Controllers¶

Controllers hold the actions that your routes are mapped to
Controllers are responsible for:
- The interpretation of any request data
- Making sure the right models are called
- Making sure the right response or view is rendered
Tour models should be fat and your Controllers thin
Doing this will help your code be more reusable and also makes it easier to test

Naming Conventions¶

Files should end in “Controller” (UsersController.php)
Classes should also end in Controller (UsersController)
Named after the primary model (User)

AppController Class¶

All controllers you create will extend the AppController Class
Location is src/Controller/AppController.php
You can use the “initializer()” method in your controller class to use a constructor
AppController extends Cake/Controller/Controller

The Request Object¶

The CakePHP router use connecting routes to find and create the controller instance
The request data is stored in the request object
Access using the $this->request property

Controller Setup¶

<?php
namespace App\Controller;
use App\Controller\AppController;
class BooksController extends AppController{
    public function index(){
        /Action code
    }
    public function view($id){
        //Action code
    }
    public function search($query){
        //Action code
    }
}

Passing View data¶

Controller::set() is used to pass data from the controller to the view

$this->set('firstName','John');
$this->set('lastName','Doe');

Because of CakePHP strict conventions, you co not need to render the view manually
In View:

<?php
My name is <?=h($firstName)?> <?=h($lastName)?>
//h is a helper function

View Options¶

You can set specific view options using viewBuilder()

<?php
$this->viewBuilder()
    ->helper(['MyHelper'])
    ->theme('SomeTheme')
    ->className

You can use the correct naming conventions and the view will be rendered automatically but to do it manually, use:

<?php
$this->render()
//or specify a view
$this->render('someView')

Handling Redirects¶

The most common way to redirect would be to use Controller::redirect()

<?php
return $this->redirect(
    ['controller'=>'Users','action'=>'register']
    );

Relative and Absolute Paths:

<?php
return $this->redirect('/orders/thanks');
return $this->redirect('http://www.example.com');

Go back to referrer:

<?php
return $this->redirect($this->referrer());

Actions and Model loading¶

To redirect to another action on the same controller:

<?php
$this->setAction('index');

Load a model table that is not the controller default

<?php
$this->loadModel('Articles');
$recentArticles = $this->Articles->find('all', [
    'limit'=>5,
    'order'=>'Articles.created DESC'
]);

Model Pagination¶

Use the $paginate attribute to easily page result from the model

<?php
class PostController extends AppController
{
    public $paginate = [
        'Post'=>[
            'conditions'=>['published'=>1]
        ]
    ];
}

Loading Components & Helpers¶

Define components in the controller’s initialize() function:

<?php
public function initialize(){
    parent::initialize();
    $this->loadComponent('Csrf');
    $this->loadComponent('Comments', Configure::read('Comments'));
}

Load Helpers:

<?php
public $helpers = ['Form','Html'];

Life-Cycle Callbacks¶

beforeFilter(Event $event) is executed before every action in the controller. Useful for session and permission operations.
beforeRender(Event $event) is executed after the action logic
AfterFilter(Event $event) is executed after controller action and after render is complete