refactoring framework defaults

14 files changed, 600 insertions, 491 deletions

diff --git a/Dockerfile b/Dockerfile
index adb4c79..16662a1 100644
--- a/Dockerfile
+++ b/Dockerfile
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ COPY core /var/www/core
 COPY storage /var/www/storage
 
 # Copy configuration files for the container (application based)
+COPY .env /var/www/
 COPY docker /var/www/docker
 COPY tests /var/www/tests
 COPY composer.json /var/www/
diff --git a/core/classes/Database.php b/core/classes/Database.php
index 0a8a10a..9de9872 100644
--- a/core/classes/Database.php
+++ b/core/classes/Database.php
@@ -125,7 +125,7 @@ class Database {
             }
 
             // keep rowCount (valid for INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE)
-            $this->rowCount = $stmt->rowCount();    
+            $this->rowCount = $stmt->rowCount();
 
             $result = $stmt->fetchAll(PDO::FETCH_ASSOC);
 
diff --git a/core/config/anom_settings.php b/core/config/anom_settings.php
deleted file mode 100644
index 03e4cc5..0000000
--- a/core/config/anom_settings.php
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,209 +0,0 @@
-<?php
-/** CONFIGURATION PARAMETRES
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * Here you can find all the setup paramaters that define
- * key-decisions of your application;
- * 
- * ex. Session driver, Cache driver, Cookies Policy etc;
- * 
- * Other supplamentary constants (ex. Session options according to the driver,
- * Cookie properties according to the application's specs) shall be defined
- * into the ~/public/app/config/app_constants.php
- * 
- * 
- * NOTE:
- * You may rewrite the defines setting any values manualy
- * SETTING anom CONSTANTS VIA an `.env` FILE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED (for safety)
- * The default env file is saved into `~/core/auth` folder
- *  
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-if (file_exists("../core/auth/.env")) {
-    $ini = parse_ini_file("../core/auth/.env");
-}
-
-
-
-
-/** ENVIRONMENT constant
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * define application's environment stage; [PRODUCTION|develpment|testing|*]
- * seting this constant to 'PRODUCTION' eliminates debuggin comments;
- * 
- * DO NOT FORGET to change this setting when deploying to a different stage
- * 
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-define('PRODUCTION', ($ini['ENVIRONMENT'] == 'production') );
-
-
-
-
-/** APPLICATION NAMES AND URL DEFAULTS
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * NOTE:
- * if .env file exists ... do not touch anything
- * else ... replace $env[*] values with your setup
- * 
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-define('APP_NAME', $ini['APP_NAME']);         // Application Name (how developer refers to it)
-
-define('APP_VERSION', $ini['APP_VERSION']);   // Application version (major_version + subversion_class)
-                                              // keep it simple, ex: '1.alfa'  -or-  '1.beta'  -or-  '2.rc'
-
-define('SITE_URL', $ini['ANOM_HOSTNAME']);
-
-
-
-
-/** APPLICATION PATHS
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * Obligarory:
- * These are needed in order to run the bare minimum MVC system
- * They also make code easier to read
- * 
- * NOTE:
- * most likely won't need to change any of these subsection defines;
- * still the framework makes easy for the developer
- * to change the Views and/or the Tests diectrory;
- * 
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-define('APP_ROOT', $ini['APP_ROOT'] ?? dirname(get_included_files()[0]) );
-
-define('URL_ROOT', '/');
-
-define('INIT_APPLICATION', '../core/config/init.php');
-
-define('VIEWS_DIRECTORY', $ini['VIEWS_DIRECTORY'] ?? (APP_ROOT.'/app/views/'));
-
-define('TESTS_DIRECTORY', $ini['TESTS_DIRECTORY'] ?? (APP_ROOT."/../tests/"));
-
-
-
-
-/** AUTOLOADER /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * An autoloader for classes is required;
- * 
- * 
- ** OPTION 1: COMPOSER
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * Composer is recommended and makes much more than simple autoloding
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-define('AUTOLOADER' , '../vendor/autoload.php');
-
-/** OPTION 2: Custom Autoloader
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * If Composer is not supported, another autoloading proccess required
- * Comment/Disable the 1st option and uncomment/Enable the next line
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * NOTE: if the custom autoloadet is used
- * then you need to defing CLASSPATHS constant-array too;
- */
-
-# define('AUTOLOADER' , '../core/helpers/autoload.php');
-
-
-
-
-/** SESSION HANDLING
- * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * there are several session drivers for session handling:
- *    
- * 'DefaultSession'  : uses the default (file-based) php session management
- * 'FileSession'     : defines a custom file-based session mechanism
- * 'DatabaseSession' : mechanism that stores Session data into a DataBase
- * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-define('SESSION_DRIVER', $ini['SESSION_DRIVER']);
-
-
-
-  
-/** COOKIE SETTINGS
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * Define cookie policy (cookie sharing and securing)
- * 
- * recomended values for production environment:
- * COOKIE_SECURE=true
- * COOKIE_SAMESITE='Strict'
- * 
- * NOTE:
- * on development environment COOKIE_SECURE has to be false
- * in order for the test server to use them from http://locahost
- * 
- * for more info about cookie policy read:
- * https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.session-set-cookie-params.php
- * 
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-define('COOKIE_SECURE', PRODUCTION);    // Secure cookie policy [true|false]
-
-define('COOKIE_SAMESITE', $ini['COOKIE_SAMESITE'] ?? 'Strict');    // SameSite cookie policy [Strict|Lax|None]
-    
-# define('COOKIE_DOMAIN', $env['ANOM_HOSTNAME']);   // domain to be visible on
-
-
-
-
-/* ADVANCED OPTIMIZATION ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- *
- * APP_CACHE defines the cache-driver;
- * accepted values are the name of the Cache-interface impementations (the exact
- * names of the classes)
- *
- * 'FileCache'  : caching in filesystem; fair if caching on HDD; great on SSD
- * 'RedisCache' : caching in Redis server; generally recommended if available
- * 'MemCachedCache' : caching in Memcached server; recommended if available
- *
- * NOTE: FileCache on a NVMe SDD is the fastest option;
- * Redis and Memcached are really-fast caching options and are available for
- * scaling horizontaly your application (eache one has it's own strngths;
- * study, then choose the one that fulfills your needs;
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-  
-define('CACHE_DRIVER', $ini['CACHE_DRIVER']);
-
-
-
-
-/** HOTFIX: (needs refactoring) */
-
-// CONNECTIONS ...
-
-define('FILECACHE_PATH', APP_ROOT.'/../storage/cache/');     // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'FileCache'
-
-define('MEDIA_STORAGE_ROOT', APP_ROOT.'/../storage/uploads/');    // Media files root directory
-
-# define('REDIS_HOST', '127.0.0.1');              // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'RedisCache'
-
-# define('MEMCAHCED_SERVER', '127.0.0.1');        // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'MemCached'
-
-
-
-
-/** CREDENTIALS
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
- 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/config/init.php b/core/config/init.php
index 589a486..40624d3 100644
--- a/core/config/init.php
+++ b/core/config/init.php
@@ -18,14 +18,9 @@
 
