Strange Zend Framework Behavior - not finding index controller actions

Question

I recently started a new zend framework project. I created all the db-table models, models, controllers, actions, forms and enabled layouts via the ZF Tool. All of the items I created show up in .zf-project.xml.

I then set about setting up the first header and footer for the default layout. At the bottom of this layout is a footer nav section with several links for example:

    <a href="/howitworks">How it Works</a>

When this is clicked it should navigate to the index controller / howitworksAction however it doesn't. Instead I get an error stating:

    Message: Invalid controller specified (howitworks)

    **Stack trace:**

    #0 /usr/share/php/Zend/Controller/Front.php(954): Zend_Controller_Dispatcher_Standard->dispatch(Object(Zend_Controller_Request_Http), Object(Zend_Controller_Response_Http))
    #1 /usr/share/php/Zend/Application/Bootstrap/Bootstrap.php(97): Zend_Controller_Front->dispatch()
    #2 /usr/share/php/Zend/Application.php(366): Zend_Application_Bootstrap_Bootstrap->run()
    #3 /var/www/vhosts/lokals.mediagiantdesign.com/httpdocs/public/index.php(26): Zend_Application->run()
    #4 {main}  
    Request Parameters:

    array (
      'controller' => 'howitworks',
      'action' => 'index',
      'module' => 'default',
    )

If I force the URL to /index/howitworks it works fine. I am totally thrown off by this as this is the first Zend application that I have built where this has ever happened. In previous applications this linking worked right out of the box. I haven't setup a custom router, the bootstrap is barebones. So I have no idea why this isn't working.

I thought zend first looked for a controller matching the controller, if not found it looked in index looking for an action that matched, and if that wasn't found, it would assume it was a file in /public. If that's the case, then what am I missing here?

Thanks in advance. Rick

janenz00 janenz00 · Accepted Answer · 2012-10-31T00:30:06

The default Zend Framework url structure is : http://yourdomain.com/controller/action/params. Whenever Zend Framework routes a URL by default, of the form "http://yourdomain/howitworks", it considers the howitworks as the controller and since no action specified, indexAction will be assumed. It is always helpful to use the Zend url view helper to avoid confusion.

    <a href="<?php  echo $this->url(array('controller' => 'index', 'action' => 'howitworks'), null, true); ?>"

If you want to use "/howitworks" point to howitworksAction in the IndexController, you will need to set up a custom route in the bootstrap.php.

Strange Zend Framework Behavior - not finding index controller actions

2 Answers