.. index:: single: URL dispatch .. _urldispatch_chapter: URL Dispatch ============ The URL dispatch feature of :mod:`pyramid` allows you to either augment or replace :term:`traversal` as a :term:`context finding` mechanism, allowing URL pattern matching to have the "first crack" at resolving a given URL to :term:`context` and :term:`view name`. Although it is a "context-finding" mechanism, ironically, using URL dispatch exclusively allows you to avoid thinking about your application in terms of "contexts" and "view names" entirely. Many applications don't need :mod:`pyramid` features -- such as declarative security via an :term:`authorization policy` -- that benefit from having any visible separation between :term:`context finding` and :term:`view lookup`. To this end, URL dispatch provides a handy syntax that allows you to effectively map URLs *directly* to :term:`view` code in such a way that you needn't think about your application in terms of "context finding" at all. This makes developing a :mod:`pyramid` application seem more like developing an application in a system that is "context-free", such as :term:`Pylons` or :term:`Django`. Whether or not you care about "context", it often makes a lot of sense to use :term:`URL dispatch` instead of :term:`traversal` in an application that has no natural data hierarchy. For instance, if all the data in your application lives in a relational database, and that relational database has no self-referencing tables that form a natural hierarchy, URL dispatch is easier to use than traversal, and is often a more natural fit for creating an application that manipulates "flat" data. The presence of calls to the :meth:`pyramid.configuration.Configurator.add_route` method in imperative configuration within your application is a sign that you're using :term:`URL dispatch`. .. note:: Route configuration may also be added to the system via :term:`ZCML` (see :ref:`zcml_route_configuration`). High-Level Operational Overview ------------------------------- If route configuration is present in an application, the :mod:`pyramid` :term:`Router` checks every incoming request against an ordered set of URL matching patterns present in a *route map*. If any route pattern matches the information in the :term:`request` provided to :mod:`pyramid`, a route-specific :term:`context` and :term:`view name` will be generated. In this circumstance, :mod:`pyramid` will shortcut :term:`traversal`, and will invoke :term:`view lookup` using the context and view name generated by URL dispatch. If the matched route names a :term:`view callable` in its configuration, that view callable will be invoked when view lookup is performed. However, if no route pattern matches the information in the :term:`request` provided to :mod:`pyramid`, it will fail over to using :term:`traversal` to perform context finding and view lookup. Route Configuration ------------------- :term:`Route configuration` is the act of adding a new :term:`route` to an application. A route has a *pattern*, representing a pattern meant to match against the ``PATH_INFO`` portion of a URL, and a *name*, which is used by developers within a :mod:`pyramid` application to uniquely identify a particular route when generating a URL. It also optionally has a ``factory``, a set of :term:`route predicate` parameters, and a set of :term:`view` parameters. .. index:: single: add_route Configuring a Route via The ``add_route`` Configurator Method ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The :meth:`pyramid.configuration.Configurator.add_route` method adds a single :term:`route configuration` to the :term:`application registry`. Here's an example: .. ignore-next-block .. code-block:: python # "config" below is presumed to be an instance of the # pyramid.configuration.Configurator class; "myview" is assumed # to be a "view callable" function from views import myview config.add_route('myroute', '/prefix/:one/:two', view=myview) .. index:: single: route configuration; view callable Route Configuration That Names a View Callable ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When a route configuration declaration names a ``view`` attribute, the value of the attribute will reference a :term:`view callable`. A view callable, as described in :ref:`views_chapter`, is developer-supplied code that "does stuff" as the result of a request. For more information about how to create view callables, see :ref:`views_chapter`. Here's an example route configuration that references a view callable: .. code-block:: python :linenos: # "config" below is presumed to be an instance of the # pyramid.configuration.Configurator class; "myview" is assumed # to be a "view callable" function from myproject.views import myview config.add_route('myroute', '/prefix/:one/:two', view=myview) You can also pass a :term:`dotted Python name` as the ``view`` argument rather than an actual callable: .. code-block:: python :linenos: # "config" below is presumed to be an instance of the # pyramid.configuration.Configurator class; "myview" is assumed # to be a "view callable" function from myproject.views import myview config.add_route('myroute', '/prefix/:one/:two', view='myproject.views.myview') When a route configuration names a ``view`` attribute, the :term:`view callable` named as that ``view`` attribute will always be found and invoked when the associated route pattern matches during a request. The purpose of making it possible to specify a view callable within a route configuration is to prevent developers from needing to deeply understand the details of :term:`context finding` and :term:`view lookup`. When a route names a view callable, and a request enters the system which matches the pattern of the route, the result is simple: the view callable associated with the route is invoked with the request that caused the invocation. For most usage, you needn't understand more than this; how it works is an implementation detail. In the interest of completeness, however, we'll explain how it *does* work in the following section. You can skip it if you're uninterested. Route View Callable Registration and Lookup Details !