Download the PHP package se7enxweb/primer without Composer

7x Primer Framework v1.5 — PHP 8.5 Support (Stable; Open Source)

7x Primer Framework v1.5 is the continuing evolution of the original symfony 1.4 framework, now fully compatible with PHP 8.0 through PHP 8.5. Maintained by 7x (se7enx.com) and the open-source developer community that has relied on symfony1 for over two decades.

Table of Contents

1. Project Notice
2. Project Status
3. Who is 7x
4. What is 7x Primer Framework?
5. Architecture Overview
6. Technology Stack
7. Requirements
8. Quick Start
9. Main Features
10. Developer Toolbar
11. Building Pages, Routes, and Database Results
12. Installation
13. Key CLI & Task Reference
14. Issue Tracker
15. Where to Get More Help
16. How to Contribute
17. Donate & Support
18. Copyright
19. License

1. Project Notice

Please Note: This project is not associated with the original symfony project, SensioLabs, or Fabien Potencier beyond attribution. It is an independent, 7x + community-driven continuation of the symfony 1.4 codebase, stewarded and evolved by 7x (se7enx.com) to support PHP 8.x in production.

2. Project Status

The symfony 1.4 codebase reached end-of-life in November 2012. Thousands of production websites and applications continued to run on it because its architecture — convention-over-configuration, composable action-filter-view pipeline, flexible ORM integration — remained sound and productive.

7x Primer Framework v1.5 is the first release branch that brings this codebase fully into the PHP 8.x era.

The 1.5 branch is the current active development branch. Work focuses on:

• PHP 8.0 through PHP 8.5 full compatibility and test suite passing
• Composer package manager integration alongside sfCoreAutoload
• Security patches and vulnerability triage
• Documentation and developer experience improvements

3. Who is 7x

7x is a North American web software corporation with over 24 years of experience building and maintaining PHP web applications and content platforms. Previously known as Brookins Consulting, 7x took on stewardship of the symfony1 codebase to ensure that the many applications built on it can continue to run on modern, supported PHP versions.

7x offers:

• Commercial PHP 8.x upgrade consulting for symfony1 applications
• Hosting and infrastructure for PHP 8.x projects
• Custom development, migrations, and training
• Open-source community stewardship

4. What is 7x Primer Framework?

7x Primer Framework (v1.5) is a PHP 8.x-compatible continuation of the symfony 1.4 MVC web application framework. It provides:

• A Model-View-Controller architecture with clean separation of concerns
• Convention-over-configuration — a predictable directory layout that removes boilerplate
• sfPatternRouting — a flexible URL routing engine with named routes, parameters, and requirements
• Action pipeline — executeActionName() methods dispatch HTTP requests through configurable pre/post filters to typed PHP template files
• symfony1-style autoloading via sfCoreAutoload — every class in lib/ is available on demand
• Composer integration (new in 1.5) — vendor/autoload.php coexists with sfCoreAutoload via PHP's spl_autoload stack, giving access to the full Packagist ecosystem
• ORM integration — sfDoctrinePlugin and sfPropelPlugin remain fully functional for database-backed applications
• Lime test framework — a TAP-based unit and functional test suite with 600+ tests
• Full PHP 8.5 support — every PHP 8.x breaking change addressed in the core library

Architecture at a Glance

5. Architecture Overview

Directory Layout

6. Technology Stack

7. Requirements

• PHP 8.0 or later (PHP 8.5 recommended; tested on 8.5.6)
• A web server: Apache 2.4 (with mod_rewrite) or Nginx 1.18+
• A database: MySQL 8.0+, MariaDB 10.3+, PostgreSQL 14+, or SQLite 3.x
• Composer 2.x (optional — required only when installing Packagist packages)

