CodeIgniter - adding comments to a post - php

Question

I'd like some help please. I have a post page that has the full post and below the post a small form for adding comments. The uri of the post page is: site/posts/1, so it is in posts controller, and the form action is form_open(site_url('comments/add/'.$post->post_id)).
This is my add() function inside comments controller:
public function add($post_id){
// if nothing posted redirect
if (!$this->input->post()) {
redirect(site_url());
}
// TODO: save comment in database
$result = $this->comment_model->add($post_id);
if ($result !== false) {
redirect('posts/'.$post_id);
}
// TODO:load the view if required
}
and this is the add() function inside the comment model
public function add($post_id){
$post_data = array(
'post_id' => $post_id,
'username' => $this->input->post('username'),
'email' => $this->input->post('email'),
'comment' => $this->input->post('comment')
);
if ($this->validate($post_data)) {
$this->db->insert('comments', $post_data);
if ($this->db->affected_rows()) {
return $this->db->insert_id();
}
return false;
} else {
return false;
}
}
What I'm trying to do is if the $result = $this->comment_model->add($post_id); fails the validation to display the validation errors in my post view, else insert the comment and redirect to the same post page (site/posts/1).
The problem is that when I hit submit the form action goes in the comments/add/1, as expected, but doesn't do any these above.
Any ideas how can I fix this??
EDIT
I did a small change to the code without the 'confusing' validate() function. Maybe this is more helpful.
Comment controller:
public function add($post_id){
// if nothing posted redirect
if (!$this->input->post()) {
redirect(site_url());
}
// TODO: save comment in database
$this->form_validation->set_rules($this->comment_model->rules);
if ($this->form_validation->run() == true) {
echo "Ok! TODO save the comment.";
// $this->comment_model->add($post_id);
// redirect('posts/'.$post_id);
} else {
echo "Validation Failed! TODO: show validation errors!";
}
// TODO:load the view if required
}
Comment model:
public function add($post_id){
$post_data = array(
'post_id' => $post_id,
'username' => $this->input->post('username'),
'email' => $this->input->post('email'),
'comment' => $this->input->post('comment')
);
$this->db->insert('comments', $post_data);
if ($this->db->affected_rows()) {
return $this->db->insert_id();
}
return false;
}

Answer 1

You need away of passing validation_errors() back to your Posts controller. At the minute, when you perform the redirect in your add function (when the validation fails), you loose the validation errors thrown.
I would consider using flashdata (http://ellislab.com/codeigniter/user-guide/libraries/sessions.html) to pass a success/error message from your Comments controller back to your Posts controller. Something similar to the below:
Comments Controller:
public function add($post_id) {
// if nothing posted redirect
if (!$this->input->post()) {
redirect(site_url());
}
// TODO: save comment in database
$this->form_validation->set_rules($this->comment_model->rules);
if ($this->form_validation->run() == true) {
// Store the success message in flash data
$this->session->set_flashdata('message', 'Ok! TODO save the comment.');
// Redirect back to posts page
redirect('posts/'.$post_id, 'refresh');
} else {
// Store the error message in flash data
$this->session->set_flashdata('message', validation_errors());
// Redirect back to posts page
redirect('posts/'.$post_id, 'refresh');
}
}
Posts Controller:
public function index($post_id) {
$this->data['message'] = $this->session->flashdata('message');
$this->load->view('posts', $this->data);
}
Posts View:
echo $message;
Might not be perfect but hope it helps...