 'bad practice', or 'counter-MVC' if you start creating all kinds of small files for small actions.

And how hard is it to create a new module? ./symfony generate:module frontend user.

If you don't have a view you can always forward/redirect the request. (in your action: $this->redirect('homepage');).

Or, for you AJAX-actions, you can return only the required data:

if ($request->isXmlHttpRequest()) {
   // set correct header
   return $this->renderText(json_encode($data));
}