Need advise, as was getting "Undefined variable: tpl in /home/mytoys11/public_html/components/com_forms/controller.php on line 101"
function toys(){
// Create the view
global $Itemid;
$model = & $this->getModel('pages');
$view = & $this->getView('pages', 'html');
$view->setLayout('toys');
// Push the model into the view (as default)
$view->setModel($model, true);
// Display the view
$view->toys($tpl);
}
Which is solved like this by removing the undefined variable $tpl from view in the last line
function toys(){
// Create the view
global $Itemid;
$model = & $this->getModel('pages');
$view = & $this->getView('pages', 'html');
$view->setLayout('toys');
// Push the model into the view (as default)
$view->setModel($model, true);
// Display the view
$view->toys();
}
The page is loading fine after removing $tpl. I think tpl is empty string, but is this the correct way or the function is poorly optimized, any suggestions. Thanks
Edit
Thanks, As advised, here's the code been modified
public function toys(){
$model = $this->getModel('pages');
$view = $this->getView('pages', 'html');
$view->setLayout('toys');
$view->setModel($model, true);
$view->toys();
}
However, it does not work with using function name as :-
displaytoys()
It is ok and safe to omit the $tpl argument, if you don't want to address a specific (sub-) template of your view.
The code has several other problems, though.
Visibility is not declared. For an action in a controller this should be public.
Method names are verbs, not nouns.
Never use global. $Itemid is not even used.
Don't comment the obvious facts.
PHP4 is gone, so objects are assigned by reference by default.
So your code should look like this:
public function displayToys()
{
$model = $this->getModel('pages');
$view = $this->getView('pages', 'html');
$view->setLayout('toys');
$view->setModel($model, true);
$view->displayToys();
}
In order to make the renaming to displayToys work, you'll also have to change other places in your code. Wherever you refer to the task toys, you have to change it to displayToys. The corresponding method in the view class has to be renamed, too.
Since this only is a style issue, it is ok to leave the name alone and stay with toys in the first step. You'll not get functional problems from that.
Related
I have a piece of data I want passed to every view. I am using CodeIgniter 3 and have PHP 7 available to me. The current way I do it is using something like this in every function.
$data['foobar'] = $this->general_model->foobar();
// More code
$this->load->view('homepage', $data);
I'd prefer not to have to call $data['foobar'] = $this->general_model->foobar(); on every single function.
I've tried many approaches to fix this without resorting to anything that makes the code too goofy. I've tried constructors, autoload, and hooks. The problem in each case boils down to the fact that $data is local to each function. The best I've gotten is usually something like this.
$data['foobar'] = $this->foobar;
// More code
$this->load->view('homepage', $data);
This is slightly nicer, but it still results in me placing this line in every function.
I'd like my functions to in someway inherit $data with the index foobar already set. I'd prefer to avoid a solution that requires every function receiving $data as a parameter. How can I accomplish this?
Option 1:
Not sure if you have tried this but you could set $data as a property of your class
protected $data = [];
Then in your constructor set it.
$this->data['foobar'] = $this->general_model->foobar();
This would mean your $data becomes accessible to all your methods in your controller and you would need to refer to them as $this->data['data_name'] and use it in a view like
$this->load->view('homepage', $this->data);
Option 2:
A second way is to create a method like render() which is common to all your methods that load views and replaces your existing view calls.
So you would have something like...
public function one_of_my_methods(){
$data['content'] = 'This is content 1';
$this->render('test_view',$data); // Call the new view handler
}
// All methods using views now call this to load the final view
public function render($view,$data){
$data['foobar'] = 'I am common'; // DRY
$this->load->view($view, $data);
}
This has probably been asked before, but I couldn't find the answer to my question with some preliminary searches, so here it is:
A very simple example of my current method of injecting PHP variables into HTML is as follows:
HTML (file.php):
<tag><?php echo $variable; ?></tag>
PHP:
$variable = "value";
ob_start();
include "file.php";
$results = ob_get_clean();
This achieves the correct result just fine, but it annoys me every time that I have to copy and paste those three lines to get variables injected into my HTML files. There's a chance I might want to change the details of this injection functionality at a later date, and it's currently scattered in a couple hundred locations throughout my code.