 // setup error-handliing
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-require_once '../core/helpers/error_handling.php';
+require_once APP_ROOT.'/core/helpers/error_handling.php';
 
 
-// depricated:
-/// // Load rendering sub-system
-/// // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-/// require_once RENDERING_SYSTEM;
-
 
 // Setup Application Engiine
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -55,10 +50,10 @@ Registry::set('REQUEST', new Request());
 // (these patterns use some of the project's central objects (Registry,
 // Cache, Database), so laod them after.
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-require_once '../core/helpers/design_patterns.php';
+require_once APP_ROOT.'/core/helpers/design_patterns.php';
 
 
 // Add Routes
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-require_once 'app/config/init_routes.php';      // initialize routes
+require_once WEB_ROOT.'/app/config/init_routes.php';      // initialize routes
diff --git a/core/config/xx--anom_settings.php b/core/config/xx--anom_settings.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..06fe5af
--- /dev/null
+++ b/core/config/xx--anom_settings.php
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+<?php
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+  
+
+
+
+
+
+/* ADVANCED OPTIMIZATION ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * APP_CACHE defines the cache-driver;
+ * accepted values are the name of the Cache-interface impementations (the exact
+ * names of the classes)
+ *
+ * 'FileCache'  : caching in filesystem; fair if caching on HDD; great on SSD
+ * 'RedisCache' : caching in Redis server; generally recommended if available
+ * 'MemCachedCache' : caching in Memcached server; recommended if available
+ *
+ * NOTE: FileCache on a NVMe SDD is the fastest option;
+ * Redis and Memcached are really-fast caching options and are available for
+ * scaling horizontaly your application (eache one has it's own strngths;
+ * study, then choose the one that fulfills your needs;
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+  
+define('CACHE_DRIVER', $env['CACHE_DRIVER'] ?? 'FileCache');
+
+
+
+
+/** HOTFIX: (needs refactoring) */
+
+// CONNECTIONS ...
+
+define('FILECACHE_PATH', APP_ROOT.'/storage/cache/');       // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'FileCache'
+
+define('MEDIA_STORAGE_ROOT', APP_ROOT.'/storage/uploads/');     // Media files root directory
+
+# define('REDIS_HOST', '127.0.0.1');              // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'RedisCache'
+
+# define('MEMCAHCED_SERVER', '127.0.0.1');        // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'MemCached'
+
+
+
+
+/** CREDENTIALS
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+ 
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/core/config/constants.php b/core/config/xx--constants.php
index d2ecc41..d2ecc41 100644
--- a/core/config/constants.php
+++ b/core/config/xx--constants.php
diff --git a/core/helpers/autoload.php b/core/helpers/autoload.php
index c4359c6..c72c335 100644
--- a/core/helpers/autoload.php
+++ b/core/helpers/autoload.php
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ spl_autoload_register(
         // check all possible classPaths for class
         foreach(CLASSPATHS as $key => $basePath) {
 
