Class Helper

Abstract base class for all other Helpers in CakePHP. Provides common methods and features.

Object

Overloadable

Helper

Direct Subclasses

AppHelper

Indirect Subclasses

Package: cake\cake\libs\view
Copyright: Copyright 2005-2012, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
License: License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)
Location: view/helper.php

Properties summary

$__cleaned public

mixed

Holds the cleaned content.
$__tainted public

mixed

Holds the content to be cleaned.
$action public

string

Current action.
$argSeparator public

string

URL argument separator character
$base public

string

Base URL
$data public

array

POST data for models
$helpers public

array

List of helpers used by this helper
$here public

string

URL to current action.
$namedArgs public

array

List of named arguments
$params public

array

Parameter array.
$plugin public

string

Plugin path
$tags public

array

Holds tag templates.
$theme public

string

The current theme name if any.
$validationErrors public

array

Contains model validation errors of form post-backs
$webroot public

string

Webroot path

Method Summary

__clean() public

Removes harmful content from output
__formatAttribute() public

Formats an individual attribute, and returns the string value of the composed attribute. Works with minimized attributes that have the same value as their name such as 'disabled' and 'checked'
__reset() public

Resets the vars used by Helper::clean() to null
__selectedArray() public

Transforms a recordset from a hasAndBelongsToMany association to a list of selected options for a multiple select element
_initInputField() public

Sets the defaults for an input tag. Will set the name, value, and id attributes for an array of html attributes. Will also add a 'form-error' class if the field contains validation errors.
_name() public

Gets the input field name for the current tag. Creates input name attributes using CakePHP's data[Model][field] formatting.
_parseAttributes() public

Returns a space-delimited string with items of the $options array. If a key of $options array happens to be one of:
addClass() public

Adds the given class to the element options
afterLayout() public

After layout callback. afterLayout is called after the layout has rendered.
afterRender() public

After render callback. afterRender is called after the view file is rendered but before the layout has been rendered.
assetTimestamp() public

Adds a timestamp to a file based resource based on the value of Asset.timestamp in Configure. If Asset.timestamp is true and debug > 0, or Asset.timestamp == 'force' a timestamp will be added.
beforeLayout() public

Before layout callback. beforeLayout is called before the layout is rendered.
beforeRender() public

Before render callback. beforeRender is called before the view file is rendered.
call__() public
clean() public

Used to remove harmful tags from content. Removes a number of well known XSS attacks from content. However, is not guaranteed to remove all possiblities. Escaping content is the best way to prevent all possible attacks.
domId() public

Generates a DOM ID for the selected element, if one is not set. Uses the current View::entity() settings to generate a CamelCased id attribute.
field() public

Gets the currently-used model field of the rendering context.
get__() public

Default overload methods
loadConfig() public

Parses tag templates into $this->tags.
model() public

Gets the currently-used model of the rendering context.
modelID() public

Gets the ID of the currently-used model of the rendering context.
output() public deprecated

Returns a string generated by a helper method
setEntity() public

Sets this helper's model and field properties to the dot-separated value-pair in $entity.
set__() public
tagIsInvalid() public

Returns null if given FORM field has no errors. Otherwise it returns the constant set in the array Model->validationErrors.
url() public

Finds URL for specified action.
value() public

Gets the data for the current tag
webroot() public

Checks if a file exists when theme is used, if no file is found default location is returned

Method Detail

__clean() public ¶

__clean( )

Removes harmful content from output

__formatAttribute() public ¶

__formatAttribute( string $key , string $value , $escape = true )

Formats an individual attribute, and returns the string value of the composed attribute. Works with minimized attributes that have the same value as their name such as 'disabled' and 'checked'

Parameters

string $key: The name of the attribute to create
string $value: The value of the attribute to create.
$escape optional true

Returns

string
The composed attribute.

__reset() public ¶

__reset( )

Resets the vars used by Helper::clean() to null

__selectedArray() public ¶

__selectedArray( mixed $data , string $key = 'id' )

Transforms a recordset from a hasAndBelongsToMany association to a list of selected options for a multiple select element

Parameters

mixed $data
string $key optional 'id'

Returns

array

_initInputField() public ¶

_initInputField( string $field , array $options = array() )

Sets the defaults for an input tag. Will set the name, value, and id attributes for an array of html attributes. Will also add a 'form-error' class if the field contains validation errors.