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When a ``view`` attribute is attached to a route configuration, :mod:`pyramid` ensures that a :term:`view configuration` is registered that will always be found when the route pattern is matched during a request. To do so: - A special route-specific :term:`interface` is created at startup time for each route configuration declaration. - When a route configuration declaration mentions a ``view`` attribute, a :term:`view configuration` is registered at startup time. This view configuration uses the route-specific interface as a :term:`request` type. - At runtime, when a request causes any route to match, the :term:`request` object is decorated with the route-specific interface. - The fact that the request is decorated with a route-specific interface causes the view lookup machinery to always use the view callable registered using that interface by the route configuration to service requests that match the route pattern. In this way, we supply a shortcut to the developer. Under the hood, :mod:`pyramid` still consumes the :term:`context finding` and :term:`view lookup` subsystems provided by :mod:`pyramid`, but in a way which does not require that a developer understand either of them if he doesn't want or need to. It also means that we can allow a developer to combine :term:`URL dispatch` and :term:`traversal` in various exceptional cases as documented in :ref:`hybrid_chapter`. .. index:: single: route path pattern syntax .. _route_pattern_syntax: Route Pattern Syntax ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The syntax of the pattern matching language used by :mod:`pyramid` URL dispatch in the *pattern* argument is straightforward; it is close to that of the :term:`Routes` system used by :term:`Pylons`. The *pattern* used in route configuration may start with a slash character. If the pattern does not start with a slash character, an implicit slash will be prepended to it at matching time. For example, the following patterns are equivalent: .. code-block:: text :foo/bar/baz and: .. code-block:: text /:foo/bar/baz A patttern segment (an individual item between ``/`` characters in the pattern) may either be a literal string (e.g. ``foo``) *or* it may be a segment replacement marker (e.g. ``:foo``) or a certain combination of both. A segment replacement marker is in the format ``:name``, where this means "accept any characters up to the next nonalphaunumeric character and use this as the ``name`` matchdict value." For example, the following pattern defines one literal segment ("foo") and two dynamic segments ("baz", and "bar"): .. code-block:: text foo/:baz/:bar The above pattern will match these URLs, generating the following matchdicts: .. code-block:: text foo/1/2 -> {'baz':u'1', 'bar':u'2'} foo/abc/def -> {'baz':u'abc', 'bar':u'def'} It will not match the following patterns however: .. code-block:: text foo/1/2/ -> No match (trailing slash) bar/abc/def -> First segment literal mismatch The match for a segment replacement marker in a segment will be done only up to the first non-alphanumeric character in the segment in the pattern. So, for instance, if this route pattern was used: .. code-block:: text foo/:name.html The literal path ``/foo/biz.html`` will match the above route pattern, and the match result will be ``{'name':u'biz'}``. However, the literal path ``/foo/biz`` will not match, because it does not contain a literal ``.html`` at the end of the segment represented by ``:name.html`` (it only contains ``biz``, not ``biz.html``). This does not mean, however, that you can use two segment replacement markers in the same segment. For instance, ``/:foo:bar`` is a nonsensical route pattern. It will never match anything. Segments must contain at least one character in order to match a segment replacement marker. For example, for the URL ``/abc/``: - ``/abc/:foo`` will not match. - ``/:foo/`` will match. .. warning:: The must-be-one-character-to-match-segment-marker rule is new in version 1.3. It is untrue for older releases, but this was due to a bug. Note that values representing path segments matched with a ``:segment`` match will be url-unquoted and decoded from UTF-8 into Unicode within the matchdict. So for instance, the following pattern: .. code-block:: text foo/:bar When matching the following URL: .. code-block:: text foo/La%20Pe%C3%B1a The matchdict will look like so (the value is URL-decoded / UTF-8 decoded): .. code-block:: text {'bar':u'La Pe\xf1a'} If the pattern has a ``*`` in it, the name which follows it is considered a "remainder match". A remainder match *must* come at the end of the pattern. Unlike segment replacement markers, it does not need to be preceded by a slash. For example: .. code-block:: text foo/:baz/:bar*fizzle The above pattern will match these URLs, generating the following matchdicts: .. code-block:: text foo/1/2/ -> {'baz':'1', 'bar':'2', 'fizzle':()} foo/abc/def/a/b/c -> {'baz':'abc', 'bar':'def', 'fizzle':('a', 'b', 'c')} Note that when a ``*stararg`` remainder match is matched, the value put into the matchdict is turned into a tuple of path segments representing