..code-block::xml

..code-block::php

Referring to the Service

To refer to a controller that's defined as a service, use the single colon (:)

notation. For example, to forward to the ``indexAction()`` method of the service

defined above with the id ``app.hello_controller``::

If the fully-qualified class name (FQCN) of your controller is also the id of

your service then you can refer to your controller using the usual notations.

For example, to forward to the ``indexAction()`` method of the service

defined above with the id ``AppBundle\Controller\HelloController``::

..note::

To refer to a controller that's defined as a service whose ID is not your

controller fully-qualified class name (FQCN), use the single colon (:)

notation. For example, to forward to the ``indexAction()`` method of a service

defined with the id ``app.hello_controller``::

You cannot drop the ``Action`` part of the method name when using this

syntax.

You can also route to the service by using the same notation when defining

the route ``_controller`` value:

..note::

You cannot drop the ``Action`` part of the method name when using this

syntax.

..tip::

You can also use annotations to configure routing using a controller

defined as a service. Make sure you specify the service ID in the

``@Route`` annotation. See the `FrameworkExtraBundle documentation`_ for

details.

``@Route`` annotation if your service ID is not your controller

fully-qualified class name (FQCN). See the

`FrameworkExtraBundle documentation`_ for details.

..tip::

If your controller implements the ``__invoke()`` method, you can simply

refer to the service id (``app.hello_controller``).

refer to the service id (``AppBundle\Controller\HelloController`` or

``app.hello_controller`` for example).

..versionadded::2.6

Support for ``__invoke()`` was introduced in Symfony 2.6.

..code-block::xml

Rather than fetching the ``templating`` service from the container, you can

inject *only* the exact service(s) that you need directly into the controller.