-            $file = APP_ROOT . $basePath . $classPath .'.php';
+            $file = WEB_ROOT . $basePath . $classPath .'.php';
 
             // if class-file exist, include it
             if (file_exists($file)) {
diff --git a/core/auth/env.example b/env.example
index fd47dd8..fd47dd8 100644
--- a/core/auth/env.example
+++ b/env.example
diff --git a/public/app/config/app_constants.php b/public/app/config/setup-application.php
index 6974bd8..ec9a7bb 100644
--- a/public/app/config/app_constants.php
+++ b/public/app/config/setup-application.php
@@ -1,256 +1,28 @@
 <?php
-/** Custom Application Constants
+/** SETUP APPLICATION
  * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * Define application specific constants
  * 
- * Constants defined for your current application:
- * 
- * 1. Main constants (Names, Labels, securoty defaults, etc)
- * 
- * 2. Credentials and sub-configuration of main services
- * 
- * 3. Other custom constants
- * 
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-/** Preload environmental file
- * Setting up main constants via en envoronment file is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED;
- * 
- * read ini file if exist
- */
-if (file_exists("../core/auth/.env")) {
-  $env = parse_ini_file("../core/auth/.env");
-}
-
-
-
-
-
-## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-##
-##        - - - -- -- ---  M A I N  C O N S T A N T S  --- -- -- - - -
-##    Main constants (names, labels, default roles, security defaults, etc
-##
-## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
-/** Main default constants / strings / names / etc
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-
-define('SITE_TITLE', 'schoolGov');      // Site Title (the end-users' title)
-
-
-
-/** Autoload paths 
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * CLASSPATHS : array of paths where classes are saved
- * 
- * NOTE:
- * if the custom autoloader is used (instead of composer's)
- * then you need to defing CLASSPATHS constant-array too;
- * 
- * In most cases you won't need this,
- * so comment the next lines out of the code-base
- * 
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- */
-# define('CLASSPATHS', array(
-#     '/../core/classes/',      // core classes
-#     '/app/controllers/',      // controller classes
-#     '/app/models/',           // model classes
-#     '/app/extends/',          // extending core classes
-#     '/../vendor/'             // vendor/dependency classes
-#   )
-# );
-
-
-
-/** FileSession Path
- * --- -- -- - - -
- * if FileSession is selected, a path for session-files is needed
- * 
- * TODO:
- * also, the hybrid sessioning (in progress) will need this setting
- * 
- * NOTE:
- * DefaultSession is also file-based but to not need a file-path setting
- * (php will handle any file-needed actions to the file-system)
- */
-
-# define('FILESESSION_PATH', '../storage/session');
-
-
-
-/** Session and cookie names
- * --- -- -- - - -
- */
-define('SESSION_NAME', 'offticket');    // cookie for session (office ticket)
-define('CONNECTION_COOKIE', 'con');     // cookie for connection
-define('MAX_SESSION_LIFE', 2*60*60);    // maximum session lifetime (2 hours)
-
-
-
-/** SECURITY SETTINGS ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * Cross Site Request Forgery
- * ---
- * Enables a CSRF cookie token to be set. When set to TRUE, token will be
- * checked on a submitted form. If you are accepting user data, it is strongly
- * recommended CSRF protection be enabled.
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 
  */
 