the remainder of the path. These path segments are url-unquoted and decoded from UTF-8 into Unicode. For example, for the following pattern: .. code-block:: text foo/*fizzle When matching the following path: .. code-block:: text /foo/La%20Pe%C3%B1a/a/b/c Will generate the following matchdict: .. code-block:: text {'fizzle':(u'La Pe\xf1a', u'a', u'b', u'c')} .. index:: single: route ordering Route Declaration Ordering ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Because route configuration declarations are evaluated in a specific order when a request enters the system, route configuration declaration ordering is very important. The order that routes declarations are evaluated is the order in which they are added to the application at startup time. This is unlike :term:`traversal`, which depends on emergent behavior which happens as a result of traversing a graph. For routes added via the :mod:`pyramid.configuration.Configurator.add_route` method, the order that routes are evaluated is the order in which they are added to the configuration imperatively. For example, route configuration statements with the following patterns might be added in the following order: .. code-block:: text members/:def members/abc In such a configuration, the ``members/abc`` pattern would *never* be matched; this is because the match ordering will always match ``members/:def`` first; the route configuration with ``members/abc`` will never be evaluated. .. index:: single: route factory .. _route_factories: Route Factories ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ A "route" configuration declaration can mention a "factory". When that route matches a request, and a factory is attached to a route, the :term:`root factory` passed at startup time to the :term:`Configurator` is ignored; instead the factory associated with the route is used to generate a :term:`root` object. This object will usually be used as the :term:`context` of the view callable ultimately found via :term:`view lookup`. .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('abc', '/abc', view='myproject.views.theview', factory='myproject.models.root_factory') The factory can either be a Python object or a :term:`dotted Python name` (a string) which points to such a Python oject, as it is above. In this way, each route can use a different factory, making it possible to supply a different :term:`context` object to the view related to each particular route. Supplying a different context for each route is useful when you're trying to use a :mod:`pyramid` :term:`authorization policy` to provide declarative "context-sensitive" security checks; each context can maintain a separate :term:`ACL`, as in :ref:`using_security_with_urldispatch`. It is also useful when you wish to combine URL dispatch with :term:`traversal` as documented within :ref:`hybrid_chapter`. Route Configuration Arguments ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Route configuration ``add_route`` statements may specify a large number of arguments. Many of these arguments are :term:`route predicate` arguments. A route predicate argument specifies that some aspect of the request must be true for the associated route to be considered a match during the route matching process. Other arguments are view configuration related arguments. These only have an effect when the route configuration names a ``view``. Other arguments are ``name`` and ``factory``. These arguments represent neither predicates nor view configuration information. **Non-Predicate Arguments** ``name`` The name of the route, e.g. ``myroute``. This attribute is required. It must be unique among all defined routes in a given application. ``factory`` A Python object (often a function or a class) or a :term:`dotted Python name` to such an object that will generate a :mod:`pyramid` :term:`context` object when this route matches. For example, ``mypackage.models.MyFactoryClass``. If this argument is not specified, the traversal root factory will be used. ``traverse`` If you would like to cause the :term:`context` to be something other than the :term:`root` object when this route matches, you can spell a traversal pattern as the ``traverse`` argument. This traversal pattern will be used as the traversal path: traversal will begin at the root object implied by this route (either the global root, or the object returned by the ``factory`` associated with this route). The syntax of the ``traverse`` argument is the same as it is for ``pattern``. For example, if the ``pattern`` provided is ``articles/:article/edit``, and the ``traverse`` argument provided is ``/:article``, when a request comes in that causes the route to match in such a way that the ``article`` match value is '1' (when the request URI is ``/articles/1/edit``), the traversal path will be generated as ``/1``. This means that the root object's ``__getitem__`` will be called with the name ``1`` during the traversal phase. If the ``1`` object exists, it will become the :term:`context` of the request. :ref:`traversal_chapter` has more information about traversal. If the traversal path contains segment marker names which are not present in the ``pattern`` argument, a runtime error will occur. The ``traverse`` pattern should not contain segment markers that do not exist in the ``pattern``. A similar combining of routing and traversal is available when a route is matched which contains a ``*traverse`` remainder marker in its pattern (see :ref:`using_traverse_in_a_route_pattern`). The ``traverse`` argument allows you to associate route patterns with an arbitrary traversal path without using a a ``*traverse`` remainder