Cakephp URL rewrite and friendly url - cakephp

Question

I'm trying to rewrite cakephp default url that currently is:
http://localhost/cakephpproject/property/view/1
into this URL
http://localhost/cakephpproject/country/state/locality/id
So first i have to remove property/view from URL.
So far what i have done is this:
in routes.php file i have:
Router::connect(
'/:language/property/:country/:state_province/:locality/:id',
array(
'admin'=> false,
'user'=> false,
'language'=>null,
'controller' => 'properties',
'action' => 'view'
),
array(
'pass' => array('country', 'state_province', 'locality', 'id'),
'persist'=>array('language'),
'language' => '[a-z]{2}',
'id'=>'[0-9]+',
)
);
Router::connect(
'/property/:country/:state_province/:locality/:id',
array(
'admin'=> false,
'user'=> false,
'controller' => 'properties',
'action' => 'view'
),
array(
'pass' => array('country' , 'state_province' , 'locality' , 'id'),
'id' => '[0-9]+'
)
);
PS: I have it twice because i have a miltilingual site.
The link is this:
<?php
echo $this->Html->link(
__('View more'),
array(
'admin' => false,
'user' => false,
'controller' => 'properties',
'action' => 'view',
'country' => Inflector::slug($country,'-'),
'state_province' => Inflector::slug($state_province,'-'),
'locality'=> Inflector::slug($locality,'-'),
'id' => $id
),
array(
'escape' => false
)
);
?>
And this link generate this URL which is not the URL that i want:
http://localhost/biriola/properties/view/country:United-Kingdom/state_province:unknown/locality:London/id:18
The URL that should be generated is this:
http://localhost/biriola/United-Kingdom/unknown/London/18
I modified a bit the generated link to:
<?php
echo $this->Html->link(
__('View more'),
array(
'admin' => false,
'user' => false,
'controller' => 'properties',
'action' => 'view',
Inflector::slug($country,'-'),
Inflector::slug($state_province,'-'),
Inflector::slug($locality,'-'),
$id
),
array(
'escape' => false
)
);
?>
And this generate the following URL:
http://localhost/biriola/properties/view/United-Kingdom/unknown/London/18
which is somehow the URL that i want but i have to remove the properties/view/ from URL, so i don't know how to do this.
My exact CakePHP verision is: 2.5.6
This is the full routes.php file:
<?php
/**
* Routes configuration
*
* In this file, you set up routes to your controllers and their actions.
* Routes are very important mechanism that allows you to freely connect
* different URLs to chosen controllers and their actions (functions).
*
* CakePHP(tm) : Rapid Development Framework (http://cakephp.org)
* Copyright (c) Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
*
* Licensed under The MIT License
* For full copyright and license information, please see the LICENSE.txt
* Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice.
*
* #copyright Copyright (c) Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
* #link http://cakephp.org CakePHP(tm) Project
* #package app.Config
* #since CakePHP(tm) v 0.2.9
* #license http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php MIT License
*/
/**
* Here, we are connecting '/' (base path) to controller called 'Pages',
* its action called 'display', and we pass a param to select the view file
* to use (in this case, /app/View/Pages/home.ctp)...
*/
$languageCodes = array('language' => 'en|it|de|es|fr|ru|zh|pt');
Router::connect('/:language', array('controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'index'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/', array('controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'index'));
Router::connect('/:language/login', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'login'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/login', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'login'));
Router::connect('/:language/logout', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'logout'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/logout', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'logout'));
Router::connect('/:language/register', array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'add'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/register', array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'add'));
Router::connect('/:language/faq', array('controller' => 'faqs', 'action' => 'index'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/faq', array('controller' => 'faqs', 'action' => 'index'));
Router::connect('/:language/faq/question', array('controller' => 'faqs', 'action' => 'add'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/faq/question', array('controller' => 'faqs', 'action' => 'add'));
Router::connect('/googlelogin', array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'googlelogin'));
Router::connect('/google_login', array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'google_login'));
Router::connect('/fb_login', array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'fb_login'));
Router::connect('/fblogin', array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'fblogin'));
/* paypal rout connect */
Router::connect('/:language/paymentOk', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'paymentOk'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/paymentOk', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'paymentOk'));
Router::connect('/:language/paymentEditOk', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'paymentEditOk'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/paymentEditOk', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'paymentEditOk'));
