I have a large array that I have implemented as a 'Vendor' file. I load the file in the controller using
App::import('Vendor', 'constants_helper');
This works well.
However, I need to use this array in another model. Within the model I have
App::import('Vendor', 'constants_helper');
class MyModel extends AppModel {
function afterFind($results) {
if (!isset($constantsHelper)) {
$constantsHelper = new ConstantsHelper();
}
$constantsHelper = new ConstantsHelper();
$list= $constantsHelper->mylist;
}
}
This seems to load the list. However I have 2 questions
1. Is this the cakey (right) way to load the list ?
2. How can I cache this list , I dont want it reloaded for every model
invocation.
Thanks
You shouldn't call it a helper, because in cake, a helper is a view extension. I don't know the structure of the file, but maybe you can import that into a table in the db; or just define an array in the model, depends on how you want to use it in your app (just in that afterFind method, or also somewhere else?). And how big is it exactly? a few MB?
Related
Let's say I got ControllerA and ControllerB which both implement the same layout. Now I want to pass data to layout, for example, a message that should appear in layout no matter which controller implements it. If I had only 1 controller, I would do something like:
class Controller extends \BaseController {
public function setupLayout() {
View::share('message', 'Hello world!');
}
// further methods
}
However, when I want multiple controllers to implement a layout, I have to do this in every controller, which doesn't sound reasonable. So I wanted to ask, is there any native way in Laravel to pass data to layout and not to copy code in every controller.
Thanks in advance!
For those cases I would recommend a view composer, where you can set them for more than one view (or layout) or just all of them:
View::composer(['store.index', 'products.*'], function($view)
{
$view->with('model', 'one');
$view->with('colour', 'black');
});
You can put that in your routes file, filters file or, like, me, create a app/composers.php and load by adding
require app_path().'/composers.php';
To your app/start/global.php.
I have a set of functions that are called from 2 different models [ and maybe more in the future ]
What's the best approach to deal with this :
1 - Duplicated in each model
2 - Creating a helper for those functions and loading that helper from each model
Do you suggest any other approach
You can create a base model that your individual models extend, giving them all a shared ancestor of sorts.
Create the file application/core/MY_Model.php
class MY_Model extends CI_Model {
public function common_method($param)
{
// Stuff goes here
}
}
Then, any model that you wish to use the common method(s) in should simply extend MY_Model instead of CI_Model.
Note that the MY_ prefix is the default for CI, but you can change it in the application/config/config.php file.
Its my approach i don't know its a proper one or not.
If you are using this function throughout the site, You can create the class with those functions and add it in a library.
If you like you can do autoload also if require. Based on your usage.
Is directly call to the Model class inside the View is best practice or not? Currently I am using CodeIgniter to develop an application. In different Views of my application I'm including menus that I want to pull from the database. And the thing is currently I am passing the values to the menu through the controller. If I make a common model class and call it from the View and by pass controller. So that there will be one call to Model and it will load menu from the database at once and by pass the controller. By doing this what pros and cons will come?
With codeigniter, your views should not be concerned as to where data comes from, only that it exists. Only your Controllers should be in direct contact with your Models.
It sounds like you have a common menu that you want to load in your views and you don't want to replicate that code across all your Controllers.
To solve this problem, you need to create a common controller that your primary controllers inherit from with a method that fetches the menu.
My_Controller needs to be saved to the core folder in the application directory.
class MY_Controller extends CI_Controller
{
protected function get_menu()
{
// Load your menu here
$this->load->model('menu_model');
return $this->menu_model->get_menu();
}
}
All your primary controllers will inherit MY_Controller
class Home_Controller extends MY_Controller
{
public function index()
{
$page_data = array('menu' => $this->get_menu());
$this->load->view('home/index', $page_data);
}
}
In my opinion no its not best practice. View should contact Controller and Controllers should retrieve data from Model where Model does all the logic. Controller suppose to be the glue or middleman of View and Model.
Controller passes the returned data into View and then you do your foreach loop or whatever to display it.
View should not be doing any logic. Retrieving data from database is somewhat logic.
It is a worst practise. Then why we have controller concept for MVC. :) Mainly all logics goes into Model so thats not good to call model directly.
There will not be any problem, since you are using a common controller.
Note : You should not call model directly from view.
I tried to search here before creating this, but I couldn't find anything.
I have a simple project without modules and I'd like to load my models (which are inside application/models) without using any namespace and without usign any extra loading lines.
Basically what I want to do is to have my class Projects extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract inside my models folder and to load it in my controller using $db = new Projects();
Is there anyway to do this? Is it recommended to use Model_Projects instead?
What If I had modules?
Edit:
I tried to use this without any other implementation and I got Class 'Projects' not found
It is because the Projects class is not autoloaded. Depending on your application namespace, (for example the default namespace 'Default') you have to name your class into something like: Default_Model_Projects
I have a controller/model for projects. so this controls the projects model, etc, etc. I have a homepage which is being controlled by the pages_controller. I want to show a list of projects on the homepage. Is it as easy as doing:
function index() {
$this->set('projects', $this->Project->find('all'));
}
I'm guessing not as I'm getting:
Undefined property: PagesController::$Project
Can someone steer me in the right direction please,
Jonesy
You must load every model in the controller class by variable $uses, for example:
var $uses = array('Project');
or in action use method
$this->loadModel('Project');
In my opinion the proper way to do this is add a function to your current model which instantiates the other model and returns the needed data.
Here's an example which returns data from the Project model in a model called Example and calls the data in the Example controller:
Using Project Model inside Example Model:
<?php
/* Example Model */
App::uses('Project', 'Model');
class Example extends AppModel {
public function allProjects() {
$projectModel = new Project();
$projects = $projectModel->find('all');
return $projects;
}
}
Returning that data in Example Controller
// once inside your correct view function just do:
$projects = $this->Example->allProjects();
$this->set('projects', $projects);
In the Example view
<?php
// Now assuming you're in the .ctp template associated with
// your view function which used: $projects = $this->Example->allProjects();
// you should be able to access the var: $projects
// For example:
print_r($projects['Project']);
Why is this "better" practice than loading both models into your controller? Well, the Project model is inherited by the Example model, so Project data now becomes part of the Example model scope. (What this means on the database side of things is the 2 tables are joined using SQL JOIN clauses).
Or as the manual says:
One of the most powerful features of CakePHP is the ability to link relational mapping provided by the model. In CakePHP, the links between models are handled through associations.
Defining relations between different objects in your application should be a natural process. For example: in a recipe database, a recipe may have many reviews, reviews have a single author, and authors may have many recipes. Defining the way these relations work allows you to access your data in an intuitive and powerful way. (source)
For me it's more reasonable to use requestAction. This way the logic is wrapped in the controller.
In example:
//in your controller Projects:
class ProjectsController extends AppController {
function dashboard(){
$this->set('projects', $this->Project->find('all'));
}
$this->render('dashboard');
}
Bear in mind that you need to create dashboard.ctp in /app/views/projects of course.
In the Page's dashboard view (probably /app/views/pages/dashboard.ctp) add:
echo $this->requestAction(array('controller'=>'projects', 'action'=>'dashboard'));
This way the logic will remain in the project's controller. Of course you can request /projects/index, but the handling of the pagination will be more complicated.
more about requestAction(). but bear in mind that you need to use it carefully. It could slow down your application.