marker; instead you can use other match information. Note that the ``traverse`` argument is ignored when attached to a route that has a ``*traverse`` remainder marker in its pattern. **Predicate Arguments** ``pattern`` The path of the route e.g. ``ideas/:idea``. This argument is required. See :ref:`route_path_pattern_syntax` for information about the syntax of route paths. If the path doesn't match the current URL, route matching continues. .. note:: In earlier releases of this framework, this argument existed as ``path``. ``path`` continues to work as an alias for ``pattern``. ``xhr`` This value should be either ``True`` or ``False``. If this value is specified and is ``True``, the :term:`request` must possess an ``HTTP_X_REQUESTED_WITH`` (aka ``X-Requested-With``) header for this route to match. This is useful for detecting AJAX requests issued from jQuery, Prototype and other Javascript libraries. If this predicate returns ``False``, route matching continues. ``request_method`` A string representing an HTTP method name, e.g. ``GET``, ``POST``, ``HEAD``, ``DELETE``, ``PUT``. If this argument is not specified, this route will match if the request has *any* request method. If this predicate returns ``False``, route matching continues. ``path_info`` This value represents a regular expression pattern that will be tested against the ``PATH_INFO`` WSGI environment variable. If the regex matches, this predicate will return ``True``. If this predicate returns ``False``, route matching continues. ``request_param`` This value can be any string. A view declaration with this argument ensures that the associated route will only match when the request has a key in the ``request.params`` dictionary (an HTTP ``GET`` or ``POST`` variable) that has a name which matches the supplied value. If the value supplied as the argument has a ``=`` sign in it, e.g. ``request_params="foo=123"``, then the key (``foo``) must both exist in the ``request.params`` dictionary, and the value must match the right hand side of the expression (``123``) for the route to "match" the current request. If this predicate returns ``False``, route matching continues. ``header`` This argument represents an HTTP header name or a header name/value pair. If the argument contains a ``:`` (colon), it will be considered a name/value pair (e.g. ``User-Agent:Mozilla/.*`` or ``Host:localhost``). If the value contains a colon, the value portion should be a regular expression. If the value does not contain a colon, the entire value will be considered to be the header name (e.g. ``If-Modified-Since``). If the value evaluates to a header name only without a value, the header specified by the name must be present in the request for this predicate to be true. If the value evaluates to a header name/value pair, the header specified by the name must be present in the request *and* the regular expression specified as the value must match the header value. Whether or not the value represents a header name or a header name/value pair, the case of the header name is not significant. If this predicate returns ``False``, route matching continues. ``accept`` This value represents a match query for one or more mimetypes in the ``Accept`` HTTP request header. If this value is specified, it must be in one of the following forms: a mimetype match token in the form ``text/plain``, a wildcard mimetype match token in the form ``text/*`` or a match-all wildcard mimetype match token in the form ``*/*``. If any of the forms matches the ``Accept`` header of the request, this predicate will be true. If this predicate returns ``False``, route matching continues. ``custom_predicates`` This value should be a sequence of references to custom predicate callables. Use custom predicates when no set of predefined predicates does what you need. Custom predicates can be combined with predefined predicates as necessary. Each custom predicate callable should accept two arguments: ``context`` and ``request`` and should return either ``True`` or ``False`` after doing arbitrary evaluation of the context and/or the request. If all callables return ``True``, the associated route will be considered viable for a given request. If any custom predicate returns ``False``, route matching continues. Note that the value ``context`` will always be ``None`` when passed to a custom route predicate. **View-Related Arguments** ``view`` A Python object or a :term:`dotted Python name` to such an object that will be used as a view callable when this route matches. e.g. ``mypackage.views.my_view``. ``view_context`` A class or an :term:`interface` (or a :term:`dotted Python name` to such an object) that the :term:`context` of the view should match for the view named by the route to be used. This argument is only useful if the ``view`` attribute is used. If this attribute is not specified, the default (``None``) will be used. If the ``view`` argument is not provided, this argument has no effect. This attribute can also be spelled as ``for_`` or ``view_for``. ``view_permission`` The permission name required to invoke the view associated with this route. e.g. ``edit``. (see :ref:`using_security_with_urldispatch` for more information about permissions). If the ``view`` attribute is not provided, this argument has no effect. This argument can also be spelled as ``permission``. ``view_renderer`` This is either a single string term (e.g. ``json``) or a string implying a path or :term:`resource specification` (e.g. ``templates/views.pt``). If the renderer value is a single term (does not contain a dot ``.