How to access one controller action inside another controller action? - php

Question

I am using cakephp-2.x. I have one function name user_info() in the UsersController.php i want to access this in another controller name MessagesController.php
Code -
UsersController.php
public function user_info(){
$user_id=$this->Session->read('Auth.User.id');
$data=$this->User->findById($user_id);
$this->set('user_info',$data);
}
MessagesController.php
public function index(){
//$userInfo=new UsersController();
//$userInfo->user_info();
$this->user_info();
pr($data);
}
Error Message-
Fatal Error
Error: Call to undefined method MessagesController::user_info()
File: E:\xampp\htdocs\2014\myshowcam\msc\app\Controller\MessagesController.php
Line: 18
Notice: If you want to customize this error message, create app\View\Errors\fatal_error.ctp

Answer 1

Typically if you're trying to access a function in one controller from another controller you have a fundamental flaw in your project's logic.
But in general object usage is thus:
$otherController = new whateverMyControllerNameIs();
$otherController->functionName();
However I'm not familiar enough with cake to tell you the pitfalls of doing such a thing. For example I have no idea what this would do to routes or what other variables/objects are required to initialize a controller correctly.
EDIT:
Ref: CakePHP 2.3.8: Calling Another Controller function in CronController.php
App::import('Controller', 'Products'); // mention at top
// Instantiation // mention within cron function
$Products = new ProductsController;
// Call a method from
$Products->ControllerFunction();

Answer 2

Try requestAction function of cakephp
$result = $this->requestAction(array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'user_info'));

Answer 3

Why would a simple, When can complicated?
All the information for a registered user of User model is accessible in the following manner:
AppController.php
public $user_info; /* global scope */
public function beforeFilter(){
$this->user_info = $this->Auth->user(); // for access user data in any controller
$this->set('user_info_view',$this->Auth->user()); // for access user data in any view or layout
}
MessagesController.php
public function index(){
debug($this->user_info);
$my_messages = $this->Message->find('all',
array('conditions' => array('Message.user_id' => $this->user_info['id']))
}
....
layout or view.ctp
<?php echo $user_info_view['name']; ?> // email, etc

Answer 4

Why not take advantage of the way CakePHP handles relationships? There's a very easy way to achieve what you're trying to do without extending controllers or loading in additional controllers which seems excessive for your example.
Inside AppController's beforeFilter()
Configure::write('UserId', $this->Session->read('Auth.User.id'));
This will allow you to access the UserID from your models
Inside your User's model, create the following function
/**
* Sample query which can be expanded upon, adding fields or contains.
*
* #return array The user data if found
*/
public function findByUserId() {
$user = $this->find('first', array(
'conditions' => array(
'User.id' => Configure::read('UserId')
)
));
return $user;
}
Inside your Users controller (Minimal is better, no?)
public function user_info() {
$this->set('user', $this->User->findByUserId());
}
Inside your Messages controller
public function index() {
$this->set('user', $this->Message->User->findByUserId());
// --- Some more stuff here ---
}
And that's it, no need to be extending controllers, just make sure your Message and User model are related to each other, failing that you can bindModel or use ClassRegistry::init('User')-> for example.