Configuring the behavior of the extension

Not all organizations are to be displayed in our example extensions, but just the ones belonging to a certain status (like e.g. internal, external, non-member). In the TypoScript template of our page we therefore establish an option allowedStates under the path tx_sjroffers.settings:

plugin.tx_sjroffers {
    settings {
        allowedStates = 1,2
    }
}

Extbase makes the settings inside of the path plugin.tx_sjroffers.settings available as an array in the class variable $this->settings. Our Action thus looks like this:

public function indexAction()
{
    $this->view->assign(
        'organizations',
        $this->organizationRepository->findByStates(
            \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\GeneralUtility::intExplode(',', $this->settings['allowedStates'])
        )
    );

    // ...
}

In the OrganizationRepository, we implemented a Method findByStates(), which we do not further investigate here (see more in chapter 6, section “Implement individual database queries”). The Method expects an array containing the allowed states. We generate it from the comma separated list using the TYPO3 API function \TYPO3\CMS\Core\Utility\GeneralUtility::intExplode(). We then pass on the returned choice of organizations to the view, just as we are used to do.

Tip

Of course we could also have passed the comma separated list directly to the Method findByStates(). We do recommend, though, to prepare all parameter coming from outside (settings, form input) before passing them on to the two other components Model and View. </tip>In this chapter you’ve learned how to set the Objects of your domain in motion and how to control the flow of a page visit. You now are able to realize the two components Model and Controller of the MVC paradigm inside your extension. In the following chapter, we will address the third component, the View. We’ll present the substantial scope of the template engine Fluid.