``), the specified term will be used to look up a renderer implementation, and that renderer implementation will be used to construct a response from the view return value. If the renderer term contains a dot (``.``), the specified term will be treated as a path, and the filename extension of the last element in the path will be used to look up the renderer implementation, which will be passed the full path. The renderer implementation will be used to construct a response from the view return value. See :ref:`views_which_use_a_renderer` for more information. If the ``view`` argument is not provided, this argument has no effect. This argument can also be spelled as ``renderer``. ``view_attr`` The view machinery defaults to using the ``__call__`` method of the view callable (or the function itself, if the view callable is a function) to obtain a response dictionary. The ``attr`` value allows you to vary the method attribute used to obtain the response. For example, if your view was a class, and the class has a method named ``index`` and you wanted to use this method instead of the class' ``__call__`` method to return the response, you'd say ``attr="index"`` in the view configuration for the view. This is most useful when the view definition is a class. If the ``view`` argument is not provided, this argument has no effect. ``use_global_views`` When a request matches this route, and view lookup cannot find a view which has a 'route_name' predicate argument that matches the route, try to fall back to using a view that otherwise matches the context, request, and view name (but does not match the route name predicate). .. _custom_route_predicates: Custom Route Predicates ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Each of the predicate callables fed to the ``custom_predicates`` argument of :meth:`pyramid.configuration.Configurator.add_route` must be a callable accepting two arguments. The first argument passed to a custom predicate is a dictionary conventionally named ``info``. The second argument is the current :term:`request` object. The ``info`` dictionary has a number of contained values: ``match`` is a dictionary: it represents the arguments matched in the URL by the route. ``route`` is an object representing the route which was matched (see :class:`pyramid.interfaces.IRoute` for the API of such a route object). ``info['match']`` is useful when predicates need access to the route match. For example: .. code-block:: python :linenos: def any_of(segment_name, *allowed): def predicate(info, request): if info['match'][segment_name] in allowed: return True return predicate num_one_two_or_three = any_of('num', 'one', 'two', 'three') config.add_route('num', '/:num', custom_predicates=(num_one_two_or_three,)) The above ``any_of`` function generates a predicate which ensures that the match value named ``segment_name`` is in the set of allowable values represented by ``allowed``. We use this ``any_of`` function to generate a predicate function named ``num_one_two_or_three``, which ensures that the ``num`` segment is one of the values ``one``, ``two``, or ``three`` , and use the result as a custom predicate by feeding it inside a tuple to the ``custom_predicates`` argument to :meth:`pyramid.configuration.Configurator.add_route`. A custom route predicate may also *modify* the ``match`` dictionary. For instance, a predicate might do some type conversion of values: .. code-block:: python :linenos: def integers(*segment_names): def predicate(info, request): match = info['match'] for segment_name in segment_names: try: match[segment_name] = int(match[segment_name]) except (TypeError, ValueError): pass return True return predicate ymd_to_int = integers('year', 'month', 'day') config.add_route('num', '/:year/:month/:day', custom_predicates=(ymd_to_int,)) Note that a conversion predicate is still a predicate so it must return ``True`` or ``False``; a predicate that does *only* conversion, such as the one we demonstrate above should unconditionally return ``True``. The ``match`` dictionary passed within ``info`` to each predicate attached to a route will be the same dictionary. Therefore, when registering a custom predicate which modifies the ``match`` dict, the code registering the predicate should usually arrange for the predicate to be the *last* custom predicate in the custom predicate list. Otherwise, custom predicates which fire subsequent to the predicate which performs the ``match`` modification will receive the *modified* match dictionary. .. warning:: It is a poor idea to rely on ordering of custom predicates to build some conversion pipeline, where one predicate depends on the side effect of another. For instance, it's a poor idea to register two custom predicates, one which handles conversion of a value to an int, the next which handles conversion of that integer to some custom object. Just do all that in a single custom predicate. The ``route`` object in the ``info`` dict is an object that has two useful attributes: ``name`` and ``pattern``. The ``name`` attribute is the route name. The ``pattern`` attribute is the route pattern. An example of using the route in a set of route predicates: .. code-block:: python :linenos: def twenty_ten(info, request): if info['route'].name in ('ymd', 'ym', 'y'): return info['match']['year'] == '2010' config.add_route('y', '/:year', custom_predicates=(twenty_ten,)) config.add_route('ym', '/:year/:month', custom_predicates=(twenty_ten,)) config.add_route('ymd', '/:year/:month:/day', custom_predicates=(twenty_ten,)) The above predicate, when added to a number of route configurations ensures that the year match argument is '2010' if and only if the route name is 'ymd', 'ym', or 'y'. See also :class:`pyramid.interfaces.IRoute` for more API documentation about a route object. Route Matching -------------- The main purpose of route configuration is to match (or not match) the ``PATH_INFO`` present in the WSGI environment provided during a request against a URL path pattern. The way that :mod:`pyramid` does this is very simple. When a request enters the system, for each route configuration declaration present in the system, :mod:`pyramid` checks the ``PATH_INFO`` against the pattern declared. If any route matches, the route matching process stops. The :term:`request` is decorated with a special :term:`interface` which describes it as a "route request", the :term:`context` and :term:`view name` are generated, and the context, the view name, and the resulting request are handed off to :term:`view lookup`. This process is otherwise known as :term:`context finding`. During view lookup, if any ``view`` argument was provided within the matched route configuration, the :term:`view callable` it points to is called. When a route configuration is declared, it may contain :term:`route predicate` arguments. All route predicates associated with a route declaration must be ``True`` for the route configuration to be used for a given request. If any predicate in the set of :term:`route predicate` arguments provided to a route configuration returns ``False``, that route is skipped and route matching continues through the ordered set of routes. If no route matches after all route patterns are exhausted, :mod:`pyramid` falls back to :term:`traversal` to do :term:`context finding` and :term:`view lookup`. .. index:: single: matchdict The Matchdict ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the URL pattern associated with a particular route configuration is matched by a request, a dictionary named ``matchdict`` is added as an attribute of the :term:`request` object. Thus, ``request.matchdict`` will contain the values that match replacement patterns in the ``pattern`` element. The keys in a matchdict will be strings. The values will be Unicode objects. .. note:: If no route URL pattern matches, no ``matchdict`` is attached to the request. .. index:: single: matched_route The Matched Route ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ When the URL pattern associated with a particular route configuration is matched by a request, an object named ``matched_route`` is added as an attribute of the :term:`request` object. Thus, ``request.matched_route`` will be an object implementing the :class:`pyramid.interfaces.IRoute` interface which matched the request. The most useful attribute of the route object is ``name``, which is the name of the route that matched. Routing Examples ---------------- Let's check out some examples of how route configuration statements might be commonly declared, and what will happen if they are matched by the information present in a request. .. _urldispatch_example1: Example 1 ~~~~~~~~~ The simplest route declaration which configures a route match to *directly* result in a particular view callable being invoked: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('idea', 'site/:id', view='mypackage.views.site_view') When a route configuration with a ``view`` attribute is added to the system, and an incoming request matches the *pattern* of the route configuration, the :term:`view callable` named as the ``view`` attribute of the route configuration will be invoked. In the case of the above example, when the URL of a request matches ``/site/:id``, the view callable at the Python dotted path name ``mypackage.views.site_view`` will be called with the request. In other words, we've associated a view callable directly with a route pattern. When the ``/site/:id`` route pattern matches during a request, the ``site_view`` view callable is invoked with that request as its sole argument. When this route matches, a ``matchdict`` will be generated and attached to the request as ``request.matchdict``. If the specific URL matched is ``/site/1``, the ``matchdict`` will be a dictionary with a single key, ``id``; the value will be the string ``'1'``, ex.: ``{'id':'1'}``. The ``mypackage.views`` module referred to above might look like so: .. code-block:: python :linenos: from pyramid.response import Response def site_view(request): return Response(request.matchdict['id']) The view has access to the matchdict directly via the request, and can access variables within it that match keys present as a result of the route pattern. See :ref:`views_chapter` for more information about views. Example 2 ~~~~~~~~~ Below is an example of a more complicated set of route statements you might add to your application: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('idea', 'ideas/:idea', view='mypackage.views.idea_view') config.add_route('user', 'users/:user', view='mypackage.views.user_view') config.add_route('tag', 'tags/:tags', view='mypackage.views.tag_view') The above configuration will allow :mod:`pyramid` to service URLs in these forms: .. code-block:: text /ideas/:idea /users/:user /tags/:tag - When a URL matches the pattern ``/ideas/:idea``, the view callable available at the dotted Python pathname ``mypackage.views.idea_view`` will be called. For the specific URL ``/ideas/1``, the ``matchdict`` generated and attached to the :term:`request` will consist of ``{'idea':'1'}``. - When a URL matches the pattern ``/users/:user``, the view callable available at the dotted Python pathname ``mypackage.views.user_view`` will be called. For the specific URL ``/users/1``, the ``matchdict`` generated and attached to the :term:`request` will consist of ``{'user':'1'}``. - When a