Yii - Get data from Model - php

Question

I have the following in my controller:
public function actionIndex() {
$userID = Yii::app()->user->getId();
$arNotifs = Notification::model()->getNotificationsByUserId($userID);
$this->render('index', array("arNotifications"=>$arNotifs, "userID"=>$userID));
}
I have the following in a file called notification.php in my models:
class Notification extends CActiveRecord {
// ------ BUNCH OF STUFF
public function getNotificationsByUserId($userId) {
$userId = (int) $userId;
$query = Yii::app()->db->createCommand();
$query->select('n.id, n.title, n.content, n.updated');
$query->from('hr4_notification_x_user nxu');
$query->join('hr4_notification n', 'nxu.notification = n.id');
$query->where('nxu.user=:userId', array(':userId' => $userId);
return $query->queryAll();
}
// ------ MORE STUFF
}
When I rem out the line
$arNotifs = Notification::model()->getNotificationsByUserId($userID);
and replace it with a static value it works fine. It seems that in my noob ways I am missing some vital step. The controller seems to have no idea what Notification is.
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

I believe the most elegant way to get your notifications on the controller would be something like:
$arNotifs = Yii::app()->user->model->notifications;
To achieve such, you might need to implement a getModel() method on your class that extends CWebUser. That method would return an instance of an user that extends CActiveRecord. Then your user model can have a relations() method, like the following:
class UserModel extends CActiveRecord {
public function relations() {
return array(
'notifications' => array(self::HAS_MANY, 'Notification', 'user'),
);
}
}
This will prevent you from writing that query and will make things more clear (on both, models and controller). If you will, read a bit about relations.

Answer 2

You cannot use the Notification model like this.
You can instantiate it with $notification = new Notification();
and then do a $notification->getNotificationsByUserId($userID);
However this would be not very good. I would move the notification code from the model to the User model.
This was you dont even need to pass the user ID.
Or maybe even better, if you make a component out of Notification and use it as a service.