-define('CSRF_PROTECTION', false);
-
-define('CSRF_TOKEN_NAME', 'csrf_test_name');        // token name
-
-define('CSRF_COOKIE_NAME', 'csrf_cookie_name');     // cookie name
-
-define('CSRF_EXPIRE', 7200);            // The number in seconds the token should expire.
-
-define('CSRF_REGENERATE', TRUE);        // Regenerate token on every submission
-
-define('CSRF_EXCLUDE_URIS', array());   // Array of URIs which ignore CSRF checks
- 
-
-
-
-## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-##
-## - - - -- -- ---  C O N N E C T I O N   C R E D E N T I A L S  --- -- -- - - -
-##
-## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
-
-
-
-/** SERVICE PARAMETRES
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * 
- * Connection parametres and credentials for accssing services 
- * needed by the application; Such services may be..
- * 
- * - RDBMS
- *   -- MySQL
- *   -- PotgresSQL
- * 
- * - Caching services
- *   -- Redis
- *   -- MemCached
- * 
- * Edit only the constants needed by the application;
- * Comment those you do not need;
- * 
- * /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
- */
-
-/** DATABASE CONNECTION PARAMETRES
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * Production and staging environments may use different databases.
- * 
- * A safe practice is to keep credentials outside plain files like this one
- * in environmental variable or other secret file etc.
- * 
- * Uncomment/enable each group of definitions suits your case to define
- * the credentials needed for accessing the database
- */
-
-define('DB_NAME', $ini['DB_NAME']);
- 
-define('DB_USER', $ini['DB_USER']);
-  
-define('DB_PASS', $ini['DB_PASS']);
-  
-/** NOTE:
- * PDO_HOST can be a hostname/port combination -or- a unix socket
- * 
- * ...examples:
- * define('PDO_HOST', 'host=/localhost')    ## hostname case
- * define('PDO_HOST', 'host=/localhost;port=3456')    ## hostname/port case
- * define('PDO_HOST', 'unix_socket=/sql/ex123:europe:some-db');   ## unix socket
- * define('PDO_HOST', 'unix_socket=/cloudsql/name-123456:europe-west4:name-db-eu');
- */
- 
-define('PDO_HOST', $ini['PDO_HOST']);
-  
-define('DB_TIMEZONE', "SET time_zone = 'Europe/Athens'");
- 
- 
- 
- 
-/** CACHED SERVICES
- * 
- * impemented services:
- * 
- * - File Cache
- * - Redis
- * - Memcached
- * 
- * NOTE:
- * Both Redis and Memcached configurations are given as a template to work on;
- * In most cases the default values should do the job -- of course you need to
- * read the README file (check the project's root);
- * As these caching services are not fully tested you may need to ochestrate
- * the services in detail or edit the connection strings into the core classes
- * (hosted under the '/core/classes/cacher' folder)
- */
-
- define('FILECACHE_PATH', APP_ROOT.'/../storage/cache/');     // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'FileCache'
-
- define('MEDIA_STORAGE_ROOT', APP_ROOT.'/../storage/uploads/');    // Media files root directory
- 
- 
- 
- # define('MEMCAHCED_SERVER', '127.0.0.1');        // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'MemCached'
- 
-/** REDIS SERVICE
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * Most of the times Redis is running on 'localhost' (host = '127.0.0.1')
- * When implemented via anom's docker-composer (redis via bridge) then you need
- * do declare the hostname as 'redis'
- */
-
-# define('REDIS_HOST', '127.0.0.1');    // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'RedisCache'
-# if (!defined('REDIS_HOST'))           define('REDIS_HOST', 'redis');
-# 
-# if (!defined('REDIS_PORT'))           define('REDIS_PORT', 6379);
-# 
-# if (!defined('REDIS_PASS'))           define('REDIS_PASS', null);
- 
- 
-/** MEMCACHED
- * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
- * Memcached looks very much like Redis (plus, both are serving from RAM)
- * Usualy Memcashed is running localy so host is 'localhost' ('127.0.0.1')
- * If you use the framework's docker-composer implementation then
- * the hostname is 'anomemcached'
- */
-
-# if (!defined('MEMCACHE_HOST'))  define('MEMCACHE_HOST', 'anomemcached');
- 
-
-
-
 
+// email setup /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-/** email setup
- * --- -- -- - - -
- */
-   // SMTP
+    // SMTP
 define('MAIL_MAILER', $env['MAIL_MAILER']);
 define('MAIL_HOST', $env['MAIL_HOST']);
 define('MAIL_PORT', $env['MAIL_PORT']);
 define('MAIL_USERNAME', $env['MAIL_USERNAME']);
 define('MAIL_PASSWORD', $env['MAIL_PASSWORD']);
 define('MAIL_ENCRYPTION', $env['MAIL_ENCRYPTION']);
-   // Mailjet
+    // Mailjet
 define('MAILJET_APIKEY', $env['MAILJET_APIKEY']);   // apikey
 define('MAILJET_SECRET', $env['MAILJET_SECRET']);   // secret
 define('MAILJET_TICKET', $env['MAILJET_TICKET']);   // apikey:secret
-   // sender info
+    // sender info
 define('MAIL_FROM_NAME', $env['MAIL_FROM_NAME']);
 define('NO_REPLY_EMAIL', $env['NO_REPLY_EMAIL']);
 define('REPLY_TO_EMAIL', $env['REPLY_TO_EMAIL']);
@@ -366,8 +138,8 @@ define ('PETITION_TYPE', [
 
 
 
