Element Generator

What is this?

Element is a php class to create all sorts of XML/HTML elements with.

How to use it

There are several possibilities for the usage of the class, the basic call is Element::elementName($args).

Basic examples

If the argument is a string, the argument is normally used as content of the element.

Element::anyElement('content'); // returns <anyElement>content</anyElement>

This also works, when the content is/contains HTML/XML

Element::anyElement('<elem>foo</elem>'); //returns <anyElement><elem>foo</elem></anyElement>

Some elements don't have actual content but a particular attribute to hold the main information - if the element is known to the class (i.e. any regular HTML element), the content is moved to this attribute.

Element::script('some/script/src'); // returns <script src="some/script/src"></script>
Element::iframe('some/iframe/src'); // returns <iframe src="some/iframe/src" frameborder="0"></iframe>

As you can see in the above example, certain default attributes such as frameborder for iframes are automatically added

Element::img('some/img/src'); // returns <img src="some/img/src" alt="" />

In this example you see that auto closing of the element is done automatically

Basic examples with the `<a>` element

Element::a('some/link'); // returns <a href="some/link">some/link</a>
Element::a('http://www.example.com/'); // returns <a href="http://www.example.com/">www.example.com</a>

Note that http:// has been removed in the element text

Element::a('foo@example.com');
Element::a('mailto:foo@example.com');

Both examples will return <a href="encrypted-address-including-mailto">encrypted-address-without-mailto</a>. Encryption is based on the method used in Symfony 1.4.

Advanced examples with multiple arguments

All functions take up to two arguments, the arrays $attributes and $settings. $attributes is basically analog to the attributes of the HTML/XML element.

Let's create an <input> element for emails (with a useless selected for the sake of example)

$attributes = array(
  'type' => 'email', // default is text
  'value' => 'foo', 
  'class' => 'foo bar',
  'placeholder' => 'do seomething',
  'readonly' => true, // this resolves to 'readonly'
  'selected' => 'selected', // this resolves to 'selected="selected"'
);
Element::input($attributes); 
//returns <input type="email" value="foo" class="foo bar" readonly selected="selected" />

Normally you would rarely use $settings but if so, you need to refer the member $settings of the class for details.

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