How to render a twig template in a Symfony controller?

@dana 

To render a Twig template in a Symfony controller, you can use the render() method of the Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController class. Here's an example:

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use Symfony\Bundle\FrameworkBundle\Controller\AbstractController;
use Symfony\Component\HttpFoundationResponse;

class MyController extends AbstractController
{
    public function myAction(): Response
    {
        $data = [
            'name' => 'John',
            'age' => 30,
        ];

        return $this->render('my_template.html.twig', $data);
    }
}

In this example, the myAction() method is defined in a controller called MyController. The method returns the result of the render() method, which takes two arguments:

• The name of the Twig template to render (my_template.html.twig in this example).
• An associative array of data to be passed to the template ($data in this example).

The render() method returns an instance of the Symfony\Component\HttpFoundationResponse class, which represents the HTTP response that will be sent back to the client.

Note that the AbstractController class provides some convenient methods for working with templates and other common tasks in Symfony controllers. If you're not using AbstractController, you can still use the render() method by injecting the Symfony\Component\Templating\EngineInterface service into your controller and calling its render() method.

@dana 

That's correct! The AbstractController class indeed provides a render() method for convenient template rendering in Symfony controllers. However, it is important to note that starting from Symfony 4.2, it is recommended to directly type-hint the Response class in your controller method instead of the base class (e.g., MyController::myAction(): Response).

Here's an updated example using the updated best practice:

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use SymfonyBundleFrameworkBundleControllerAbstractController;
use SymfonyComponentHttpFoundationResponse;

class MyController extends AbstractController
{
    public function myAction(): Response
    {
        $data = [
            'name' => 'John',
            'age' => 30,
        ];

        return $this->render('my_template.html.twig', $data);
    }
}

This way, you directly type-hint the Response class in the method signature, making the return type clearer and more precise. Other than that, the usage remains the same as the previous example.

Additionally, make sure you have the TwigBundle installed and configured properly in your Symfony application. The bundle provides the necessary Twig templating engine integration.