Router::connect('/:language/paymentCancel', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'paymentCancel'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/paymentCancel', array('admin'=>false, 'user'=>false, 'controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'paymentCancel'));
/*** Admin Routing URL-s */
Router::connect('/:language/admin', array('language'=>null,'admin' => true, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'dashboard'),array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/admin', array('admin' => true, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'dashboard'));
Router::connect('/:language/admin/:controller', array('language'=>null,'admin' => true, 'controller' => 'pages','action' => 'index', 'prefix' => 'admin'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/admin/:controller',array('admin' => true,'controller' => 'pages', 'action' => 'index', 'prefix' => 'admin'));
Router::connect('/:language/admin/:controller/:action/*', array('language'=>null,'admin' => true, 'controller' => 'pages','action' => null, 'prefix' => 'admin'),array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/admin/:controller/:action/*',array('admin' => true, 'controller' => 'pages','action' => null, 'prefix' => 'admin'));
/*** User Routing URL-s */
Router::connect('/:language/user', array('language'=>null,'user' => true, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'dashboard', 'prefix' => 'user'),array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/user', array('user' => true, 'controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'dashboard','prefix' => 'user'));
Router::connect('/:language/user/:controller', array('language'=>null,'user' => true, 'controller' => 'pages','action' => 'index', 'prefix' => 'user'),array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/user/:controller', array('user' => true, 'controller' => 'pages','action' => 'index', 'prefix' => 'user'));
Router::connect('/:language/user/:controller/:action/*', array('language'=>null,'user' => true, 'controller' => 'pages','action' => null, 'prefix' => 'user'),array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/user/:controller/:action/*', array('user' => true, 'controller' => 'pages','action' => null, 'prefix' => 'user'));
/* sitemap */
Router::connect('/:language/sitemap.xml', array('language'=>null,'controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'sitemap','admin'=>false, 'user'=>false), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/sitemap.xml', array('controller' => 'properties', 'action' => 'sitemap','admin'=>false, 'user'=>false));
/*** Languages */
Router::connect('/:language/:controller',array('language'=>null,'controller' => 'pages','action' => 'index'),array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/:controller',array('controller' => 'pages','action' => 'index'));
Router::connect('/:language/:controller/:action/*', array('language'=>null,'controller' => 'pages','action' => null), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/:controller/:action/*', array('controller' => 'pages','action' => null));
/* property view url rewriting */
Router::connect(
'/:language/:country/:state_province/:locality/:id',
array(
'admin'=> false,
'user'=> false,
'language'=>null,
'controller' => 'properties',
'action' => 'view'
),
array(
'pass' => array('country', 'state_province', 'locality', 'id'),
'persist'=>array('language'),
'language' => '[a-z]{2}',
'id'=>'[0-9]+',
)
);
Router::connect(
'/:country/:state_province/:locality/:id',
array(
'admin'=> false,
'user'=> false,
'controller' => 'properties',
'action' => 'view'
),
array(
'pass' => array('country' , 'state_province' , 'locality' , 'id'),
'id' => '[0-9]+'
)
);
/**
* ...and connect the rest of 'Pages' controller's URLs.
*/
Router::connect('/:language/pages/*', array('language'=>null,'controller' => 'pages', 'action' => 'display'), array('language' => '[a-z]{2}','persist'=>array('language')));
Router::connect('/pages/*', array('controller' => 'pages', 'action' => 'display'));
/**
* Load all plugin routes. See the CakePlugin documentation on
* how to customize the loading of plugin routes.
*/
CakePlugin::routes();
/**
* Load the CakePHP default routes. Only remove this if you do not want to use
* the built-in default routes.
*/
require CAKE . 'Config' . DS . 'routes.php';
Thanks in Advance

Answer 1

Order matters
The
Router::connect('/:controller/:action/*', array('controller' => 'pages','action' => null));
route is a catch-all for all URLs in /abc/xyz/* format, and since order matters (top to bottom) when matching/reverse-routing, it steals your reverse routing attempts, and thus spits out such a URL with named (key:value) elements, as the catching route doesn't have any of these parameters defined.
So, move your new routes above that one, and then use the first link() call variant, that's the correct one.
Redundant default values, they are just confusing
Also note that routes like this doesn't make much sense, this will never result in a URL like /controller/action/xyz being routed to the Pages controller, unless the controller name in the URL is pages, and for reverse routing it will only match for the pages controller, resulting in URLs like /pages/action/xyz, making the use of the :controller placeholder redundant.
The default values are redundant and confusing.
I'd suggest that you carefully study the docs on routing, then check your routes and remove the redundant default values.
See http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/development/routing.html