In a perfect world, I would move those three lines to a separate function that takes the file path as an input, and returns the "compiled" result. However, the function would then no longer have access to the calling scope, and I would have to pass the variables in as another input. The only thing I'm able to think of for doing that is:
function injectVariables($filePath, array $variables)
{
//Built-in PHP function, extracts array key => value pairs into variable $key = value pairs in the current scope
extract($variables);
ob_start();
include $filePath;
return ob_get_clean();
}
That certainly gets the job done, and it will be what I implement if there aren't any better solutions, but it seems less than ideal to me. It involves creating an array every time this runs, just to loop through it and extract all the variables, which just feels a bit wrong to me.
Does anyone know of any other methods that might work?
Not really sure what you are asking, but here is my answer
I don't know the structure of your code, but I hope you are using a MVC approach (or at least something which deals with classes) so that you can do the following:
In your main controller, you create a class variable like viewData which will be an array. And you put in it everything you want
$this->viewData['username'] = $username;
$this->viewData['myArray'] = array('foo' => 'bar');
$this->viewData['menuSubview'] = 'path_to_menu_subview.php';
Then, you create a render function.
public function render()
{
extract($this->viewData);
ob_start();
include("myfile.php");
return ob_get_clean();
}
And in myfile.php (with the HTML) you can simply do what you used so far
<div id="menu"><?php include($menuSubview);?></div>
<p><?=$username;?></p>
<p><?=$myArray['foo'];?></p>
The whole code can be something like this.
class Something {
protected $viewData;
protected $viewFile;
public function logic()
{
$this->userProfile();
echo $this->render();
}
public function userProfile()
{
$this->viewData['username'] = 'John The Ripper';
$this->viewFile = 'myFile.php';
}
public function render()
{
extract($this->viewData);
ob_start();
include($this->viewFile);
return ob_get_clean();
}
}
Here's a simplified class that stores data and allows for recursive rendering of files that all have access to the save data form the initial instance.
class View {
// view data
protected $_data = [];
/**
* Set view data
*/
public function __set( $key, $value )
{
$this->_data[ $key ] = $value;
}
/**
* Get view data
*/
public function __get( $key )
{
if( array_key_exists( $key, $this->_data ) )
{
return $this->_data[ $key ];
}
return null;
}
/**
* Render view file
*/
public function render( $file )
{
if( is_file( $file ) )
{
$view = $this;
ob_start();
include( $file );
return ob_get_clean();
}
return 'File not found: '.$file;
}
}
Just use the variable $view inside your included files to access the data in the class, or render() another partial file that can do the same thing, and so on.
// Bootstrap a View instance and add some data
$view = new View;
$view->dataOne = 'valueOne';
$view->dataTwo = 'valueTwo';
// Render main template
echo $view->render( 'template.php' );
Inside template.php
<header>
<?= $view->render( 'header.php' ) ?>
</header>
<h1><?= $view->dataOne ?></h1>
<p><?= $view->dataTwo ?></p>
Nothing is wrong with your injectVariables() function, it is in fact a good idea.
You shouldn't have performance impact anyway (If this is your main concern your are doing premature optimization !)
Your view (HTML) shouldn't know about the internal of your application. (You split responsability - this is a huge subject that I won't talk deep)
You know if something end-up into $variables it has been build/formatted or is revelent to be display for $filePath.
In complex system you may end up with a variable with a pdf generator, why would the HTML want that? The only purpose of the HTML is to DISPLAY HTML data.
Some variables from your logic will end-up in $variables almost every time such as session informations (Who is currently logged), for your case this is normal.
In the perfect world if you put a class into $variables it should be designed only for purpose of your HTML even if it is almost the same object as your logic.
As an exemple I designed a Session class in my logic. It does have method such as Logout() and EnsureIsAlive() as well as field such as FullName. FullName is going to be use by my HTML because I want to display it in the header of my page.
I should have a Session class for the HTML that only contains a FullName field because the HTML has only one job and is it to display data. Login() and EnsureIsAlive() are specific for the logic and aren't related at all with displaying data.
In reallity time is always a constraint and because you are writing all by yurself from scratch you may end-up just sending the logic Session class into $variables.
Design note : I'm a C# programmer and we always use class over array to pass parameters as a good pratice and it does affect the exemple about how to pass FullName to your HTML. In your case, instead of creating a class dedicated for the HTML you could also create a simple array :
$variables['Session'] = array('FullName' => $mySession->fullName).
That way you still avoid your HTML to have access to the unrelated method specific for your logic. I'm not sure if it is a good pratice in php...
