Layouts

Layouts in Tiny are plain PHP. There is no templating DSL, no @yield, no extends. A “layout” is a pair of files (open.php and close.php) that wrap your view’s content. You invoke them as if they were methods on the global Layout constant.

This page covers TinyLayout. For views and components see views.md and components.md.

File convention

Layouts live in app/views/layouts/<name>/:

app/views/layouts/
├── main/
│   ├── open.php       # rendered first time Layout::main(...) is called
│   └── close.php      # rendered second time Layout::main(...) is called
└── modal/
    ├── open.php
    └── close.php

The `Layout` constant

Tiny’s bootstrap defines Layout as a TinyLayout instance pointing at app/views/layouts/. Calls to it dispatch through __call:

<?php Layout::main(['title' => 'Dashboard', 'user' => $user]); ?>

    <h1>Welcome, <?= htmlspecialchars($user->name) ?></h1>
    <p>Here are your widgets…</p>

<?php Layout::main(); ?>

First call: opens the layout, props are stored, open.php is included. Second call: pops the stored props, close.php is included.

Between the two calls, the view renders its body — sandwiched inside the layout shell.

You can equally use tiny::layout() if Layout isn’t defined as a constant in your app’s bootstrap:

<?php tiny::layout()->main(['title' => 'Dashboard']); ?>
…
<?php tiny::layout()->main(); ?>

Reading props inside the layout

open.php and close.php access the props via Layout::props($name, $fallback):

<!-- app/views/layouts/main/open.php -->
<!doctype html>
<html lang="<?= Layout::props('lang', 'en') ?>">
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <title><?= htmlspecialchars(Layout::props('title', 'My App')) ?></title>
    <?php foreach (Layout::props('css', []) as $href): ?>
        <link rel="stylesheet" href="<?= htmlspecialchars($href) ?>">
    <?php endforeach ?>
</head>
<body>
<main>

<!-- app/views/layouts/main/close.php -->
</main>
<footer>&copy; <?= date('Y') ?></footer>
<?php foreach (Layout::props('js', []) as $src): ?>
    <script src="<?= htmlspecialchars($src) ?>"></script>
<?php endforeach ?>
</body>
</html>

Nesting

Layouts compose by nesting:

<?php Layout::main(['title' => 'Admin']); ?>
    <?php Layout::admin(['sidebar' => $items]); ?>
        <h2>Users</h2>
        <?php tiny::component()->userTable(['users' => $users]); ?>
    <?php Layout::admin(); ?>
<?php Layout::main(); ?>

The first/second-call mechanism means each layout closes itself; nesting is just lexical scope in the view file.

With components

Layouts are great for page chrome (head, nav, footer). Reusable widgets belong in components. A common shape:

<?php Layout::main(['title' => 'Dashboard']); ?>

    <?php tiny::component()->navBar(['active' => 'dashboard']); ?>

    <h1>Dashboard</h1>
    <?php tiny::component()->statsGrid(['stats' => $stats]); ?>
    <?php tiny::component()->recentOrders(['orders' => $orders]); ?>

<?php Layout::main(); ?>

Best practices

Keep layouts dumb. Move computation into the controller or a component. The layout should only emit HTML and read props.
Always close. Forgetting the second Layout::main() produces a half-rendered page; the framework can’t auto-close because PHP doesn’t have block scope.
Pass everything via props. Don’t reach into tiny::data() from a layout file — props are easier to grep and refactor.
One layout per page. Nesting is fine, but if you find yourself with three deep, consider splitting into components instead.
Match HTML escaping discipline. Layouts emit raw HTML and rely on you to htmlspecialchars() user data.

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