-// forms
-// --- -- -- - - -
+// the forms ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
 // registration/activation form (from invitation)
 // ---
@@ -704,5 +476,3 @@ define('PENALTY_FORM', [
       ]
   ]
 ]);
-
-
diff --git a/public/app/config/setup-framework.php b/public/app/config/setup-framework.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..63eb486
--- /dev/null
+++ b/public/app/config/setup-framework.php
@@ -0,0 +1,469 @@
+<?php
+/** CONFIGURATION PARAMETRES
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * Here you can find all the setup paramaters that define
+ * key-decisions of your application;
+ * 
+ * ex. Session driver, Cache driver, Cookies Policy etc;
+ * 
+ * Other supplamentary constants according to your application's logic
+ * shall be defined at the end of this file, or in some extra file(s),
+ * ex: ~/public/app/config/setup-application.php
+ * 
+ * 
+ * NOTE:
+ * You may rewrite the defines setting any values manualy;
+ * SETTING anom CONSTANTS VIA an `.env` FILE IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED;
+ * The default `.env` file is saved into project's root
+ *  
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+
+/** Preload environmental file
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * Setting up main constants via en envoronment file is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED;
+ * read ini file if exist
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+if (file_exists(APP_ROOT ."/.env")) {
+  $env = parse_ini_file(APP_ROOT. "/.env");
+}
+
+
+
+
+## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+##
+##       - - - -- -- ---  M A I N  C O N S T A N T S  --- -- -- - - -
+##  Main constants (names, labels, security options, optimzation defaults etc)
+##
+## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+/** ENVIRONMENT constant
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * define application's environment stage; [PRODUCTION|staging|develpment|testing|*]
+ * seting this constant to 'PRODUCTION' eliminates debuggin comments;
+ * 
+ * DO NOT FORGET to change this setting when deploying to a different stage
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+define('PRODUCTION', ($env['ENVIRONMENT'] == 'PRODUCTION') );
+
+
+
+
+/** APPLICATION NAMES AND URL DEFAULTS
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * NOTE:
+ * if the `.env` file exists ... do not touch anything
+ * else ... replace $env[*] values with your setup/defaults
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+    // Application Name (how developer refers to it)
+define('APP_NAME', $env['APP_NAME'] ?? 'anom.App');
+
+    // Site Title (the end-users' title)
+define('SITE_TITLE', 'schoolGov');      
+
+    // Application version (major_version + subversion_class) keep it simple
+define('APP_VERSION', $env['APP_VERSION']);     // ex: '1.alfa' -or- '2.rc' etc.
+
+    // root url of the web app
+define('SITE_URL', $env['ANOM_HOSTNAME']);      
+
+
+
+
+/** APPLICATION PATHS
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * Obligarory:
+ * These are needed in order to run the bare minimum MVC system
+ * They also make code easier to read
+ * 
+ * NOTE:
+ * most likely you do not need to change any of these subsection defines;
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+define('URL_ROOT', '/');
+
+define('INIT_APPLICATION', APP_ROOT.'/core/config/init.php');
+ 
+define('VIEWS_DIRECTORY', $env['VIEWS_DIRECTORY'] ?? (WEB_ROOT.'/app/views/'));
+ 
+define('TESTS_DIRECTORY', $env['TESTS_DIRECTORY'] ?? (APP_ROOT."/tests/"));
+
+
+
+
+/** AUTOLOADER /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * An autoloader for classes is required;
+ * 
+ * 
+ ** OPTION 1: COMPOSER
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Composer is recommended and makes much more than simple autoloding
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+define('AUTOLOADER' , APP_ROOT.'/vendor/autoload.php');
+
+/** OPTION 2: Custom Autoloader
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * If Composer is not supported, another autoloading proccess required
+ * Comment/Disable the 1st option and uncomment/Enable the next line
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * NOTE: if the custom autoloadet is used
+ * then you need to defing CLASSPATHS constant-array too;
+ */
+
+# define('AUTOLOADER' , '../core/helpers/autoload.php');
+ 
+/** Autoload paths 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * CLASSPATHS : array of paths where classes are saved
+ * 
+ * NOTE:
+ * if the custom autoloader is used (instead of composer's)
+ * then you need to defing CLASSPATHS constant-array too;
+ * 
+ * In most cases you won't need this,
+ * so comment the next lines out of the code-base
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+# define('CLASSPATHS', array(
+#     APP_ROOT .'/core/classes/',       // core classes
+#     WEB_ROOT .'/app/controllers/',    // controller classes
+#     WEB_ROOT .'/app/models/',         // model classes
+#     WEB_ROOT .'/app/extends/',        // extending core classes
+#     APP_ROOT .'/vendor/'              // vendor/dependency classes
+#   )
+# );
+
+
+
+
+/** SESSION HANDLING
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * there are several session drivers for session handling:
+ *    
+ * 'DefaultSession'  : uses the default (file-based) php session management
+ * 'FileSession'     : defines a custom file-based session mechanism
+ * 'DatabaseSession' : mechanism that stores Session data into a DataBase
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+define('SESSION_DRIVER', $env['SESSION_DRIVER'] ?? 'DefaultSession');
+
+
+
+/** FileSession Path
+ * --- -- -- - - -
+ * if FileSession is selected, a path for session-files is needed
+ * 
+ * TODO:
+ * also, the hybrid sessioning (in progress) will need this setting
+ * 
+ * NOTE:
+ * DefaultSession is also file-based but to not need a file-path setting
+ * (php will handle any file-needed actions to the file-system)
+ */
+
+# define('FILESESSION_PATH', '../storage/session');
+
+
+
+/** COOKIE SETTINGS
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * Define cookie policy (cookie sharing and securing)
+ * 
+ * recomended values for production environment:
+ * COOKIE_SECURE=true
+ * COOKIE_SAMESITE='Strict'
+ * 
+ * NOTE:
+ * on development environment COOKIE_SECURE has to be false
+ * in order for the test server to use them from http://locahost
+ * 
+ * for more info about cookie policy read:
+ * https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.session-set-cookie-params.php
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+define('COOKIE_SECURE', PRODUCTION);    // Secure cookie policy [true|false]
+
+define('COOKIE_SAMESITE', $env['COOKIE_SAMESITE'] ?? 'Strict');    // SameSite cookie policy [Strict|Lax|None]
+     
+# define('COOKIE_DOMAIN', $env['ANOM_HOSTNAME']);   // domain to be visible on
+
+
+
+
+/** Session and cookie names
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+define('SESSION_NAME', 'offticket');    // cookie for session (office ticket)
+define('CONNECTION_COOKIE', 'con');     // cookie for connection
+define('MAX_SESSION_LIFE', 2*60*60);    // maximum session lifetime (2 hours)
+
+
+
+/** SECURITY SETTINGS ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * Cross Site Request Forgery
+ * ---
+ * Enables a CSRF cookie token to be set. When set to TRUE, token will be
+ * checked on a submitted form. If you are accepting user data, it is strongly
+ * recommended CSRF protection be enabled.