URL matches the pattern ``/tags/:tag``, the view callable available at the dotted Python pathname ``mypackage.views.tag_view`` will be called. For the specific URL ``/tags/1``, the ``matchdict`` generated and attached to the :term:`request` will consist of ``{'tag':'1'}``. In this example we've again associated each of our routes with a :term:`view callable` directly. In all cases, the request, which will have a ``matchdict`` attribute detailing the information found in the URL by the process will be passed to the view callable. Example 3 ~~~~~~~~~ The context object passed in to a view found as the result of URL dispatch will, by default, be an instance of the object returned by the :term:`root factory` configured at startup time (the ``root_factory`` argument to the :term:`Configurator` used to configure the application). You can override this behavior by passing in a ``factory`` argument to the :meth:`pyramid.configuration.Configurator.add_route` method for a particular route. The ``factory`` should be a callable that accepts a :term:`request` and returns an instance of a class that will be the context used by the view. An example of using a route with a factory: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('idea', 'ideas/:idea', view='myproject.views.idea_view', factory='myproject.models.Idea') The above route will manufacture an ``Idea`` model as a :term:`context`, assuming that ``mypackage.models.Idea`` resolves to a class that accepts a request in its ``__init__``. For example: .. code-block:: python :linenos: class Idea(object): def __init__(self, request): pass In a more complicated application, this root factory might be a class representing a :term:`SQLAlchemy` model. Example 4 ~~~~~~~~~ It is possible to create a route declaration without a ``view`` attribute, but associate the route with a :term:`view callable` using a ``view`` declaration. .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('idea', 'site/:id') config.add_view(route_name='idea', view='mypackage.views.site_view') This set of configuration parameters creates a configuration completely equivalent to this example provided in :ref:`urldispatch_example1`: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('idea', 'site/:id', view='mypackage.views.site_view') In fact, the spelling which names a ``view`` attribute is just syntactic sugar for the more verbose spelling which contains separate view and route registrations. More uses for this style of associating views with routes are explored in :ref:`hybrid_chapter`. .. index:: single: matching the root URL single: root url (matching) Matching the Root URL --------------------- It's not entirely obvious how to use a route pattern to match the root URL ("/"). To do so, give the empty string as a pattern in a call to :meth:`pyramid.configuration.Configurator.add_route`: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('root', '', view='mypackage.views.root_view') Or provide the literal string ``/`` as the pattern: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('root', '/', view='mypackage.views.root_view') .. index:: single: generating route URLs single: route URLs Generating Route URLs --------------------- Use the :func:`pyramid.url.route_url` function to generate URLs based on route patterns. For example, if you've configured a route with the ``name`` "foo" and the ``pattern`` ":a/:b/:c", you might do this. .. ignore-next-block .. code-block:: python :linenos: from pyramid.url import route_url url = route_url('foo', request, a='1', b='2', c='3') This would return something like the string ``http://example.com/1/2/3`` (at least if the current protocol and hostname implied ``http:/example.com``). See the :func:`pyramid.url.route_url` API documentation for more information. .. index:: single: redirecting to slash-appended routes .. _redirecting_to_slash_appended_routes: Redirecting to Slash-Appended Routes ------------------------------------ For behavior like Django's ``APPEND_SLASH=True``, use the :func:`pyramid.view.append_slash_notfound_view` view as the :term:`Not Found view` in your application. When this view is the Not Found view (indicating that no view was found), and any routes have been defined in the configuration of your application, if the value of ``PATH_INFO`` does not already end in a slash, and if the value of ``PATH_INFO`` *plus* a slash matches any route's pattern, it does an HTTP redirect to the slash-appended ``PATH_INFO``. Let's use an example, because this behavior is a bit magical. If the ``append_slash_notfound_view`` is configured in your application and your route configuration looks like so: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_route('noslash', 'no_slash', view='myproject.views.no_slash') config.add_route('hasslash', 'has_slash/', view='myproject.views.has_slash') If a request enters the application with the ``PATH_INFO`` value of ``/no_slash``, the first route will match. If a request enters the application with the ``PATH_INFO`` value of ``/no_slash/``, *no* route will match, and the slash-appending "not found" view will *not* find a matching route with an appended slash. However, if a request enters the application with the ``PATH_INFO`` value of ``/has_slash/``, the second route will match. If a request enters the application with the ``PATH_INFO`` value of ``/has_slash``, a route *will* be found by the slash appending notfound view. An HTTP redirect to ``/has_slash/`` will be returned to the user's browser. Note that this will *lose* ``POST`` data information (turning it into a GET), so you shouldn't rely on this to redirect POST requests. To configure the slash-appending