# Views
* Introduction
* Writing Views in React / Vue
* Creating and Rendering Views
* Nested View Directories
* Creating the First Available View
* Determining if a View Exists
* Passing Data to Views
* Sharing Data With All Views
* View Composers
* View Creators
* Optimizing Views
## Introduction
Of course, it's not practical to return entire HTML documents strings directly
from your routes and controllers. Thankfully, views provide a convenient way
to place all of our HTML in separate files.
Views separate your controller / application logic from your presentation
logic and are stored in the `resources/views` directory. When using Laravel,
view templates are usually written using the [Blade templating
language](/docs/12.x/blade). A simple view might look something like this:
1
2
3
4
5 Hello, {{ $name }}
6
7
Hello, {{ $name }}
Since this view is stored at `resources/views/greeting.blade.php`, we may
return it using the global `view` helper like so:
1Route::get('/', function () {
2 return view('greeting', ['name' => 'James']);
3});
Route::get('/', function () {
return view('greeting', ['name' => 'James']);
});
Looking for more information on how to write Blade templates? Check out the
full [Blade documentation](/docs/12.x/blade) to get started.
### Writing Views in React / Vue
Instead of writing their frontend templates in PHP via Blade, many developers
have begun to prefer to write their templates using React or Vue. Laravel
makes this painless thanks to [Inertia](https://inertiajs.com/), a library
that makes it a cinch to tie your React / Vue frontend to your Laravel backend
without the typical complexities of building an SPA.
Our [React and Vue application starter kits](/docs/12.x/starter-kits) give you
a great starting point for your next Laravel application powered by Inertia.
## Creating and Rendering Views
You may create a view by placing a file with the `.blade.php` extension in
your application's `resources/views` directory or by using the `make:view`
Artisan command:
1php artisan make:view greeting
php artisan make:view greeting
The `.blade.php` extension informs the framework that the file contains a
[Blade template](/docs/12.x/blade). Blade templates contain HTML as well as
Blade directives that allow you to easily echo values, create "if" statements,
iterate over data, and more.
Once you have created a view, you may return it from one of your application's
routes or controllers using the global `view` helper:
1Route::get('/', function () {
2 return view('greeting', ['name' => 'James']);
3});
Route::get('/', function () {
return view('greeting', ['name' => 'James']);
});
Views may also be returned using the `View` facade:
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
2
3return View::make('greeting', ['name' => 'James']);
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
return View::make('greeting', ['name' => 'James']);
As you can see, the first argument passed to the `view` helper corresponds to
the name of the view file in the `resources/views` directory. The second
argument is an array of data that should be made available to the view. In
this case, we are passing the `name` variable, which is displayed in the view
using [Blade syntax](/docs/12.x/blade).
### Nested View Directories
Views may also be nested within subdirectories of the `resources/views`
directory. "Dot" notation may be used to reference nested views. For example,
if your view is stored at `resources/views/admin/profile.blade.php`, you may
return it from one of your application's routes / controllers like so:
1return view('admin.profile', $data);
return view('admin.profile', $data);
View directory names should not contain the `.` character.
### Creating the First Available View
Using the `View` facade's `first` method, you may create the first view that
exists in a given array of views. This may be useful if your application or
package allows views to be customized or overwritten:
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
2
3return View::first(['custom.admin', 'admin'], $data);
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
return View::first(['custom.admin', 'admin'], $data);
### Determining if a View Exists
If you need to determine if a view exists, you may use the `View` facade. The
`exists` method will return `true` if the view exists:
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
2
3if (View::exists('admin.profile')) {
4 // ...
5}
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
if (View::exists('admin.profile')) {
// ...
}
## Passing Data to Views
As you saw in the previous examples, you may pass an array of data to views to
make that data available to the view:
1return view('greetings', ['name' => 'Victoria']);
return view('greetings', ['name' => 'Victoria']);
When passing information in this manner, the data should be an array with key
/ value pairs. After providing data to a view, you can then access each value
within your view using the data's keys, such as ``.
As an alternative to passing a complete array of data to the `view` helper
function, you may use the `with` method to add individual pieces of data to
the view. The `with` method returns an instance of the view object so that you
can continue chaining methods before returning the view:
1return view('greeting')
2 ->with('name', 'Victoria')
3 ->with('occupation', 'Astronaut');
return view('greeting')
->with('name', 'Victoria')
->with('occupation', 'Astronaut');
### Sharing Data With All Views
Occasionally, you may need to share data with all views that are rendered by
your application. You may do so using the `View` facade's `share` method.
Typically, you should place calls to the `share` method within a service
provider's `boot` method. You are free to add them to the
`App\Providers\AppServiceProvider` class or generate a separate service
provider to house them:
1with('count', $this->users->count());
23 }
24}
with('count', $this->users->count());
}
}
As you can see, all view composers are resolved via the [service
container](/docs/12.x/container), so you may type-hint any dependencies you
need within a composer's constructor.
#### Attaching a Composer to Multiple Views
You may attach a view composer to multiple views at once by passing an array
of views as the first argument to the `composer` method:
1use App\Views\Composers\MultiComposer;
2use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
3
4View::composer(
5 ['profile', 'dashboard'],
6 MultiComposer::class
7);
use App\Views\Composers\MultiComposer;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
View::composer(
['profile', 'dashboard'],
MultiComposer::class
);
The `composer` method also accepts the `*` character as a wildcard, allowing
you to attach a composer to all views:
1use Illuminate\Support\Facades;
2use Illuminate\View\View;
3
4Facades\View::composer('*', function (View $view) {
5 // ...
6});
use Illuminate\Support\Facades;
use Illuminate\View\View;
Facades\View::composer('*', function (View $view) {
// ...
});
### View Creators
View "creators" are very similar to view composers; however, they are executed
immediately after the view is instantiated instead of waiting until the view
is about to render. To register a view creator, use the `creator` method:
1use App\View\Creators\ProfileCreator;
2use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
3
4View::creator('profile', ProfileCreator::class);
use App\View\Creators\ProfileCreator;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\View;
View::creator('profile', ProfileCreator::class);
## Optimizing Views
By default, Blade template views are compiled on demand. When a request is
executed that renders a view, Laravel will determine if a compiled version of
the view exists. If the file exists, Laravel will then determine if the
uncompiled view has been modified more recently than the compiled view. If the
compiled view either does not exist, or the uncompiled view has been modified,
Laravel will recompile the view.
Compiling views during the request may have a small negative impact on
performance, so Laravel provides the `view:cache` Artisan command to
precompile all of the views utilized by your application. For increased
performance, you may wish to run this command as part of your deployment
process:
1php artisan view:cache
php artisan view:cache
You may use the `view:clear` command to clear the view cache:
1php artisan view:clear
php artisan view:clear