Luminova Framework

PHP Luminova: Error Handling Attribute for HTTP Controller Classes

Last updated: 2025-04-30 20:06:34

Defines class-level error handlers for HTTP applications, allowing flexible error routing by context, URI pattern, and handler method.

The Error attribute in Luminova provides a simple and organized way to define error handlers for HTTP applications.
By using attributes, you can keep your routing logic and error handling closely tied to your controller classes, improving readability and maintainability.

The Error attribute allows you to assign a global error handler for HTTP errors, such as 404 Not Found, or for manually triggered errors using $this->app->router->triggerError().
It should be declared at the class level, before the class body begins.


Usage Example

// /app/Controllers/Http/RequestController.php

namespace App\Controllers\Http;

use Luminova\Base\BaseController;
use Luminova\Attributes\Route;
use Luminova\Attributes\Error;
use App\Errors\Controllers\ErrorController;

#[Error('web', '/(:root)', [ErrorController::class, 'onWebError'])]
class RequestController extends BaseController
{
   // Your controller methods
}

In this example:

  • The RequestController uses the Error attribute to define a fallback error handler for the web context.
  • If a route under / or its subpaths encounters an error, it delegates handling to ErrorController::onWebError().

Prefix Examples:

  • http://example.com/ - This URL has no prefix and will match a pattern like /.
  • http://example.com/foo - This URL has the prefix foo and will match a pattern like /foo.
  • http://example.com/account/main/users/dashboard - This URL has the prefix account and will match a pattern like /account/.*.

Understanding URI Context and Prefix

Don’t be confused by the use of the context name web.
Using web as the context name does not mean that only URLs starting with /web are handled by the onWebError method.

Instead, web is a generic context that tells Luminova to apply the error handler to any URL if no other more specific error handler (based on context and prefix) is defined or matched.

Examples:

Examples:

#[Error('web', '/(:root)', [ErrorController::class, 'onWebError'])]
  • https://example.com/account/page: Handled by the web error handler (onWebError).
  • https://example.com/web/page: Handled by the web error handler (onWebError).
  • https://example.com/panel/page: Handled by the web error handler (onWebError), if no panel context is defined.

#[Error('panel', '/(:root)', [ErrorController::class, 'onPanelError'])]
  • https://example.com/panel/page: Handled by the panel error handler (onPanelError) because it matches the explicitly defined panel context.

Class Definition

  • Class namespace: \Luminova\Attributes\Error
  • This class is marked as final and can't be subclassed

Error Attribute Constructor

Defines a repeatable attribute for handling global HTTP route errors.

This attribute assigns an error handler to a specific URI pattern within a given context, allowing fine-grained control over how routing errors are managed. Multiple error handlers can be defined for different URI prefix-contexts and patterns within the same controller.

public __construct(string $context = 'web', string $pattern = '/', string|array|null $onError = null): mixed

Parameters:

ParameterTypeDescription
$contextstringThe routing context used to categorize the URI (default: web).
Typically, this is the first segment of the URI (e.g., api, blog).
$patternstringThe route pattern to match for error handling (e.g., /, /.*, /blog/([0-9-.]+), /blog/(:placeholder)).
$onErrorcallable|nullA optional callable error handler, either as a string or a [class, method] array.

Throw:


Usage Examples

You can use the Error attribute to specify error handling for different parts of your application.

Global Handler

This example will call the onWebError method whenever a 404 error occurs if no other error context is defined to handle the prefix error.

// app/controllers/Http/WebController.php

namespace App\Controllers\Http;

use Luminova\Base\BaseViewController;
use Luminova\Attributes\Route;
use Luminova\Attributes\Error;
use App\Errors\Controllers\ErrorController;

#[Error('web', '/(:root)', [ErrorController::class, 'onWebError'])]
class WebController extends BaseViewController
{
   #[Route('/', methods: ['GET'])]
   public function index(): void
   {
      // Your code here
   }
}

Multiple Handlers

You can define different error handlers for different prefixes by defining multiple contexts.

// /app/controllers/Http/WebController.php

namespace App\Controllers\Http;

use Luminova\Base\BaseViewController;
use Luminova\Attributes\Route;
use Luminova\Attributes\Error;
use App\Controllers\Errors\WebErrors;

#[Error('admin', '/(?!dashboard/).*', [WebErrors::class, 'main'])]
#[Error('admin', '/dashboard/(:root)', [WebErrors::class, 'dashboard'])]
class WebController extends BaseViewController
{
   #[Route('/admin', methods: ['GET'])]
   public function home(): void
   {
      // Your code here
   }

   #[Route('/admin/dashboard', methods: ['GET'])]
   public function dashboard(): void
   {
      // Your code here
   }
}

In the above setup:

  • The first Error attribute '/ (?!dashboard/).*' matches all routes except those that begin with /dashboard/. This utilizes a negative lookahead assertion (?!dashboard/) to exclude any URL that starts with /dashboard/.

  • The second Error attribute '/dashboard/(:root)' matches any routes that start with /dashboard, including both /dashboard and /dashboard/. The (:root) placeholder allows for the capture of any additional segments after /dashboard, including the possibility of matching nothing (an empty string).