I'm trying to decide on something, where to put database logic, in the controller or model when using the eloquent orm.
In a controller I have the following method:
public function postAdd(){
$amodel=new myModel();
$amodel->name=Input::get('name');
$amodel->save();
$id=$amodel->id;
}
Which is how the guides say to use it however should this logic not go inside a method on the model rather than in the controller? I know the above still provides abstraction from the database but the bit that I'm unsure of is how reusable it then becomes... or not as the case maybe.
Would it therefore be a better option to do the following:
public function postAdd(){
$amodel=new myModel();
$id = $amodel->addPost(Input::get('name'));
}
So I pass along information to a method on the model which does the work. This allows it to be reused and the model method changed if required without updating many lines of code?
The answer might simply be 'yes, do it like you've suggested' in which case great but I'd be interested on the standard practice when using an ORM like this.
A controller's sole responsibility is handling and delegating UI requests to the Model. That's why it should be skinny. It should only contain code necessary for what it's responsible for. So thats why you should move your code to the model, or, even better and more Laravel-like solution is to use repositories in this case. (link)
Related
Concise: How I can avoid using static methods in a model?
Loquacious: Suppose I have a user class. Having userID I can get user name by (new user($userID))->getUserName(). Fine, what if I want to lookup a user? (new user())->lookup($uname, $pass). Still fine, but the latter case could be done via a simple static method user::lookup($uname, $pass)!
Some thoughts:
It's OK! Use (new object())->method() whenever you want. So should I create a hollow object to call a function?
Move this function out of your model. If it needs a DB lookup, where is better than Model context?
Define it as a static method. So isn't it lame to have a mixture of public and static methods in a class?
Side note: I've searched this question, no avail!
Move this function out of your model. If it needs a DB lookup, where is better than Model context?
Yes, indeed, this is the best way to solve the problem.
Currently your User class violates single responsibility principle which basically, says "one task - one class".
Right now your User describes user entity/state and handles persistence (in your case - retrieval from database). See, two things.
I suggest you create another class that is going to handle persistence tasks, like add/update/delete user. The simplest solution is to create a primitive repostitory, like this:
<?php
class UserRepository
{
public function addUser(User $user);
public function updateUser(User $user);
public function deleteUser(User $user);
public function getUserById($id);
}
Then retrieval of user can be done in the following manner:
// get an instance of this repository class
$userRepository = new UserRepository;
// ask it to find and return user from the database by ID
$user = $userRepository->getUserById($_GET['id']);
Easy to read, easy to handle, right?
This UserRepository class is actually a primitive implementation of Repository Pattern. UserRepository emulates an in-memory collection of all of your users, hiding implementation inside. It hides actual persistence mechanism from you as user: imagine, your coleague would write this class and you're just using its methods, like UserRepository::getById(1) - you don't even know/care if it grabs data from files/db/API. That's neat. )
This particular implementation is described very clearly in Kristopher Wilson's book "The Clean Architecture in PHP", which I highly recommed for you to read: it will take you two-three evenings, and push you to the next level.
You can extend the list of methods, of course, add lookups, etc.
class UserRepository
{
public function getByCompany(Company $company);
public function getByEmail($email);
public function countTotal();
}
In fact, every time you need to grab/add/update user in the database, you should do it via this repository.
I would like to emphasize that this is a simple implementation of the pattern, particularly, if you compare it to what Martin Fowler describes as Repository. However, in most cases it's totally fine.
It's OK! Use (new object())->method() whenever you want. So should I create a hollow object to call a function?
depends on how much creating an instance will cost
Move this function out of your model
Factory Pattern comes in mind here.
notes here:
What happens when $userID in the first call do not exists?
Isnt your lookup() method not creating 2 instances at one call, first for lookup, second the found one that is returned?
A FactoryPattern for example can have findByID() or findByName() and return an UserObject. And all that should not depend on this syntax at all: (new object())->method(), that is nice, but not always best practise.
