codeigniter4
Bug: Missing argument in route when using `url_to` or `route_to` with regex routes
PHP Version
8.3
CodeIgniter4 Version
CodeIgniter 4.5.5
CodeIgniter4 Installation Method
Composer (using codeigniter4/appstarter)
Which operating systems have you tested for this bug?
Debian 12
Which server did you use?
fpm-fcgi
Database
N/A
What happened?
The following route definition works fine as long as you don't use url_to or route_to to refer to it:
$routes->get('/test(/(:any))?', 'Test::direct/$1', ['as' => 'test']);
Linking as below works:
<a href="/test">No parameter</a>
<a href="/test/param1">1 parameter</a>
<a href="/test/param1/param2">2 parameters</a>
But using both url_to or route_to fails:
<a href="<?= url_to('test') ?>">No parameter</a>
<a href="<?= url_to('test', 'param1') ?>">1 parameter</a>
<a href="<?= url_to('test', 'param1', 'param2') ?>">2 parameters</a>
Steps to Reproduce
- Add the new routes in
Routes.php:
$routes->get('/test(/(:any))?', 'Test::direct/$1', ['as' => 'test']);
$routes->get('/test_urlto(/(:any))?', 'Test::urlto/$1', ['as' => 'urlto']);
$routes->get('/test_routeto(/(:any))?', 'Test::routeto/$1', ['as' => 'routeto']);
- Create the
Testcontroller:
<?php
namespace App\Controllers;
class Test extends BaseController
{
public function direct(...$params): string
{
return view('test', ['params' => $params]);
}
public function urlto(...$params): string
{
return view('test_urlto', ['params' => $params]);
}
public function routeto(...$params): string
{
return view('test_routeto', ['params' => $params]);
}
}
- Create the respective views:
A) direct view
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Test</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Testing CI4 Routing with Parameters</h1>
<h2>Test using string directly</h2>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="/test">No parameter</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="/test/param1">1 parameter</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="/test/param1/param2">2 parameters</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="/test/param1/param2/param3">3 parameters</a>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Passed Parameters</h3>
<ul>
<?php foreach ($params as $param) : ?>
<li><?= $param ?></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</body>
</html>
B) view using url_to
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>Test</title>
</head>
<body>
<h1>Testing CI4 Routing with Parameters</h1>
<h2>Test using <code>url_to</code></h2>
<ul>
<li>
<a href="<?= url_to('urlto') ?>">No parameter</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?= url_to('urlto', 'param1') ?>">1 parameter</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?= url_to('urlto', 'param1', 'param2') ?>">2 parameters</a>
</li>
<li>
<a href="<?= url_to('urlto', 'param1', 'param2', 'param3') ?>">3 parameters</a>
</li>
</ul>
<h3>Passed Parameters</h3>
<ul>
<?php foreach ($params as $param) : ?>
<li><?= $param ?></li>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</body>
</html>
- Access those views at: /test and /test_urlto
Expected Output
No InvalidArgumentException, Missing argument for "(/(:any)" in route "test_urlto(/(:any))?" while using both url_to and route_to .
Anything else?
-
One can try it with
public bool $multipleSegmentsOneParam = true;orpublic bool $multipleSegmentsOneParam = false;inRouting.php. The error is the same in both situations (just the parameters are treated differently, as expected). -
One can also use a regex like
'(/(.+))?'instead of(/(:any))?. The error remains.
Using the (:any) placeholder in the route does not mean that the parameter value is optional. You must always put a value.
You can use: url_to('urlto', ''), although in general I don't think it will behave as you expect - the route will not be found.
In any case, this is not a bug.
I've been trying to use regex in routes for a long time. It failed. Try to create several routes to get rid of the "?".
$routes->get('/test/(:any)', 'Test::direct/$1', ['as' => 'test_ext']);
$routes->get('/test', 'Test::direct/$1', ['as' => 'test']);
To work, you need to specify a string for :any and not an array
url_to('urlto', 'param1/param2/param3') not url_to('urlto', 'param1', 'param2', 'param3')
Using the
(:any)placeholder in the route does not mean that the parameter value is optional. You must always put a value.You can use:
url_to('urlto', ''), although in general I don't think it will behave as you expect - the route will not be found.In any case, this is not a bug.
I couldn't disagree more... Because I'm using regular expressions (note the ? char) with (:any). And it also fails for '(/(.+))?' as mentioned in this carefully written bug report.
And, by running the examples, one can see that routing mechanism is working flawlessly with or without arguments. Problem arises when using url_to. For me this is, at least, a framework inconsistency or missing feature (if not a bug). 😥
I've been trying to use regex in routes for a long time. It failed. Try to create several routes to get rid of the "?".
$routes->get('/test/(:any)', 'Test::direct/$1', ['as' => 'test_ext']); $routes->get('/test', 'Test::direct/$1', ['as' => 'test']);To work, you need to specify a string for :any and not an array
url_to('urlto', 'param1/param2/param3')noturl_to('urlto', 'param1', 'param2', 'param3')
Yeah! Unfortunately every time this subject comes up it is treated as a feature, read the docs etc....
So I kindly suggest to remove the partial regex support from routes (a great loss since routing works fine with regex, only additional framework related functions like url_to or route_to do not support it).
We could also explicitly says in the docs not to use the special '?' char in routes because of missing support.
As I carefully showed in this bug report examples, regex with '?' works with or without arguments. Problem is framework support from related helper functions.
Well i have tested out your wanting functionality i manage to make it work with the following:
your routes are wrong in the first place and how you use the url_to() is wrong also.
Try it like this in routes file
$routes->get('/test/(:any)', 'Test::direct/$1', ['as' => 'test_ext']);
$routes->get('/test', 'Test::direct', ['as' => 'test']);
And this for the controller
use CodeIgniter\Controller;
class Test extends Controller
{
public function direct(...$params): string
{
echo url_to('test_ext', ...$params);
echo '<br />';
echo url_to('test');
echo '<br />';
print_r($params);die();
}
}