Parameters

string $field: The field name to initialize.
array $options optional array(): Array of options to use while initializing an input field.

Returns

array
Array options for the form input.

_name() public ¶

_name( mixed $options = array() , string $field = null , string $key = 'name' )

Gets the input field name for the current tag. Creates input name attributes using CakePHP's data[Model][field] formatting.

Parameters

mixed $options optional array(): If an array, should be an array of attributes that $key needs to be added to. If a string or null, will be used as the View entity.
string $field optional null
string $key optional 'name': The name of the attribute to be set, defaults to 'name'

Returns

mixed

If an array was given for $options, an array with $key set will be returned. If a string was supplied a string will be returned.

_parseAttributes() public ¶

_parseAttributes( array $options , array $exclude = null , string $insertBefore = ' ' , string $insertAfter = null )

Returns a space-delimited string with items of the $options array. If a key of $options array happens to be one of:

'compact'
'checked'
'declare'
'readonly'
'disabled'
'selected'
'defer'
'ismap'
'nohref'
'noshade'
'nowrap'
'multiple'
'noresize'

And its value is one of:

'1' (string)
1 (integer)
true (boolean)
'true' (string)

Then the value will be reset to be identical with key's name. If the value is not one of these 3, the parameter is not output.

'escape' is a special option in that it controls the conversion of attributes to their html-entity encoded equivalents. Set to false to disable html-encoding.

If value for any option key is set to null or false, that option will be excluded from output.

Parameters

array $options: Array of options.
array $exclude optional null: Array of options to be excluded, the options here will not be part of the return.
string $insertBefore optional ' ': String to be inserted before options.
string $insertAfter optional null: String to be inserted after options.

Returns

string
Composed attributes.

addClass() public ¶

addClass( array $options = array() , string $class = null , string $key = 'class' )

Adds the given class to the element options

Parameters

array $options optional array(): Array options/attributes to add a class to
string $class optional null: The classname being added.
string $key optional 'class': the key to use for class.

Returns

array
Array of options with $key set.

afterLayout() public ¶

afterLayout( )

After layout callback. afterLayout is called after the layout has rendered.

Overridden in subclasses.

afterRender() public ¶

afterRender( )

After render callback. afterRender is called after the view file is rendered but before the layout has been rendered.

Overridden in subclasses.

assetTimestamp() public ¶

assetTimestamp( string $path )

Adds a timestamp to a file based resource based on the value of Asset.timestamp in Configure. If Asset.timestamp is true and debug > 0, or Asset.timestamp == 'force' a timestamp will be added.

Parameters

string $path: The file path to timestamp, the path must be inside WWW_ROOT

Returns

string
Path with a timestamp added, or not.

beforeLayout() public ¶

beforeLayout( )

Before layout callback. beforeLayout is called before the layout is rendered.

Overridden in subclasses.

beforeRender() public ¶

beforeRender( )

Before render callback. beforeRender is called before the view file is rendered.

Overridden in subclasses.

call__() public ¶

call__( $method , $params )

clean() public ¶

clean( mixed $output )

Used to remove harmful tags from content. Removes a number of well known XSS attacks from content. However, is not guaranteed to remove all possiblities. Escaping content is the best way to prevent all possible attacks.

Parameters

mixed $output: Either an array of strings to clean or a single string to clean.

Returns

cleaned
content for output

domId() public ¶

domId( mixed $options = null , string $id = 'id' )

Generates a DOM ID for the selected element, if one is not set. Uses the current View::entity() settings to generate a CamelCased id attribute.

Parameters

mixed $options optional null: Either an array of html attributes to add $id into, or a string with a view entity path to get a domId for.
string $id optional 'id': The name of the 'id' attribute.

Returns

mixed

If $options was an array, an array will be returned with $id set. If a string was supplied, a string will be returned.

field() public ¶

field( )

Gets the currently-used model field of the rendering context.