Since my app is getting bigger i would like to separate admin prefix actions and views from normal actions and views. The new folder for admin is Controller/admin/UsersController.php.
I would like to change my cakephp controllers and views folder structure to match the prefix I'm using.
Example for admin prefix:
Controller:
app/Controller/UsersController.php (contain view(), index() ...)
app/Controller/admin/UsersController.php (contain admin_view(), admin_index() ...)
View:
app/View/Users/index.ctp (for index() in UsersController.php)
app/View/Users/admin/index.ctp (for admin_index() in admin/UsersController.php)
How can I implement this structure using Cakephp 2.6?
Unlike in 3.x where this is the default behavior for prefixes, this isn't supported in 2.x.
You could try hacking it in using a custom/extended dispatcher (in order to retrieve the desired controller) or even dispatcher filters in case you are adventurous, and in your app controller modify the view template path with respect to the prefix.
That should do it, however I would probably simply go for using plugins instead, this will separate things just fine without any additional fiddling.
If you just want to separate logic you could do something like this. It's untested an just thought to give you just the idea. I'll explain the concept after the code:
public function beforeFilter() {
if ($this->request->prefix === 'foo') {
$name = Inflector::classify($this->request->prefix);
$className = $name . 'ChildController';
App::uses($className, 'Controller/Foo');
$this->ChildController = new $className($this);
}
}
public function __call($method, $args) {
if ($this->request->prefix === 'foo' && method_exists($this->ChildController, $method)) {
call_user_func_array([$this->ChildController, $method], $args);
}
}
Depending on the prefix you can load other classes. How you load that class and how you instantiate it, what params you pass to it is up to you. In my example I'm passing the controller instance directly. I think you could actually init a complete controller here but be aware that components like the Session might cause a problem because they might have been already initiated by the "parent" controller.
When you now call a controller method that doesn't exist it will try to call the same method with the same arguments on the ChildController. Not really a great name for it, but maybe you can come up with something better.
You'll have to implement some logic to load the views from the right place in your classes as well but this shouldn't be hard, just check the controller class.
But actually I don't see your problem, I've worked on an app that hat over 560 tables and not putting the code into sub folders wasn't a problem, it did in fact use a similar solution.
I think you have to much code in your controllers, get more code into your models and the controller shouldn't be a problem.
Another solution might be to think about implementing a service layer in CakePHP which implements the actual business logic while a model is reduced to a data handler. The service would sit between a controller and the model. I've done this a few times as well now and if done right it works very well.
For projects written in php, can I call more than one (or multiple) controller in class controller? Example in http://img192.imageshack.us/img192/7538/mvc03.gif
ASK: I need to call an action from another controller... And if I do like the picture above, I'm being out-ethics?
Thanks,
Vinicius.
I'm sure that you can do what you want with whichever framework you're using. If you can't do it natively for whatever reason, then you can extend your framework as required.
Having said that, I personally don't like the idea of a controller calling another controller. It seems to somewhat break the MVC paradigm if only from a theoretical standpoint. What I might do instead is build a library class that contains the functionality required and then have both controllers instantiate that class as a member and call the functions required.
For example, using CodeIgniter:
libraries/MyLib.php:
class MyLib
{
public function MyFunc()
{ /* do whatever */ }
}
controllers/ControllerA.php:
class ControllerA extends Controller
{
public function index()
{
$this->load->library('MyLib');
$this->mylib->MyFunc();
}
}
controllers/ControllerB:
class ControllerB extends Controller
{
public function index()
{
$this->load->library('MyLib');
$this->mylib->MyFunc();
}
}
out-ethics? Anywhose... back to reality.
Yes, a controller can call another controller's action. For instance, in cakePHP, this functionality is afforded via requestAction
// pass uri to request action and receive vars back
$ot3 = $this->requestAction('/stories/xenu');
If you're rolling your own, the details of how to implement it will be very specific to your framework.
then you need to modify framework, find place where controller is lounched and add there your second controller.
what framework you are using?