Requirements Summary

8. Quick Start

9. Main Features

• Convention-over-configuration MVC — modules, actions, and templates follow a predictable naming convention; zero config required for the happy path
• sfPatternRouting — named routes, parameter requirements, default values, and reverse URL generation
• Action pipeline — pre-filters, post-filters, and slots for cross-cutting concerns (auth, logging, caching)
• symfony1-style autoloading — sfCoreAutoload discovers every class in lib/ automatically
• Composer integration (new in v1.5) — vendor/autoload.php loads alongside sfCoreAutoload when present; install any Packagist package with composer require
• Form system — sfForm, sfFormField, sfWidget, and sfValidator for type-safe form handling
• i18n / l10n — sfI18N, sfDateFormat, sfNumberFormat for internationalised applications
• Lime test framework — TAP-based unit and functional testing with 600+ passing tests
• sfDoctrinePlugin — Doctrine 1.x ORM with model generation, migrations, and fixtures
• sfPropelPlugin — Propel 1.x ORM as an alternative
• Cache drivers — filesystem, APC, SQLite, and Memcache cache backends
• Swift Mailer — bundled for transactional email
• YAML configuration — sfYaml parser for configuration files
• PHP 8.0–8.5 full compatibility — all breaking changes addressed in 62 core library files

10. Developer Toolbar

When running in the dev environment, 7x Primer injects the 7x Primer Developer Toolbar — a dark, fixed-bottom debug bar — into every HTML response. It shows request metadata, logs, memory usage, and timing information at a glance.

Accessing the Dev Environment

The dev entry point is public/index_dev.php. Prefix any URL path with /index_dev.php to use it:

Note: index_dev.php is IP-guarded. Only requests from allowlisted addresses are served — all others receive 403 Forbidden. See IP Allowlist below.

IP Allowlist

The allowed IP list is managed in apps/site/config/dev.yml. Edit this file to add your local or team IP addresses — no code changes needed.

To find your current public IP:

Add that IP under allowed_ips, save the file, and reload — no server restart required.

Toolbar Layout

The toolbar is fixed to the bottom of every page. It has three display states, each persisted across reloads via localStorage:

Click the 7x logo in any reduced state to restore the full bar.

Left info block — always visible in full/collapsed mode:

Right panel list — click any item to open its detail popup:

• Logs — all sfVarLogger entries, filterable by Info / Warning / Error
• Memory — peak memory usage
• Kernel — 7x Primer version (1.5.0.3)

11. Building Pages, Routes, and Database Results

See INSTALL.md for full step-by-step instructions. Below is the three-minute version.

Define a route

Create an action

Create a template

12. Installation

See INSTALL.md for the complete step-by-step guide, including:

• Git clone and composer install
• Apache and Nginx virtual host configuration
• Building a page — module, action, template, and layout
• Route definition with parameters and requirements
• Database queries (PDO, sfDoctrinePlugin, sfPropelPlugin)
• Running the lime test suite
• Composer package integration
• Deployment checklist

13. Key CLI & Task Reference

14. Issue Tracker

Submit bugs, feature requests, and improvements at: https://github.com/se7enxweb/primer/issues

If you discover a security issue, please report it responsibly by email to [email protected] rather than opening a public issue.

15. Where to Get More Help

16. How to Contribute

Everyone is encouraged to contribute. To get started:

1. Fork the repository: github.com/se7enxweb/primer

2. Clone your fork and create a feature branch:

3. Make your changes following the existing code style
4. Add the (c) 2004-2026 7x <[email protected]> copyright header to every modified PHP file

5. Run the lime test suite to verify no regressions:

6. Push and open a Pull Request against the 1.5 branch
7. Participate in the code review — maintainers respond promptly

Bug reports, feature requests, and discussions are welcome via the issue tracker and GitHub Discussions.

17. Donate & Support

7x Primer Framework v1.5 is free and open-source. If it has saved you migration time, upgrade costs, or kept a production application running, please consider supporting the project:

• sponsor.se7enx.com — support subscriptions
• paypal.me/7xweb — one-time donation
• github.com/sponsors/se7enxweb — GitHub Sponsors

Every contribution funds:

• PHP compatibility testing as new PHP versions release
• Security patching and vulnerability triage
• Documentation and developer experience improvements
• Community infrastructure

18. Copyright

19. License

Licensed under the MIT License. See LICENSE for the full license text.