7. Advanced usage

This happens when a block is rendered:

  • A block is loaded based on the configuration passed to sonata_block_render,

  • If caching is configured, the cache is checked

  • If cache exists and has content, the content is returned

  • Each block model also has a block service, and its execute method is caled:

    • You can logic into block service’s execute method, like in a controller,

    • It renders a template,

    • It returns a Response object.

7.1. Cache

The SonataBlockBundle is integrated with the SonataCacheBundle, which provides several caching solutions. Have a look at the available adapters in the SonataCacheBundle to see all options.

7.2. Block Context Manager - context cache

When using Varnish, Ssi or Js cache, the settings passed here are lost:

{{ sonata_block_render({ 'type': 'sonata.block.service.rss' }, {
    'title': 'Sonata Project\'s Feeds',
    'url': 'https://sonata-project.org/blog/archive.rss'
}) }}

Taking Js as example, a URL is generated and added to some javascript. This javascript is injected into the page. When the page is loaded, the javascript calls the URL to retrieve the block content.

The default BlockContextManager automatically adds settings passed from the template to the extra_cache_keys with the key context. This allows cache adapters to rebuild a BlockContext if implemented.

Still in the Js example, the cache keys can be added to the URL as query parameters. When the URL is called from the javascript, the cache adapter handles the request. It retrieves the settings from the context parameter and passes it to the BlockContextManager while creating a new BlockContext. This ensures the BlockContext is the same as when it was created from a template helper call without cache enabled.

Note

The settings are exposed because they are added to the URL as parameters, secure the URL if needed.

7.3. Block loading

Block models are loaded by a chain loader. You should be able to add your own loader by tagging a service with sonata.block.loader" and implementing Sonata\BlockBundle\Block\BlockLoaderInterface in the loader class.

7.4. Empty block

By default, the loader interface expects the exception Sonata\BlockBundle\Exception\BlockNotFoundException if a block is not found. Return an empty block from your loader class if the default behavior for your blocks is to always return content.