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+define('CSRF_PROTECTION', false);
+
+define('CSRF_TOKEN_NAME', 'csrf_test_name');        // token name
+
+define('CSRF_COOKIE_NAME', 'csrf_cookie_name');     // cookie name
+
+define('CSRF_EXPIRE', 7200);            // The number in seconds the token should expire.
+
+define('CSRF_REGENERATE', TRUE);        // Regenerate token on every submission
+
+define('CSRF_EXCLUDE_URIS', array());   // Array of URIs which ignore CSRF checks
+
+
+
+
+/* ADVANCED OPTIMIZATION ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ *
+ * APP_CACHE defines the cache-driver;
+ * accepted values are the name of the Cache-interface impementations (the exact
+ * names of the classes)
+ *
+ * 'FileCache'  : caching in filesystem; fair if caching on HDD; great on SSD
+ * 'RedisCache' : caching in Redis server; generally recommended if available
+ * 'MemCachedCache' : caching in Memcached server; recommended if available
+ *
+ * NOTE: FileCache on a NVMe SDD is the fastest option;
+ * Redis and Memcached are really-fast caching options and are available for
+ * scaling horizontaly your application (eache one has it's own strngths;
+ * study, then choose the one that fulfills your needs;
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+  
+define('CACHE_DRIVER', $env['CACHE_DRIVER'] ?? 'FileCache');
+
+
+ 
+
+
+## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+##
+## - - - -- -- ---  C O N N E C T I O N   C R E D E N T I A L S  --- -- -- - - -
+##
+## -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+
+
+/** SERVICE PARAMETRES
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * Connection parametres and credentials for accssing services 
+ * needed by the application; Such services may be..
+ * 
+ * - RDBMS
+ *   -- MySQL
+ *   -- PotgresSQL
+ * 
+ * - Caching services
+ *   -- Redis
+ *   -- MemCached
+ * 
+ * Edit only the constants needed by the application;
+ * Comment those you do not need;
+ * 
+ * /////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+ */
+
+/** DATABASE CONNECTION PARAMETRES
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Production and staging environments may use different databases.
+ * 
+ * A safe practice is to keep credentials outside plain files like this one
+ * in environmental variable or other secret file etc.
+ * 
+ * Uncomment/enable each group of definitions suits your case to define
+ * the credentials needed for accessing the database
+ */
+
+define('DB_NAME', $env['DB_NAME']);
+ 
+define('DB_USER', $env['DB_USER']);
+  
+define('DB_PASS', $env['DB_PASS']);
+  
+/** NOTE:
+ * PDO_HOST can be a hostname/port combination -or- a unix socket
+ * 
+ * ...examples:
+ * define('PDO_HOST', 'host=/localhost')    ## hostname case
+ * define('PDO_HOST', 'host=/localhost;port=3456')    ## hostname/port case
+ * define('PDO_HOST', 'unix_socket=/sql/ex123:europe:some-db');   ## unix socket
+ * define('PDO_HOST', 'unix_socket=/cloudsql/name-123456:europe-west4:name-db-eu');
+ */
+ 
+define('PDO_HOST', $env['PDO_HOST']);
+  
+define('DB_TIMEZONE', "SET time_zone = 'Europe/Athens'");
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
+/** CACHED SERVICES
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * impemented services:
+ * - File Cache
+ * - Redis
+ * - Memcached
+ * 
+ * NOTE:
+ * Both Redis and Memcached configurations are given as a template to work on;
+ * In most cases the default values should do the job -- of course you need to
+ * read the README file (check the project's root);
+ * As these caching services are not fully tested you may need to ochestrate
+ * the services in detail or edit the connection strings into the core classes
+ * (hosted under the '/core/classes/cacher' folder)
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+define('FILECACHE_PATH', APP_ROOT.'/storage/cache/');     // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'FileCache'
+
+define('MEDIA_STORAGE_ROOT', APP_ROOT.'/storage/uploads/');    // Media files root directory
+ 
+
+// CONNECTIONS (if Redis or Memcached is selected) ...
+ 
+
+# define('REDIS_HOST', '127.0.0.1');              // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'RedisCache'
+ 
+# define('MEMCAHCED_SERVER', '127.0.0.1');        // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'MemCached'
+ 
+ 
+ # define('MEMCAHCED_SERVER', '127.0.0.1');        // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'MemCached'
+ 
+/** REDIS SERVICE
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Most of the times Redis is running on 'localhost' (host = '127.0.0.1')
+ * When implemented via anom's docker-composer (redis via bridge) then you need
+ * do declare the hostname as 'redis'
+ */
+
+# define('REDIS_HOST', '127.0.0.1');    // if CACHE_DRIVER is set to 'RedisCache'
+# if (!defined('REDIS_HOST'))           define('REDIS_HOST', 'redis');
+# 
+# if (!defined('REDIS_PORT'))           define('REDIS_PORT', 6379);
+# 
+# if (!defined('REDIS_PASS'))           define('REDIS_PASS', null);
+ 
+ 
+/** MEMCACHED
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * Memcached looks very much like Redis (plus, both are serving from RAM)
+ * Usualy Memcashed is running localy so host is 'localhost' ('127.0.0.1')
+ * If you use the framework's docker-composer implementation then
+ * the hostname is 'anomemcached'
+ */
+
+# if (!defined('MEMCACHE_HOST'))  define('MEMCACHE_HOST', 'anomemcached');
+ 
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+/** General Scope Constants
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * needed by the framework for common tasks
+ * 
+ * Anom suggests:
+ * + Common Content Types, and
+ * + Proxy flags 
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+
+/** COMMON CONTENT TYPES
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+define('COMMON_CONTENT_TYPES', array(
+        // text,css
+    'text/html; charset=UTF-8', 'text/css',
+        // json
+    'application/json; charset=utf-8',
+        // javascript
+    'application/javascript; charset=utf-8',
+        // images    
+    'image/png', 'image/jpeg', 'image/web',
+        // pdf
+    'application/pdf',
+        // word
+    'application/msword', 'application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.wordprocessingml.document',
+        // excel
+    'application/vnd.ms-excel', 'application/vnd.openxmlformats-officedocument.spreadsheetml.sheet',
+        // rar
+    'application/vnd.rar', 'application/x-rar-compressed', 'application/octet-stream',
+        // zip
+    'application/zip', 'application/x-zip-compressed', 'multipart/x-zip', 'application/octet-stream',
+  )
+);
+
+
+/** PROXY_FLAGS
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * These options represend altered/non-default behaviour
+ * and will be resolved bitwise, so use powers of 2
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+define('PROXY_CACHE_ERRORS', 1);  // cache result even if error
+define('PROXY_IGNORE_CACHE', 2);  // ignore cache if exist
+define('PROXY_DO_NOT_CACHE', 4);  // do not cache result
+
+
+
+/** need even more constants?
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ * 
+ * Append them here,
+ * or require an extra `constants definition` file
+ * 
+ * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+ */
+require_once WEB_ROOT.'/app/config/setup-application.php';
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/public/app/routes/api.php b/public/app/routes/api.php
index 94ae2a6..dd0fecf 100644
--- a/public/app/routes/api.php
+++ b/public/app/routes/api.php
@@ -12,33 +12,29 @@ use app\controllers\api\Doc_api;
  */
 