You can do it any way that you want. You don't have to use MVC if you don't want to. However, in MVC you really should only have one controller active at a time. You probably want multiple Views or Models, not another Controller. There is nothing at all wrong in loading, say, a header and footer view for the menu and footer of the site.
If you are building another Controller, then feel that you need to access the functionality of a previous Controller to access its functionality (because it works with a specific / desired Model), then the Model you developed for the latter probably needs to be refactored. IN plain speak, your target Model may be doing too much. Break it up.
You are trying to avoid repeating yourself (DRY) by using calling the methods of a Controller that has already been developed, but in doing so your are creating TIGHT coupling between both controllers! If something changes in the borrowed controller, it will have an effect on the borrowing controller. Not good, Dr. Jones.
Here is a quick overview of the controllers functionality in most of the application:
controller loads a specific model, gets data from it, formats the data and passes the formatted data to the view.
Now there is a search page, which needs to do a search query over entire database (all models). It needs to show each type of data in its particular formatted output on a single page as a list.
The problem:
The search controller can do the search, dynamically load model for each record type, and get the data from model. Problem comes when the data needs to be formatted. I am trying to load the specific controller from the search controller, which is causing problems.
What to do?
PS: I tried using the 'Wick' library, but it fails when the controller's format function tries to use its own model and session object, giving errors about call to a member on a non-object.
After much refactoring and trial/error, It appears that the best way to achieve the above is this way:
Keep the format function in the base controller from which all other controllers are derived. The format options are passed to the function along with the data object as arguments.
Make a static function in each derived controller, which returns the formatting options of the data.
Inside the search controller (which is itself derived from the base controller), for each data object, call the static function of its particular controller which returns the data formatting options, then use that to format the object for the view.
I guess I can say I will stick to using the model only for interaction with the database, and let everything else be done by controller. If anyone has a better solution still, I am all ears.
It sounds like you want to use the Factory design pattern
Make this a library:
class MyModelFactory {
static public function Factory($data) {
$type = key($data);
return new $type($data);
}
}
now, in your controller, you can do something like this:
$model = MyModelFactory::Factory(array($_REQUEST['model'] => $_REQUEST));
and now you have an object of whatever model was specified in $_REQUEST['model']. Be sure to take any security precautions you may need for your application to assure the user has permissions to use the model that they request
Now, since you want to be using common methods and stuff, your models should probably be based off an abstract class / interface.. so instead of
class MyModelOne extends Model {
// stuff
}
You probably want something like this, to ensure your required methods will always be available:
abstract class MyAbstractModel extends Model {
protected $search_params;
public function __construct($data = array()) {
$search_params = $data['search_params'];
}
protected function GetSearchParameters() {
return $this->search_params;
}
abstract public function GetData();
abstract public function GetColumns();
abstract public function DefineViewOptions();
}
class MyModelOne extends MyAbstractModel {
public function GetData() {
$params = array();
$params[] = $this->db->escape_str($this->GetSearchParameters());
// return whatever data you want, given the search parameter(s)
}
public function GetColumns() {
// return some columns
}
public function DefineViewOptions() {
// return some configuration options
}
}
In general you can't load another controller from within a controller in CodeIgniter (although there are mods that allow you to do something like this).
I would try creating a class for formatting your data and add it to the application/library folder. Then load, use and re-use this class throughout your various controllers.
Here is a page from the CodeIgniter documentation Creating Your Own Libraries that explains the details and conventions.
Also, if a class is overkill, creating helper functions is an even lighter approach.
The difference between libraries and helpers in CodeIgniter is that libraries are classes, helpers are just a group of php functions.