Keep context variables clean
If you do call injectVariables() more than once (for different $PathFile) you may not want the same variables.
One injectionVariables() could be for a widget, another for a complete complete page.
Why would a TimeWidget need your totalInvoice variable?
You also have the ability to prepare multiples $variables at the same time because each injectVariables() will have his own parameters.
I'm not up-to-date but I know phpBB template system use (back near 2000) the exact same pattern as your injectVariables()).
You wrote that each of your page do call injectVariables(), you could also (but it may be complex) do it only in one file - like php frameworks.
Framework handle HTTP requests into one specific file
(eg. http://yoursite.com/hello/world or http://yoursite.com/login would call (internaly) http://yoursite.com/index.php?page=hello&subpage=world and http://yoursite.com?page=login).
Then this page (index.php in my exemple) would include a specific file (controller) according with his GET parameters ($_GET['page'] and $_GET['subpage']).
The controller job would be to fetch data, apply logic then fill $variables.
Then index.php will call injectVariables() with the releated HTML.
I am experimenting with using the MVC pattern to set local vars in some code ie
$action=basename(__FILE__, '.php'); // load action from filename for consistancy (index for this case)
$controller = new seoController($action . '-seo'); // register controller with page action and parameter
$controller->invoke(); // invoke controller for processing
$page_title = "<insert page title here>";
$page_desc = "<insert page desc here>";
$page_keys = "<insert page keywords here>";
Of course the controller calls the model and does all the backend stuff parsing the input, getting the data and then returning.
What I would like is a clean way to set the local $page_title etc vars from the seoModel that is instantiated in setController without using the $_SESSION or any other hacky kind of way.
Is it ok from a design POV to put methods in the controller to get the info? ie
$page_title = seoController->getPageTitle();
My controllers as of now are not being used in this type of way as all they do is connect my models to the views.
I hope I'm being clear enough with my explanation.
Is it ok from a design POV to put methods in the controller to get the info?
Yes, thats what Controller is meant for.
What I would like is a clean way to set the local $page_title etc vars from the seoModel that is instantiated in setController without using the $_SESSION or any other hacky kind of way.
To avoid using $_SESSION that seems to be a bit overkill for this particular case you can set seoController attributes, for example,
Class seoController
{
$public $page_tile = '';
public method getPageTitle()
{
$model = new seoModel();
$page_title = $model->get_page_title();
$this->page_tile = $page_title;
//you could also return the page title here, skipping that
}
}
And access them from the caller
$controller = new seoController;
$controller->getPageTitle();
$page_title = $controller->page_title;
You would normally have things like meta tags stored with the model it’s describing. So if you’re loading say, a product from a model, then that model may also return the meta tags for that product:
public function show($productId)
{
$product = $this->productModel->findById($productId);
// Meta title may be available at $product->meta_title
return new ViewModel(array(
'product' => $product,
));
}
Your controller action would then return the data needed to be displayed in a view, which could be a HTML template, JSON, XML etc.
I am attempting to render and set variables to a view that does not belong to any controller. Here is an example of my folder structure:
app/
-->View/
-->ExternalReportViews/ (There is no ExternalReportViews Controller)
-->example_view.ctp
I am trying to pass a variable called $orders to the view, I have verified that this variable exists and contains data by debugging from the controller.
I have succesfully rendered the view using any of the following methods:
// Method 1
$this->render('/ExternalReportViews/example_view');
$this->set('orders', $orders);
// Method 2
$view = new View($this, false);
$view->viewPath = 'ExternalReportViews';
$view->render('example_view');
$view->set('orders', $orders);
// Method 3
$this->viewPath = 'ExternalReportViews';
$this->render('example_view');
$this->set('orders', $orders);
It seems that regardless of whether the set method is placed before or after the render in any of the above methods, the $orders variable is not passed to the rendered view.
When attempting to debug($orders) in the view, I see that the variable is undefined.
I could obviously bypass this problem by temporarily storing $orders in $this->Session, but that seems a bit messy.
The reason for all of this is that I will have a number of views that will be created on a per-report basis, and I would rather have them in a separate (sub)folder(s) for cleaner file management.
As it would happen, I just needed to change the variable name. I'm either hitting on a reserved keyword, or I've previously defined the variable in my beforeFilter method. Not sure which yet, but credit goes to scrowler for pointing that one out.