 
-// api: tree of product-categories 
-Route::add('/api/tree',
-    function() {     Doc_api::tree(); },
-    'get'
-);
+// depricated: (not needed)
 
 // api: database documentation
-Route::add('/api/doc',
-    function() {     Doc_api::dbDoc(); },
-    'get'
-);
-
-Route::add('/api/url/([0-9a-zA-Z-_\/]*)',
-    function($url) {            Common_api::category_by_url($url); }
-);
-
-// route: /api/table
-Route::add('/api/([0-9a-zA-Z-_]*)',
-    function($table) {          Common_api::table($table); },
-    'get'
-);
-
-// route: /api/table/{id}
-Route::add('/api/([0-9a-zA-Z-_]*)/([0-9]*)',
-    function($table, $id) {     Common_api::record($table, $id); },
-    'get'
-);
+// Route::add('/api/doc',
+//     function() {     Doc_api::dbDoc(); },
+//     'get'
+// );
+// 
+// Route::add('/api/url/([0-9a-zA-Z-_\/]*)',
+//     function($url) {            Common_api::category_by_url($url); }
+// );
+// 
+// // route: /api/table
+// Route::add('/api/([0-9a-zA-Z-_]*)',
+//     function($table) {          Common_api::table($table); },
+//     'get'
+// );
+// 
+// // route: /api/table/{id}
+// Route::add('/api/([0-9a-zA-Z-_]*)/([0-9]*)',
+//     function($table, $id) {     Common_api::record($table, $id); },
+//     'get'
+// );
 
