ATK Module

The dictionary defines module as:

a separable component, frequently one that is interchangeable with others, for assembly into units of differing size, complexity, or function.

- dictionary.reference.com (see also Modular design on Wikipedia)

A module, in the context of ATK, is a related set of nodes (attributes/relations/classes/...), for instance Achievo is a project management solution, but is sub-divided into the following modules:

• employees (for all employee related nodes)
• projects (for all project related nodes)
• reports (for all reporting nodes)

etc... (SVN)

All ATK applications are modular by design and will always have at least 1 module.

A module is registered to ATK with the module function, which you should call in your module config (modules/config.modules.inc) or in your application configuration (config.inc.php).

A module has several special module files:

module.inc

A typical module.inc looks like this:

class mod_mymodule extends atkModule
{
  public function getMenuItems()
  {
    $this->menuitem('mynode',dispatch_url('mymodule.mynode','admin'));
  }

  public function registerNodes()
  {
    registerNode('module.mynode',array('admin','add','delete','edit'));
  }
}

module_preload.inc

Utility functions

module_url

moduleExists

moduleDir

atkGetModule

atkGetModules

atkHarvestModules

Tips

• A good module should not have more than 15 nodes, if you have more it is likely a sign you need to move some nodes to their own module.