Architecture

The architecture of Quilt is still under debate. There are currently three candidate architectures, more if you count combinations of those described below.

• Direct request
  • Embedded
• Dispatched request

Direct Request Quilts

In this architecture, Quilts are processed when directly requested. The Quilt processor is installed as a handler for .qlt files. When a request is made for a .qlt file, the Quilt processor loads and processes the Quilt file.

Advantages

• Easy to implement
• Easy to control
• Easy to install
• Integrates easily with frameworks

Disadvantages

• Quilt files cannot be reused since they directly refer to the pattern and content files.
• Each Quilt file produces a single webpage.

Embedded Quilts

Embedded Quilts are embedded in a similar way that PHP code is embedded in an HTML document. The have the same advantage and disadvantages as Direct Request Quilts.

Dispatched requests

In this architecture, requests are funneled through a dispatcher which determines which Quilt file to load, and may set variables that the Quilt file may access. Any of the deployment strategies used by existing frameworks may be used.

Advantages

• Quilt files may be parameterized such that one Quilt file may be used to produce different pages based on the request.

Disadvantages

• Integration with other frameworks may be challenging or impossible.