Symfony 2: Displaying tables?

Question

I'd like to display some rows of data from a database table. I'm keen to get some advice on how to best achieve this.

Let me explain how I do it now and why this question has been raised: I currently have a scheme whereby the controller loads data into an array, and then passes this to the twig template. The twig template then calls a "utility" controller to display the array. The utility controller takes care of formatting the fields, etc. So, for example:

Controller:

$cols = array('1','2','3');
$rows = array();

for (...) {
    $rows[] = ...
}

return array(
    'cols'    => $cols,
    'rows'    => $rows,
);

Twig:

{% render 'Bundle:Table:print' with { 'cols': cols, 'rows': rows } %}

However, when I tried to move to Symfony 2.2, I ran into a few problems because of the way that internal calls are now handled in 2.2. See http://symfony.com/blog/new-in-symfony-2-2-the-new-fragment-sub-framework

It looks like the arrays are converted to URL parameters, and then parsed out again (using parse_str). This lead to two distinct problems:

For larger tables, PHP was limited to 1000 items in the arrays. (Yes, I can increase the limit, but is that sensible?)
DateTime types seemed to lose their typing and were seen as just arrays.

So, is my original approach workable going forward? If not, what approach should be used?

Thanks.

ritter ritter · Accepted Answer · 2013-04-11T20:15:45

A third party suggested "What about writing a Twig extension instead of using a Symfony controller?"

http://symfony.com/doc/current/cookbook/templating/twig_extension.html

Symfony 2: Displaying tables?

1 Answers