CakePHP: How to use a view element inside of a controller - php

Question

I'm trying to figure out how to use one of my view elements inside of a controller...
I know, I know: "Don't do that!" (99% of the time this is the correct answer)
But I think I actually have a good reason. The action is handling an AJAX request which returns markup. The returned markup is a list which I display everywhere else using an element. So in an effort to keep my code DRY, I think it's appropriate to do this here.
Is this possible?

Answer 1

Easy:
$view = new View($this, false);
$content = $view->element('my-element', $params);
Also:
DON'T DO THAT ANYMORE!!!

Answer 2

Sometimes, you need to render a CakePhp element from a view and inject its content into the page using AJAX the same time. In this case rendering element as a regular view from controller is better than creating a dedicated view that just contains <?php echo $this->element('some_element') ?>, and may be done this way:
<?php
public function ajax_action() {
// set data used in the element
$this->set('data', array('a'=>123, 'b'=>456, 'd'=>678));
// disable layout template
$this->layout = 'ajax';
// render!
$this->render('/Elements/some_element');
}

Answer 3

I know this is an old question and other people have already given basically the same answer, but I want to point out that this approach (provided by Serge S.) ...
<?php
public function ajax_action() {
// set data used in the element
$this->set('data', array('a'=>123, 'b'=>456, 'd'=>678));
// disable layout template
$this->layout = 'ajax';
// render!
$this->render('/Elements/some_element');
}
...is not a hacky workaround, but is in fact the recommended approach from the CakePHP docs for this common and legitimate use case:
If $view starts with ‘/’, it is assumed to be a view or element file
relative to the /app/View folder. This allows direct rendering of
elements, very useful in AJAX calls.
(Again: Credit to Serge S. for the code above)

Answer 4

$this->view = '/Elements/myelement';

Answer 5

You should use a client-side template. You should never return mark-up from a web service or API, just data. Have your JavaScript take the data, and then format it how you wish.
For example:
function getItems() {
$.get('/some/url', function(response) {
if (response.data.length > 0) {
for (var i = 0; i < response.data.length; i++) {
var item = response.data[i];
$('.results').append('<li>' + item.title + '</li>');
}
}
});
};
This is just an example written off the cuff. Obviously you’ll need to write your own implementation.

Answer 6

The way I did any ajax handling in Cake was to have my own AjaxController. Any interaction of ajax-kind goes there, which in-turn uses their own views (and view partials / elements). That way you can keep your code DRY and isolate and propagate all ajax use-cases there.
Example excerpt:
<?php
class AjaxController extends AppController {
/**
* (non-PHPdoc)
* Everything going to this controller should be accessed by Ajax. End of story.
* #see Controller::beforeFilter()
*/
public function beforeFilter() {
parent::beforeFilter();
$this->autoRender = false;
$this->layout = false;
if (!$this->request->is('ajax')) {
$this->redirect('/');
}
}
public function preview() {
if ($this->request->is('ajax')) {
$this->set('data', $this->data);
$this->render('/Elements/ajaxpreview');
}
}
?>
Here's the source: https://github.com/Sobient/dosspirit/blob/master/app/Controller/AjaxController.php