How to avoid boilerplate code in my models? - php

Question

I am using CI, however this question applies to models and db persistence in general. I find myself creating methods in models like:-
private function create_joins() {
# Add some joins to the global db object using the active record
}
I do this so I can then perform common joins for a particular model without duplicating the code for creating the joins.
So a select method might be:-
public function get_by_id($id) {
$this->db->select('some_cols');
$this->db->from('some_table');
$this->create_joins();
$this->db->where(array('id' => $id));
etc...
}
Which is fine, but I am wondering if this is the sort of thing that an ORM like datamapper can abstract away?

Answer 1

You should try Doctrine, which is one of the most advanced ORM in PHP:
Using Doctrine, you won't even have to write methods such as get_by_id($id) in your model : they are handled by Doctrine itself.
So you would be able to write:
$entityManager->find("Bug", $id);

Answer 2

An alternative is to use php-activerecord via sparks
An example of Associations
-
class User extends ActiveRecord\Model{
//set tablename
//I would advice to keep Model singular and table names plural
//then this next step is not needed
static $table_name = 'table_one';
//set relationships
static $belongs_to array(
array('Group')
);
static $has_many = array(
array('Comment'),
array('Order')
);
static $has_one = array(
array('Additional_Info')
);
//one key feature is callbacks
//this helps keep controllers clean by letting you pass
//the post data(after validation) in to modify(serialize,json_encode,calculate vat etc)
static $before_create = array('json_encode_my_tags');
public function json_encode_my_tags(){
//$this->tags === $this->input->post('tags');
$tags = explode(',', str_replace(' ', '', $this->tags));
return $this->tags = json_encode($tags, TRUE);
}
}
//calling a model and using eager-loading for associations
$model = User::find(array(
'conditions' => array('id=?', $id) // PK Primary key
'include' => array('comment', 'order', 'additional_info') // eager-loading associations
));
$model->key;
$model->comment->key;
$model->additional_info->key;
$model->order->key;