Returns

string

get__() public ¶

get__( $name )

Default overload methods

loadConfig() public ¶

loadConfig( $name = 'tags' )

Parses tag templates into $this->tags.

Parameters

$name optional 'tags': name inside app/config to load.

Returns

array
merged tags from config/$name.php

model() public ¶

model( )

Gets the currently-used model of the rendering context.

Returns

string

modelID() public ¶

modelID( )

Gets the ID of the currently-used model of the rendering context.

Returns

mixed

output() public deprecated ¶

output( string $str )

Returns a string generated by a helper method

This method can be overridden in subclasses to do generalized output post-processing

Deprecated

This method will be removed in future versions.

Parameters

string $str: String to be output.

Returns

string

setEntity() public ¶

setEntity( mixed $entity , boolean $setScope = false )

Sets this helper's model and field properties to the dot-separated value-pair in $entity.

Parameters

mixed $entity: A field name, like "ModelName.fieldName" or "ModelName.ID.fieldName"
boolean $setScope optional false: Sets the view scope to the model specified in $tagValue

set__() public ¶

set__( $name , $value )

tagIsInvalid() public ¶

tagIsInvalid( string $model = null , string $field = null , integer $modelID = null )

Returns null if given FORM field has no errors. Otherwise it returns the constant set in the array Model->validationErrors.

Parameters

string $model optional null: Model name as a string
string $field optional null: Fieldname as a string
integer $modelID optional null: Unique index identifying this record within the form

Returns

mixed
Null if no errors, string with error otherwhise.

url() public ¶

url( mixed $url = null , boolean $full = false )

Finds URL for specified action.

Returns a URL pointing at the provided parameters.

Parameters

mixed $url optional null: Either a relative string url like /products/view/23 or an array of url parameters. Using an array for urls will allow you to leverage the reverse routing features of CakePHP.
boolean $full optional false: If true, the full base URL will be prepended to the result

Returns

string
Full translated URL with base path.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/view/1448/url

value() public ¶

value( mixed $options = array() , string $field = null , string $key = 'value' )

Gets the data for the current tag

Parameters

mixed $options optional array(): If an array, should be an array of attributes that $key needs to be added to. If a string or null, will be used as the View entity.
string $field optional null
string $key optional 'value': The name of the attribute to be set, defaults to 'value'

Returns

mixed

If an array was given for $options, an array with $key set will be returned. If a string was supplied a string will be returned.

webroot() public ¶

webroot( string $file )

Checks if a file exists when theme is used, if no file is found default location is returned

Parameters

string $file: The file to create a webroot path to.

Returns

string
Web accessible path to file.

Methods inherited from Overloadable

__call() public ¶

__call( string $method , array $params )

Magic method handler.

Parameters

string $method: Method name
array $params: Parameters to send to method

Returns

mixed
Return value from method

overload() public ¶

overload( )

Overload implementation. No need for implementation in PHP5.

Methods inherited from Object

Object() public ¶

Object( )

A hack to support __construct() on PHP 4 Hint: descendant classes have no PHP4 class_name() constructors, so this constructor gets called first and calls the top-layer __construct() which (if present) should call parent::__construct()

Returns

Object

__construct() public ¶

__construct( )

Class constructor, overridden in descendant classes.

__openPersistent() public ¶

__openPersistent( string $name , string $type = null )

Open the persistent class file for reading Used by Object::_persist()

Parameters

string $name: Name of persisted class
string $type optional null: Type of persistance (e.g: registry)

_persist() public ¶

_persist( string $name , string $return , $object , $type = null )

Checks for a persistent class file, if found file is opened and true returned If file is not found a file is created and false returned If used in other locations of the model you should choose a unique name for the persistent file There are many uses for this method, see manual for examples

Parameters

string $name: name of the class to persist
string $return: $object the object to persist
$object
$type optional null

Returns

boolean
Success

_savePersistent() public ¶

_savePersistent( string $name , object $object )

You should choose a unique name for the persistent file

There are many uses for this method, see manual for examples

Parameters

string $name: name used for object to cache
object $object: the object to persist

Returns

boolean
true on save, throws error if file can not be created

_set() public ¶

_set( array $properties = array() )

Allows setting of multiple properties of the object in a single line of code. Will only set properties that are part of a class declaration.

