Cakephp set function not passing variables from controller to the view - php

Question

I'm trying to pass variable to the view and this one is very weird as the naming and directory structure is correct. Below is the function in my controller:
public function validate_apply_link(){
App::uses('CakeEmail', 'Network/Email');
$this->layout = 'blank';
$listings = $this->CareersAndJob->query("
SELECT l.sid, l.title, lp.value, u.CompanyName, u.WebSite
FROM listings l
LEFT JOIN listings_properties lp
ON lp.object_sid = l.sid
LEFT JOIN users u
ON u.sid = l.user_sid
WHERE l.active = 1
AND lp.add_parameter = 2
AND l.JobGateSenderReference IS NULL
AND u.CompanyName != 'AECOM'
ORDER BY u.CompanyName ASC
LIMIT 5
");
$doc = new DOMDocument();
ob_start();
$listing_count = count($listings);
echo nl2br("Checking $listing_count active jobs...\n\n");
$i=0;
foreach($listings as $listing){
$sid = $listing['l']['sid'];
$url = $listing['lp']['value'];
$company_name = $listing['u']['CompanyName'];
$title = htmlspecialchars($listing['l']['title']);
$length = strpos($title, "-");
if($length != 0){
$title = substr($title, 0, $length-1);
}
$title = substr($title, 0, $length-1);
$title = substr($title, 0, 10);
$data = $this->curl($url);
$check_pdf = strpos($data['info']['content_type'], "pdf");
if($check_pdf != false){
$outputs['data'][$i]['url'] = $url;
$outputs['data'][$i]['sid'] = $sid;
$outputs['data'][$i]['title'] = $title;
$outputs['data'][$i]['company_name'] = $company_name;
$outputs['data'][$i]['our_link'] = "http://careersandjobs.com.au/display-job/{$sid}";
$outputs['data'][$i]['content_type'] = $data['info']['content_type'];
$outputs['data'][$i]['data_type'] = 'pdf';
$i++;
continue;
}
#$doc->loadHTML($data['results']);
$html = $doc->saveHTML();
$xpath = new DOMXpath($doc);
$body = $doc->getElementsByTagName('body')->item(0);
$parsed_url = parse_url($url);
switch($parsed_url['host']){
case "www.michaelpage.com.au":
parse_str($url);
$exist = $xpath->query("//*[contains(#value,'{$ref}')]");
break;
case "https://vacancies.mackay.qld.gov.au":
parse_str($url);
$exist = $xpath->query("//*[contains(#value,'{$title}')]");
break;
default:
$exist = $xpath->query("//*[contains(text(),'{$title}')]");
break;
}
if($exist->length == 0){
if(strpos($url, '#') == false){
$outputs['data'][$i]['url'] = $url;
$outputs['data'][$i]['sid'] = $sid;
$outputs['data'][$i]['title'] = $title;
$outputs['data'][$i]['company_name'] = $company_name;
$outputs['data'][$i]['our_link'] = "http://careersandjobs.com.au/display-job/{$sid}";
$outputs['data'][$i]['content_type'] = $data['info']['content_type'];
$response_code = $this->http_response_codes($data['info']['http_code']);
$outputs['data'][$i]['response_code'] = $response_code;
$outputs['data'][$i]['data_type'] = 'title_not_found';
}else{
$outputs['data'][$i]['data_type'] = 'no_iframe';
}
$i++;
}
flush();
ob_flush();
}
$this->set(compact('outputs'));
}
I can do pr on the outputs variable in the view but this outputs to NULL but when I delete the entire bunch of code inside the controller function and just pass a test variable through it works.
Is there something wrong with the function that I am not aware of?
No errors were found in the above function by the way
app/Controller/CareersAndJobsController.php (line 1048)
array(
'data' => array(
(int) 0 => array(
'url' => 'http://bawbawshire.currentjobs.com.au/cvbuilder/apply+for+this+job/no/1225055',
'sid' => '3649',
'title' => 'Graduate P',
'company_name' => 'Baw Baw Shire Council',
'our_link' => 'http://careersandjobs.com.au/display-job/3649',
'content_type' => 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
'response_code' => 'OK',
'data_type' => 'title_not_found'
),
(int) 1 => array(
'url' => 'http://bawbawshire.currentjobs.com.au/cvbuilder/apply+for+this+job/no/1225724',
'sid' => '3726',
'title' => 'Program &a',
'company_name' => 'Baw Baw Shire Council',
'our_link' => 'http://careersandjobs.com.au/display-job/3726',
'content_type' => 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
'response_code' => 'OK',
'data_type' => 'title_not_found'
),
(int) 2 => array(
'url' => 'http://bawbawshire.currentjobs.com.au/cvbuilder/apply+for+this+job/no/1225826',
'sid' => '3727',
'title' => 'Road Netwo',
'company_name' => 'Baw Baw Shire Council',
'our_link' => 'http://careersandjobs.com.au/display-job/3727',
'content_type' => 'text/html; charset=utf-8',
'response_code' => 'OK',
'data_type' => 'title_not_found'
)
)
)
This is what I am getting from outputs variable just before it gets set by the set function in controller

Answer 1

Any reason you chose to use CakePHP? Because you seem to not make use of its functionality!
You're using literal SQL queries, therefore basically skipping the Models functionality.
You're outputting your content from your Controller? Be careful when using output buffering, this may conflict with CakePHP's inner workings, which also relies on output buffering in many cases. Because you're already outputting the content here (ob_flush()), you'll be outputting your content before your View is reached..
Normally I would point to specific points in the manual, however, because there's so much wrong here, I would suggest to start reading at the beginning