URL Handling in upMVC - Complete Explanation

Question: Is intended_url a fully qualified URL or just a route?

Answer: It's a full path from domain root (not fully qualified with domain, but includes BASE_URL subdirectory).

The Data Flow

1. Configuration (Config.php)

public const DOMAIN_NAME = 'http://localhost';
public const SITE_PATH = '/upMVC';

// Combined:
define('BASE_URL', 'http://localhost/upMVC');

2. Browser Request

User visits: http://localhost/upMVC/moda

3. PHP Receives (Start.php)

$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] = '/upMVC/moda'  // ? Full path from domain root
//                         ^^^^^^ SITE_PATH included!
//                               ^^^^^ Route

Important: $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] contains: - ? SITE_PATH (/upMVC) - ? Route (/moda) - ? Query params if any (?id=123) - ? Domain name (http://localhost)

4. Route Extraction (Config.php)

// getReqRoute() strips SITE_PATH to get clean route
$reqRoute = '/moda'  // Clean route for matching
$reqURI = '/upMVC/moda'  // Full URI preserved

5. Middleware Receives (AuthMiddleware.php)

$request = [
    'route' => '/moda',              // Clean route for matching
    'uri' => '/upMVC/moda',          // Full URI from REQUEST_URI
    'method' => 'GET'
];

6. Session Storage (AuthMiddleware.php)

// What's stored:
$_SESSION['intended_url'] = $request['uri'];  // '/upMVC/moda'

// NOT just the route:
// $_SESSION['intended_url'] = $request['route'];  // '/moda' ? WRONG

7. Redirect After Login (Auth Controller.php)

$intendedUrl = $_SESSION['intended_url'];  // '/upMVC/moda'

// Redirect directly:
header("Location: " . $intendedUrl);  // "Location: /upMVC/moda"

8. Browser Interprets

Location: /upMVC/moda

Browser converts to:
http://localhost/upMVC/moda
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^  ^^^^^^^^^^^
Current domain + Header value

Why This Works

HTTP Location Header Rules:

1. Absolute URL: `Location: http://localhost/upMVC/moda` ? Works
2. Absolute Path: `Location: /upMVC/moda` ? Works (browser adds domain)
3. Relative Path: `Location: moda` ? Problematic (relative to current path)

We use Absolute Path (option 2):

// Stored in session:
$_SESSION['intended_url'] = '/upMVC/moda';  // Absolute path from domain root

// Redirect:
header("Location: /upMVC/moda");  // Browser interprets as http://localhost/upMVC/moda

Common Mistakes to Avoid

? WRONG: Store only the route

// Bad:
$_SESSION['intended_url'] = $request['route'];  // '/moda'

// Redirect:
header("Location: /moda");  // Goes to http://localhost/moda (404!)
//                  ^^^^^ Missing /upMVC!

? WRONG: Double-prepend BASE_URL

// Bad:
$_SESSION['intended_url'] = '/upMVC/moda';  // Already has /upMVC
header("Location: " . BASE_URL . $intendedUrl);  
// Results in: Location: http://localhost/upMVC/upMVC/moda ?

? CORRECT: Use REQUEST_URI as-is

// Good:
$_SESSION['intended_url'] = $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'];  // '/upMVC/moda'
header("Location: " . $intendedUrl);  // Location: /upMVC/moda ?

Visual Flow Chart

User Action: Visit http://localhost/upMVC/moda (not logged in)
     ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? PHP: $_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] = '/upMVC/moda'              ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
     ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? Start.php: $this->reqURI = '/upMVC/moda'                  ?
?            $this->reqRoute = '/moda' (cleaned)             ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
     ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? Router.php: $request['uri'] = '/upMVC/moda'               ?
?             $request['route'] = '/moda'                    ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
     ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? AuthMiddleware: $_SESSION['intended_url'] = '/upMVC/moda' ?
?                 Redirect to /auth                          ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
     ?
User logs in
     ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? Auth Controller: $url = $_SESSION['intended_url']         ?
?                  header("Location: /upMVC/moda")           ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
     ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
? Browser: Redirects to http://localhost/upMVC/moda         ?
??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

Different Deployment Scenarios

Scenario 1: Subfolder Installation (Current)

SITE_PATH = '/upMVC'
User visits: http://localhost/upMVC/moda
REQUEST_URI = '/upMVC/moda' ?
Redirect to: '/upMVC/moda' ?

Scenario 2: Root Installation

SITE_PATH = ''
User visits: http://example.com/moda
REQUEST_URI = '/moda' ?
Redirect to: '/moda' ?

Scenario 3: Multiple Subfolders

SITE_PATH = '/projects/upMVC'
User visits: http://localhost/projects/upMVC/moda
REQUEST_URI = '/projects/upMVC/moda' ?
Redirect to: '/projects/upMVC/moda' ?

Key Takeaway

$_SERVER['REQUEST_URI'] is the perfect value to store because: 1. ? Contains full path from domain root 2. ? Includes SITE_PATH automatically 3. ? Works with any deployment configuration 4. ? Can be used directly in Location header 5. ? Preserves query parameters

Never store just the route ($request['route']) in intended_url because it's missing the SITE_PATH prefix needed for correct redirection.

Testing

To verify, add debug output:

// In AuthMiddleware:
error_log("Storing: " . $request['uri']);

// In Auth Controller:
error_log("Redirecting to: " . $_SESSION['intended_url']);

Check your debug log:

[timestamp] DEBUG AuthMiddleware - Storing intended_url: /upMVC/moda
[timestamp] DEBUG Auth Controller - intended_url in session: /upMVC/moda
[timestamp] DEBUG Auth Controller - Redirecting to intended: /upMVC/moda

All values should include the /upMVC prefix! ?