CodeIgniter, header controller is not loading index method - php

Question

Firstly I am getting no errors, I am trying to create an is_logged_in() method in my header model in Code Igniter, but nothing in the index method of the controller will load. I added die(); into it and even that wont execute, Here is my code:
header.php - controller
<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
class Header extends CI_Controller {
public function index() {
print_r($this->session->all_userdata());
$data = array();
$data['title'] = 'Wenso - Timesheet';
$username = $this->session->userdata('username');
$this->load->view('template/header', $data);
$this->load->model('header_model');
$is_logged_in = $this->header_model->is_logged_in($username);
die($is_logged_in);
}
}
header_model.php - Model
<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');
class Header_model extends CI_Model {
public function is_logged_in($username){
$q = $this
->db
->where('email_address', $username)
->limit(1)
->get('users');
die($q->last_query());
if($q->row('username') != $username){
return FALSE;
} else {
return TRUE;
}
}
}
Note: none of the die() functions in my code work.. Anything I add into the index function of the controller (which to my understanding is loaded by default) does not get executed...
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

public function __construct() { parent::__construct(); }
Add this method at your model else you wont have $this->db loaded

Answer 2

As AdrienXL pointed out the controller is only loaded whern the url /controller_name is called.. This wasn;t the case in my user case scenario.
Also something worth pointing out as Sevtilo mentioned above if you create a construct method in CodeIgniter you ovewrite the dafult calls for things such as $this->db class, using:
public function __construct() {
parent::__contsruct();
}
Will get the parent classes contsructor.
Regards
Ric

Answer 3

If you want to call this code transparently (ie without having to put any extra mess in the uri) then move the code into the constructor of an extension called MY_Controller.php in application/core that looks a bit like this...
class MY_Controller extends CI_Controller {
public function __construct() {
parent::__construct();
print_r($this->session->all_userdata());
$data = array(); $data['title'] = 'Wenso - Timesheet';
$username = $this->session->userdata('username');
$this->load->view('template/header', $data);
$this->load->model('header_model');
$is_logged_in = $this->header_model->is_logged_in($username);
die($is_logged_in);
}
}
And then in your application/controllers files extend this class like
class Some_controller extends MY_Controller{
function __construct (){
parent::__construct();
}
public function index(){
//your header code will be run before this or any other method in this class
}
}
And the code from MY_Controller.php will run before any of your methods.