Once you have formatted your data, you can load any view from any controller, so you should still have all the re-usability you need so you DRY (don't repeat yourself)
There are a few simple approaches based on the principle of what's simpler (versus what's perfectly DRY). Here's one alternative approach I use with CodeIgniter:
Instead of trying to load multiple controllers, reuse the view fragments from your search controller (or search route, depending which you're using). This requires using the same naming conventions for your data elements so the views are interchangeable, but you should be doing this anyway.
Instead of using multiple models for search, add a single Search model that knows about the things that can be searched on. If you want to prevent duplicate SQL, reuse the SQL between models (this can be done using constants, or loading SQL from disk).
Controllers are not great candidates for reuse from your own PHP code: they route actions and requests for resources to the things themselves. They are intended to be called via HTTP, using the URI interface you've come up with. Calling them from code is a coupling you want to avoid. That said, reusing controllers from JavaScript (or via cURL) is a great, decoupled way to reuse things in any web framework.
I have to make a view that shows unrelated data from multiple tables. I am new to cakePHP (and PHP in general) and as far as my understanding goes, each model is a depiction of just one table. I know that we can define associations with other tables, but in my case I need to give access to data that is no way related to the model who's view will be opened.
Example:
Say there is a blogging platform and we are currently viewing a post. (Model - Post, function - Read). Now I want a list of (Say) subscribers of our newsletter. This data is not related to the model and hence, I don't think the data will be accessible to the controller. Please tell me how to get this data in view directly.
In your controller, when defining the class, add a class attribute $uses to tell your controller which models to load.
class SomeController extends AppController {
public $name = 'Some';
public $uses = array( 'Model1', 'Model2' );}
And then, in your method, you just call that model:
$result = $this->Model1->find('all');
$result2= $this->Model2->find('all');
There are a few ways to do this. Here is gwoo's synopsis of how they differ and when to use which:
App::import() only includes the file.
So you would new to create a new
instance every time. This is not
recommended
ClassRegistry::init() loads the file,
adds the instance to the a object map
and returns the instance. This is an
easy and convenient way to access
models.
Controller::loadModel(); Uses
ClassRegistry::init() adds the model
to a property of the controller and
also allows persistModel to be
enabled.
While you "can" do any of these
things, you should ask yourself why
you are creating dependencies on
models that are not natural to the
controller. If you "have" to do use
any of these, then I would do so in
reverse order of the way i described
them. IE, Controller::loadModel ()
then CR::init() and actually I never
use App::import() for models. Hope
this helps.
See this page for the full discussion: http://groups.google.com/group/cake-php/browse_thread/thread/137c57b4eb010317
In addition, some other answers have suggested including the unrelated model in the $uses array, but I would avoid this method as it is really intended to tell the model which database table to use and implies that its members are central to the purpose of the model, which is not the case in the situation you describe.
If you're going to use it in a couple of functions in the same model, you should specify it inside the Controller via:
$uses = array('Post', 'Suscriber');
Now, if it is a elemnt of the layout, you should set it on an element.
In the view:
$this->renderElement('suscribers-list');
Now you must create a suscribers-list.ctp file in views/elements. From there import the model:
App::Import('Model', 'Suscriber');
$this->Suscriber = new Suscriber();
$suscribers = $this->Suscriber->find('all');
pr($suscribers);
It's not pretty, but it's what works for me. I don't know if there's another way.
You can do this with less code, and slightly simpler. You can make use of the AppController::loadModel('ModelName'). (reference) This method takes care of initilization step that metrobalderas suggested so then if becomes
$this->loadModel('Subscriber');
$subscribers = $this->Subscriber->find('all', ... );
There was a function that was deprecated in 1.2 that was just loadModel('ModelName'); but not the AppController method. Also it should be noted that you should not directly load models in an element, as that is not really in the spirit of MVC. Keep that in the model. Using this method rather the var $uses = array('ModelName'); does reduce the overhead of the unrelated models in methods that don't need it, as well as reduces some of the complications that can occur when using that approach.