I have a page named ChangeApprovalInfo.php - It has a function called Row_Rendered as follows;
function Row_Rendered() {
// To view properties of field class, use:
//var_dump($this-><FieldName>);
$RecordOwner = $this->RequestUser->CurrentValue;
echo $RecordOwner;
}
Echoing $RecordOwner gets me the data I will need for a sql query on another page....
I have another page called ChangeApprovalEdit.php - This page has
<?php include_once "ChangeApprovalinfo.php" ?>
at the top of the file.
ChangeApprovalEdit.php has a function where I need the $RecordOwner variable as defined in ChangedApprovalInfo.php
If I add "echo $RecordOwner" on the ChangeApprovalEdit.php page, I get an error saying it's an unknown variable. My understanding is that I need to "make it global" or some such business. I know very little about PHP and the pages I am editing are long and complex. (to me, at least)
What do I need to do? I know that the information I have provided might not be enough to answer the question. I don't know enough to even know exactly what I need to ask. If more information is needed, I will edit and follow up.
pastebin of the files
ChangeApprovalInfo.php = http://pastebin.com/bSRM1wwN
ChangeApprovalEdit.php = http://pastebin.com/AStG9pqb
EDIT:
Changing Row_Rendered to this seems to be more effective. I'm having trouble seeing WHERE I can later echo this variable... but I'm getting somewhere with this...
function Row_Rendered() {
// To view properties of field class, use:
//var_dump($this-><FieldName>);
$GLOBALS['RecordOwner'] = $this->RequestUser->CurrentValue;
}
Don't echo variables from functions, which just outputs them to the standard output. return them from the function so you can use the value elsewhere as well.
function Row_Rendered() {
$RecordOwner = $this->RequestUser->CurrentValue;
return $RecordOwner;
}
Then instead of
$obj->Row_Rendered();
use
echo $obj->Row_Rendered();
and if you want to use the value elsewhere, use
$value = $obj->Row_Rendered();
You can do a couple of things:
First, you can return $RecordOwner from the function, and store its value in a variable. This method is usually preferred.
function Row_Rendered() {
// To view properties of field class, use:
//var_dump($this-><FieldName>);
$RecordOwner = $this->RequestUser->CurrentValue;
echo $RecordOwner;
return $RecordOwner;
}
// Store it in a variable when calling the function.
$RecordOwner = Row_Rendered();
Or, you can make it global inside the function:
function Row_Rendered() {
// To view properties of field class, use:
//var_dump($this-><FieldName>);
$GLOBALS['RecordOwner'] = $this->RequestUser->CurrentValue;
echo $GLOBALS['RecordOwner'];
}
You can use the $GLOBALS superglobals array, like this:
function Row_Rendered() {
$GLOBALS['RecordOwner'] = $this->RequestUser->CurrentValue;
}
However, you should not do that. Instead, refactor your application so that the view in ChangeApprovalinfo.php just contains a function, which is then called with the appropriate parameters.
EDIT: Chaning Row_Rendered to this seems to be more effective. I'm having trouble seeing WHERE I can later echo this variable... but I'm getting somewhere with this...
function Row_Rendered() {
// To view properties of field class, use:
//var_dump($this-><FieldName>);
$GLOBALS['RecordOwner'] = $this->RequestUser->CurrentValue;
}
I feel compelled to write another answer to this update. Let me demonstrate the use of globals as seen from outside that function:
$obj->Row_Rendered();
$obj->foobar();
echo $GLOBALS['RecordOwner'];
Quick, what will be echoed and where does that value come from? Well, it depends on what $obj-foobar() does. Maybe it changes the global variable. Maybe it doesn't. Who knows if the variable has been set at all? How would you trace back what happened exactly without adding a debug line after every single function call?
And that's just three lines of code. Imagine that in an application of any complexity.
Now, the same thing if I return the value from Row_Rendered:
$owner = $obj->Row_Rendered();
$obj->foobar();
echo $owner;
If the Row_Rendered method is behaving as it should (returning the owner), this code is very predictable. If you do not follow this pattern, you'll have a hell of a time getting anything done when the application grows to any halfway complex size.
Set the variable as global from within the function
$my_global_var = "old value";
function doing_stuff(){
global $my_global_var; //this will use the global variable instead of creating a local one
$my_global_var = "new value";
}
echo $my_global_var;//returns "new value"