Parameters

array $properties optional array(): An associative array containing properties and corresponding values.

_stop() public ¶

_stop( $status = 0 )

Stop execution of the current script. Wraps exit() making testing easier.

Parameters

$status optional 0: http://php.net/exit for values

cakeError() public ¶

cakeError( string $method , array $messages = array() )

Used to report user friendly errors. If there is a file app/error.php or app/app_error.php this file will be loaded error.php is the AppError class it should extend ErrorHandler class.

Parameters

string $method: Method to be called in the error class (AppError or ErrorHandler classes)
array $messages optional array(): Message that is to be displayed by the error class

Returns

error
message

dispatchMethod() public ¶

dispatchMethod( string $method , array $params = array() )

Calls a method on this object with the given parameters. Provides an OO wrapper for call_user_func_array

Parameters

string $method: Name of the method to call
array $params optional array(): Parameter list to use when calling $method

Returns

mixed
Returns the result of the method call

log() public ¶

log( string $msg , integer $type = LOG_ERROR )

Convience method to write a message to CakeLog. See CakeLog::write() for more information on writing to logs.

Parameters

string $msg: Log message
integer $type optional LOG_ERROR: Error type constant. Defined in app/config/core.php.

Returns

boolean
Success of log write

requestAction() public ¶

requestAction( mixed $url , array $extra = array() )

Calls a controller's method from any location. Can be used to connect controllers together or tie plugins into a main application. requestAction can be used to return rendered views or fetch the return value from controller actions.

Parameters

mixed $url: String or array-based url.
array $extra optional array(): if array includes the key "return" it sets the AutoRender to true.

Returns

mixed

Boolean true or false on success/failure, or contents of rendered action if 'return' is set in $extra.

toString() public ¶

toString( )

Object-to-string conversion. Each class can override this method as necessary.

Returns

string
The name of this class

Properties detail

`$__cleaned` ¶

public mixed

Holds the cleaned content.

null

`$__tainted` ¶

public mixed

Holds the content to be cleaned.

null

`$action` ¶

public string

Current action.

null

`$argSeparator` ¶

public string

URL argument separator character

null

`$base` ¶

public string

Base URL

null

`$data` ¶

public array

POST data for models

null

`$helpers` ¶

public array

List of helpers used by this helper

null

`$here` ¶

public string

URL to current action.

null

`$namedArgs` ¶

public array

List of named arguments

null

`$params` ¶

public array

Parameter array.

array()

`$plugin` ¶

public string

Plugin path

null

`$tags` ¶

public array

Holds tag templates.

array()

`$theme` ¶

public string

The current theme name if any.

null

`$validationErrors` ¶

public array

Contains model validation errors of form post-backs

null

`$webroot` ¶

public string

Webroot path

null

Classes

Functions

Class Helper

Direct Subclasses

Indirect Subclasses

Properties summary

Method Summary

__clean() public

__formatAttribute() public

__reset() public

__selectedArray() public

_initInputField() public

_name() public

_parseAttributes() public

addClass() public

afterLayout() public

afterRender() public

assetTimestamp() public

beforeLayout() public

beforeRender() public

call__() public

clean() public

domId() public

field() public

get__() public

loadConfig() public

model() public

modelID() public

output() public deprecated

setEntity() public

set__() public

tagIsInvalid() public

url() public

value() public

webroot() public

Method Detail

__clean() public ¶

__formatAttribute() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

__reset() public ¶

__selectedArray() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

_initInputField() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

_name() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

_parseAttributes() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

addClass() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

afterLayout() public ¶

afterRender() public ¶

assetTimestamp() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

beforeLayout() public ¶

beforeRender() public ¶

call__() public ¶

clean() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

domId() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

field() public ¶

Returns

get__() public ¶

loadConfig() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

model() public ¶

Returns

modelID() public ¶

Returns