not found view in your application, change the application's startup configuration, adding the following stanza: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_view(context='pyramid.exceptions.NotFound', view='pyramid.view.append_slash_notfound_view') See :ref:`view_module` and :ref:`changing_the_notfound_view` for more information about the slash-appending not found view and for a more general description of how to configure a not found view. Custom Not Found View With Slash Appended Routes ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ There can only be one :term:`Not Found view` in any :mod:`pyramid` application. Even if you use :func:`pyramid.view.append_slash_notfound_view` as the Not Found view, :mod:`pyramid` still must generate a ``404 Not Found`` response when it cannot redirect to a slash-appended URL; this not found response will be visible to site users. If you don't care what this 404 response looks like, and only you need redirections to slash-appended route URLs, you may use the :func:`pyramid.view.append_slash_notfound_view` object as the Not Found view as described above. However, if you wish to use a *custom* notfound view callable when a URL cannot be redirected to a slash-appended URL, you may wish to use an instance of the :class:`pyramid.view.AppendSlashNotFoundViewFactory` class as the Not Found view, supplying a :term:`view callable` to be used as the custom notfound view as the first argument to its constructor. For instance: .. code-block:: python from pyramid.exceptions import NotFound from pyramid.view import AppendSlashNotFoundViewFactory def notfound_view(context, request): return HTTPNotFound('It aint there, stop trying!') custom_append_slash = AppendSlashNotFoundViewFactory(notfound_view) config.add_view(custom_append_slash, context=NotFound) The ``notfound_view`` supplied must adhere to the two-argument view callable calling convention of ``(context, request)`` (``context`` will be the exception object). .. _cleaning_up_after_a_request: Cleaning Up After a Request --------------------------- Sometimes it's required that some cleanup be performed at the end of a request when a database connection is involved. When :term:`traversal` is used, this cleanup is often done as a side effect of the traversal :term:`root factory`. Often the root factory will insert an object into the WSGI environment that performs some cleanup when its ``__del__`` method is called. When URL dispatch is used, however, no special root factory is required, so sometimes that option is not open to you. Instead of putting this cleanup logic in the root factory, however, you can cause a subscriber to be fired when a new request is detected; the subscriber can do this work. For example, let's say you have a ``mypackage`` :mod:`pyramid` application package that uses SQLAlchemy, and you'd like the current SQLAlchemy database session to be removed after each request. Put the following in the ``mypackage.run`` module: .. ignore-next-block .. code-block:: python :linenos: from mypackage.sql import DBSession class Cleanup: def __init__(self, cleaner): self.cleaner = cleaner def __del__(self): self.cleaner() def handle_teardown(event): environ = event.request.environ environ['mypackage.sqlcleaner'] = Cleanup(DBSession.remove) Then add an event subscriber in your startup configuration: .. code-block:: python :linenos: config.add_subscriber('mypackage.run.handle_teardown', 'pyramid.events.NewRequest') Registering a handle_teardown subscriber will cause the DBSession to be removed whenever the WSGI environment is destroyed (usually at the end of every request). .. note:: This is only an example. In particular, it is not necessary to cause ``DBSession.remove`` to be called as the result of an event listener in an application generated from any :mod:`pyramid` paster template, because these all use the ``repoze.tm2`` middleware. The cleanup done by ``DBSession.remove`` is unnecessary when ``repoze.tm2`` middleware is in the WSGI pipeline. .. index:: pair: URL dispatch; security .. _using_security_with_urldispatch: Using :mod:`pyramid` Security With URL Dispatch -------------------------------------------------- :mod:`pyramid` provides its own security framework which consults an :term:`authorization policy` before allowing any application code to be called. This framework operates in terms of an access control list, which is stored as an ``__acl__`` attribute of a context object. A common thing to want to do is to attach an ``__acl__`` to the context object dynamically for declarative security purposes. You can use the ``factory`` argument that points at a factory which attaches a custom ``__acl__`` to an object at its creation time. Such a ``factory`` might look like so: .. code-block:: python :linenos: class Article(object): def __init__(self, request): matchdict = request.matchdict article = matchdict.get('article', None) if article == '1': self.__acl__ = [ (Allow, 'editor', 'view') ] If the route ``archives/:article`` is matched, and the article number is ``1``, :mod:`pyramid` will generate an ``Article`` :term:`context` with an ACL on it that allows the ``editor`` principal the ``view`` permission. Obviously you can do more generic things than inspect the routes match dict to see if the ``article`` argument matches a particular string; our sample ``Article`` factory class is not very ambitious. .. note:: See :ref:`security_chapter` for more information about :mod:`pyramid` security and ACLs. References ---------- A tutorial showing how :term:`URL dispatch` can be used to create a :mod:`pyramid` application exists in :ref:`bfg_sql_wiki_tutorial`.