Best way to combine PHP with HTML in CodeIgniter? - php

Question

I've took over a PHP app which code is quite a mess so before making any major changes I've decided to rewrite it to MVC (CodeIgniter). As for pure html sections I use $this->load->view(file); technique, but I'm not sure how to cope with something like this:
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td class=\"border szczegolyTd\">";
echo "Kamp.: ".$kampania[$kamp]['idProject'];
echo "<br />";
echo "<b>".$kampania[$kamp]['name']."</b><br />";
echo "<div class='szczegolyDiv'><a class=\"pokaz szczegoly\" href=\"?pokaz=".$kampania[$kamp]['idProject']."\">";
echo "SZCZEGÓŁY";
echo "</a></div>";
if (isset($kampania[$kamp]['timestamp'][$iloLeftCustomers-1])) echo "<br />Dane od: <br /><b>".$kampania[$kamp]['timestamp'][$iloLeftCustomers-1]."</b>";
echo "<br />do: <br /><b>".$kampania[$kamp]['timestamp'][0]."</b>";
//echo "<br />".$ilOstatnichRozmow;
polacz();
$querySpr = mysql_fetch_assoc(mysql_query("SELECT COUNT(*) AS ile FROM lista WHERE user=".$_SESSION['loginid']." AND kampania=".$kampania[$kamp]['idProject'].""));
rozlacz();
if ($querySpr['ile']==0) {
echo "<div id=\"".$kampania[$kamp]['idProject']."\" class=\"tabDodaj\">DODAJ DO OBSERWOWANYCH</div>";
}else{echo "<div class='komunikatMasz'>Masz tę kampanię na liście.</div>";}
echo "</td>";
I'm a beginner in CodeIgniter (and MVC in general), so I don't know all its features and which to choose. Perhaps it's not possible to seperate these 2 technologies completely - so it's more elegant to mainly use html and escape php scripts with <? ?> or to use php and echo html parts?

Answer 1

You can always write html in the template file and insert php in it to loop or echo.
echo "<tr>";
echo "<td class=\"border szczegolyTd\">";
echo "Kamp.: ".$kampania[$kamp]['idProject'];
echo "<br />";
Could be:
<tr>
<td class="border szczegolyTd">
Kamp.: <?php echo $kampania[$kamp]['idProject']; ?>
<br />
Putting code in those PHP tags wil actually fire the call in place. Mind you, to keep the html clean of bussines code make sure you only use echo, foreach, for or if in it.
In CodeIgniter you could render a view file and insert into a "partial" view and just echo it in the main template using TRUE for the 3rd parameter. This only buffers the output instead if immediatly outputting it.
$data['content'] = $this->load->view('ding/templatefile',$vars,TRUE);

Answer 2

if you are really new, please follow this tutorial its nice && informative.
yes it is possible, the best use is short tag + equal sign <strong><?=$variable?></strong> and it echoes whatever is in $variable, whenever you use foreach() use either
foreach($elements as $element) {
$string = "";
$string .= "new line" . $element->id . "<br>";
$string .= "line 2" . $element->name;
echo $string;
}
or just echo lines as you wish
foreach($elements as $element) {
echo "new line" . $element->id . "<br>";
echo "line 2" . $element->name;
}
but remember, before going in to foreach loop, please check if you have valid $variable to go thru. (empty(), isset(), $variable != FALSE...)
note:
if you need condition while echoing basic text use
<strong><?=(condition) ? 'TRUE' : 'FALSE' ?></strong>
example
<strong><?=(isset($variable)) ? $variable : '' ?></strong>

Answer 3

I would advise you go read up on the flow of how a MVC works, but this should point you in the right direction.
In the controller you instantiate the model of the data like:
$this->load->model("lista");
Then,
$data = $this->lista->getCountList($_SESSION['loginid'], $kampania[$kamp]['idProject']);
where in the lista model you have the function:
getCountLista($loginId, $projectId)
which does this part:
return mysql_fetch_assoc(mysql_query("SELECT COUNT(*) AS ile FROM lista WHERE user=".$loginId." AND kampania=".$projectId.""));
Then you pass the returned data to the view
$this->load->view(file, array("listData" => $data));
and in the view:
$listaData[$kamp]['idProject']
It creates an variable in the view foreach item in the array passed in the view.
I commend you to read documentation about MVC.