 
 
diff --git a/public/app/routes/frontend.php b/public/app/routes/frontend.php
index b0e064b..f10f29d 100644
--- a/public/app/routes/frontend.php
+++ b/public/app/routes/frontend.php
@@ -17,10 +17,16 @@ Route::add('/invitation/([0-9]*)', function($id) {
     Auth::invitation($id);
 });
 
+// new petition
 Route::add('/petition/([0-9a-z\-_]*)', function($tag) {
     Office::request_petition($tag);
 });
 
+// existing petition
+Route::add('/petition/([0-9a-z\-_]*)/([0-9a-f]*)', function($tag) {
+    Office::filter_request_petition($tag, $id);
+});
+
 // Error pages
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index 92b825a..5c84e97 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -12,20 +12,30 @@
  * And as long as you write code using secure practices,
  * it will be secure.
  * 
- * Copyleft: George Halkiadalos
+ * Copyleft: George Halkiadakis
  * Licence: BSD
  * \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\
  * -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
  */
-// Load parametres:
-// contants and constant arrays
+
+
+// specify base paths
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-require_once '../core/config/constants.php';        // general constants
+$dir = explode('/', __DIR__);
+$pub = array_pop($dir);
 
-require_once '../core/config/anom_settings.php';    // core framework constants
+define('APP_ROOT', implode('/',$dir));      // root of application (public's parent)
 
-require_once 'app/config/app_constants.php';        // application constants
+define('WEB_ROOT', APP_ROOT.'/'.$pub);      // root of public directory
+
+
+
+// Load parametres:
+// contants and constant arrays
+// -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
+
+require_once WEB_ROOT.'/app/config/setup-framework.php';        // application constants
 
 
 
@@ -34,17 +44,20 @@ require_once 'app/config/app_constants.php';        // application constants
 require_once AUTOLOADER;
 
 
+
 // Enable sessions
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 $session = new (SESSION_DRIVER)();	                // Start a new session
 
 
+
 // prepare output control and benchmarking
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 ob_start();                                         // handle output
 if (!PRODUCTION)   Benchmark::add_spot('start');    // benchmark request's life
 
 
+
 // Initialize Application
 // finalize framework; handle credentials; setup app-engine; insert routes
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -58,6 +71,7 @@ require_once INIT_APPLICATION;
 Route::run(Registry::get('REQUEST'));               // Run baby, run!
 
 
+
 if (!PRODUCTION)   Benchmark::add_spot('end');      // request ended
 if (!PRODUCTION)   Benchmark::render_report();      // echo benchmark report
 ob_flush();                                         // flush output
diff --git a/tests/settings.php b/tests/settings.php
index 20cdde6..050cbfa 100755
--- a/tests/settings.php
+++ b/tests/settings.php
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ print_r([
     'app_name' => APP_NAME ?? 'undefined',
     'site_title' => SITE_TITLE ?? 'undefined',
     'appRoot' => APP_ROOT,
+    'webRoot' => WEB_ROOT,
     'views' => VIEWS_DIRECTORY,
     'init' => INIT_APPLICATION,
     'site_url' => SITE_URL ?? 'undefined',