MVC: Model View interaction in PHP - php

Question

I'm currently learning the ropes of the MVC pattern and came across a problem I can't seem
to fix in a way I want and is in line with the MVC pattern.
I have set up the router, controllers and views up successfully.
The only thing I don't really get is the use of the Model. I know it's supposed to
serve the Data to the view, and here it is I have a problem.
I want to pass a function thru my view method, but it executes before it should be.
is there a way
I will try to be as specific as possible about the situation so sorry for the long post.
The controller class is this:
class Controller{
private $tpl_name = 'default';
public function model($model){
require('../admin/model/'.$model.'.model.php');
return new $model();
}
public function view($page_title,$file_paths,$params,$data = []) {
// takes an array with the file paths
$this->content = $file_paths;
$tpl_name = $this->tpl_name;
require_once('templates/'.$tpl_name.'/header.php');
require_once('templates/'.$tpl_name.'/nav.php');
require_once('templates/'.$tpl_name.'/content-top.php');
foreach ($file_paths as $content){
require_once('view/'.$content);
}
require_once('templates/'.$tpl_name.'/content-bottom.php');
require_once('templates/'.$tpl_name.'/footer.php');
}
}
The view renders the template I want, takes parameters from the router and, the data that
needs to be handled in the desired view. So far so good.
I want to serve my posts in my admin panel that displays a table of all the posts in the DB.
I have written a method that fetches the data, and a method that writes the data.
class Post{
......
//other functions above
public function displayPosts(){
// get's all the posts form the data base, returns an object array
$posts = Post::fetchContent('posts',0);
// array get's passes to the write function which will write out the data.
$writer = Post::write($posts);
}
static public function write(Array $posts){
foreach($posts as $single){
// for each object in the array, assign the vars so the view can handle them
// to create a single row in the table for each object:
$trashed = $single->getTrashed();
$id = $single->getID();
$title = $single->getTitle();
$category = $single->getCategory();
$content = $single->getContent();
$author = $single->getAuthor();
$date = $single->getDate();
$approved = $single->getApproved();
$dbt = $single->getDbt();
// This is a template which represents a table row with the post data I need.
require('view/content_table.php');
}
//controller file (needs to moved to other file later): handles approve/remove/edit/delete actions.
require('view/manage_content.php');
}
}
Now we have arrived at the problem:
When I call the model in my controller and render the view, it will execute immediatly
before the rest of my view loads, resulting in errors, although it displays the data,
it is not in my template, but above it, just in plain text.
errors:
Notice: Undefined variable: _SESSION in /Volumes/HDD Mac/Websites/server/admin/view/content_table.php on line 8
Warning: session_start(): Cannot send session cache limiter - headers already sent (output started at ...)
class Dashboard extends Controller {
public function index($params = null){
$model = $this->model('Post');
$posts = $model->displayPosts();
// view takes: page_title,[array of view files],params from the router,array of data from model
$this->view('Dashboard',['admin.php'],$params,[ 'posts' => $posts]);
}
}
Before I was trying to use MVC I just outputted this in my view:
And it worked just fine.
Non relevant HTML above
$posts = Post::fetchContent('posts',0);
// array get's passes to the write function which will write out the data.
$writer = Post::write($posts);
Non relevant HTML below
But now when I pass the display post function, I just want to do this in my view:
echo $data['posts'];
which doesn't work because it already executed my Write function.
The only way I could work around like this was by adding the content of my write function to the view,
and only pass the fetchContent method to my view method (this will output an array of objects).
But since I need this info in two place I dont want to repeat this code, I would prefer echoing
all out.
Non relevant HTML above
$posts = $data['posts'];
foreach($posts as $single){
// for each object in the array, assign the vars so the view can handle them
// to create a single row in the table for each object:
$trashed = $single->getTrashed();
$id = $single->getID();
$title = $single->getTitle();
$category = $single->getCategory();
$content = $single->getContent();
$author = $single->getAuthor();
$date = $single->getDate();
$approved = $single->getApproved();
$dbt = $single->getDbt();
// This is a template which represents a table row with the post data I need.
require('view/content_table.php');
}
//controller file (needs to moved to other file later): handles approve/remove/edit/delete actions.
require('view/manage_content.php');
Non relevant HTML below
Is it bad practise to just skip the use of the Model here and do it like this:
Non relevant HTML above
$posts = Post::fetchContent('posts',0);
// array get's passes to the write function which will write out the data.
$writer = Post::write($posts);
Non relevant HTML below
Or is there a way to rewrite my Post::Write function? Or just use the foreach loop in the view?
Thank you all for taking the time!
If you need more info, just ask:-)