Enhance PhpStorm File Templates with Velocity 🧪

Using PhpStorm’s File Templates makes it easier to create linked files in frameworks like presenters/controlers and their templates. By setting up custom templates, you can quickly generate these files with the right structure. Using Velocity variables like ${NAME} and ${DIR_PATH} can helps automatically create file names and paths, reducing mistakes.

🜁

In my case, I use the Nette Framework. There is a Presenter (HomepagePresenter.php) connected with a Template (Homepage.default.latte) in a Module (Admin):

/app/modules/Admin/Homepage/templates/Homepage.default
/app/modules/Admin/Homepage/HomepagePresenter.php

I want a File Template that asks for just one name and prepares everything else 💥

1. Go to: Settings → Editor → File and Code Templates
2. Create a new Template and use the variable ${NAME}

🜛

use variables in both the code and the path

For the second file, use “Create Child Template File”🜔

We can create another variable named ${MODULE} for setting the namespace like this:

namespace App\\${MODULE}Module\Presenters;

But ...

🜇 / 🜂 = 🜸 + 🜍🜞

when you study a little bit of Velocity templates and the variables that PhpStorm provides, you can combine them to automate some processes.

In Velocity, #set is used for variable settings, and PhpStorm suggests the variable ${DIR_PATH} – the path to the directory of the new file (relative to the project root).

So we can start our Presenter template with this power 🜣 and use new variable ${moduleName} in the code.

#set($dirPath = ${DIR_PATH})
#set($parentDirPath = $dirPath.substring(0, $dirPath.lastIndexOf("/")))
#set($moduleName = $parentDirPath.substring($parentDirPath.lastIndexOf("/") + 1))
<?php

namespace App\\${moduleName}Module\Presenters;

And that’s it. Just a few lines of Velocity and more automated creation of File Templates is done. There is no magic, just digital alchemy 👨‍🔬⚗️