🛠️ Global Helper Functions in Squehub Framework

The Squehub Framework comes with a robust set of globally available helper functions designed to simplify common development tasks. These helpers are defined in the app/core/Helper.php file and provide clean, reusable shortcuts for session management, security (CSRF), URL routing, data formatting, flashing messages, and HTTP redirection.

app/core/Helper.php

⚠️ Using Helpers with Namespaces

To use the helper functions in your own PHP files (controllers, views, middleware, CLI scripts, etc.), you must import the helper namespace:

<?php
use App\Core\Helper;
// Now you can use csrf_token(), route(), flash(), etc.

📚 Available Helper Functions

• startSessionIfNotStarted()
• route(string $name, array $params = [])
• csrf_token()
• validateCsrfToken()
• CsrfTokenValidator(): bool
• is_post(): bool
• maskEmail(string $email): string
• maskPhoneNumber(string $phone): string
• slugify(string $text): string
• flash(string $key, ?string $message = null)
• priceFormatter(...): string
• url(...$segments): string
• redirect()

🔍 Detailed Helper Documentation

startSessionIfNotStarted()

startSessionIfNotStarted();
$_SESSION['user_id'] = 123;

route(string $name, array $params = [])

echo route('profile.show', ['id' => 5]);
// Output: http://localhost/profile/5

csrf_token()

<input type="hidden" name="_token" value="<?= csrf_token() ?>">

validateCsrfToken()

if (is_post()) {
    validateCsrfToken();
    // Proceed safely
}

CsrfTokenValidator(): bool

if (CsrfTokenValidator()) {
    // Valid token
} else {
    // Invalid token logic
}

is_post(): bool

if (is_post()) {
    // Handle form logic
}

maskEmail(string $email)

echo maskEmail('johndoe@example.com');
// Output: jo******@example.com

maskPhoneNumber(string $phone)

echo maskPhoneNumber('1234567890');
// Output: ********90

slugify(string $text)

echo slugify('Hello World! Welcome.');
// Output: hello-world-welcome

flash(string $key, ?string $message = null)

// Controller
flash('success', 'Registration successful!');

// View
<?php if ($msg = flash('success')): ?>
  <div class="alert alert-success"><?= $msg ?></div>
<?php endif; ?>

priceFormatter(...)

echo priceFormatter(1234.5);              // 1,234.50
echo priceFormatter(99.99, '$');          // $99.99
echo priceFormatter(5000, '€', false);    // 5,000.00 €

url(...$segments)

echo url('products', 'shoes', 'nike');
// Output: http://localhost/products/shoes/nike

redirect()

redirect()->to('/dashboard');
redirect()->back();

🆕 Creating Your Own Helpers

Developers can also create custom utility classes or helper functions inside both the global project-level project/Utils/ directory and inside each package’s own Utils/ directory. This allows for flexible and modular utility code organization.

Any PHP files placed inside these Utils directories are automatically loaded globally by Squehub, meaning their functions and classes are accessible anywhere in your application without explicit imports or requires.

This applies both to the main project/Utils/ folder and the Utils/ folders inside each installed package.

<?php
namespace Project\Utils;

function myCustomHelper() {
    // your logic here
}

📌 Best Practices

• ✅ No need to import global Squehub helpers — they’re available everywhere.
• ✅ Use csrf_token() in all mutating forms.
• ✅ Use route() to avoid hardcoded URLs.
• ✅ Use flash() for user alerts.
• ✅ Use slugify() for SEO-friendly URLs.

📝 Summary

Squehub’s helper functions simplify common tasks and enforce consistency across your application. Extend as needed for your project.