(written by Grok and reviewed by Max Milbers)
Audience: Core contributors and extension authors who copy core patterns
Status: VirtueMart 5 — Joomla is the test host, not the public API of the component
1. Why this exists
VirtueMart 4 called JFactory, JText, JRequest everywhere. That tied the shop to Joomla internals. VirtueMart 5 is developed standalone. A WordPress host (or a CLI script) should talk to VirtueMart helpers, not to Joomla’s application object.
VirtueMart’s answer: a thin VM API in administrator/components/com_virtuemart/helpers/. New core uses that. Plugins may still speak Joomla until VirtueMart 6.
2. Map
| Old Joomla facade | VirtueMart 5 |
|---|---|
JFactory |
vmFactory |
JRequest / raw JInput |
vRequest |
JSession::getFormToken() |
vRequest::getFormToken() |
JSession::checkToken() |
vRequest::vmCheckToken() |
JText |
vmText |
JLanguage |
vmLanguage |
JDispatcher / ad-hoc plugin import |
vDispatcher::trigger() |
JHtml for VM forms |
VmHtml |
JFile / JFolder / JPath |
vFile / vFolder / vPath |
JUri |
vmUri |
JRoute::_() |
still JRoute::_() — no vmRoute yet |
Inside a proxy, Joomla may still be called. vmFactory is allowed to use JFactory. Your code is not allowed to call vmFactory from a method that is vmFactory. Do not replace the Joomla call inside the proxy with the proxy.
3. Tokens
<input type="hidden" name="<?php echo vRequest::getFormToken(); ?>" value="1" />
vRequest::vmCheckToken() or vmExit('Invalid Token');State-changing form POSTs: token. PayPal webhooks: PayPal signature, not this token. JSON getMedia / getRelated: token and ACL.
4. Do’s and don’ts
- Core / new helpers: VM names. Do not add
JFactoryin new core. - Third-party plugins: Joomla APIs still work in VM5. VM6 is when the plugin API itself gets typed and stricter.
- Frontend layouts: no
namespace VirtueMart(shop template BC). Backend layouts may use it. - Do not write bare
Route::_(). The leftover isJRoute::_().
Plugin import order is a separate article: vDispatcher.
