Class View

View, the V in the MVC triad.

Class holding methods for displaying presentation data.

Object

View

Direct Subclasses

Indirect Subclasses

ScaffoldView

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/view.php

Properties summary

$__passedVars public

array

List of variables to collect from the associated controller
$__paths public

array

Holds an array of paths.
$__scripts public

array

Scripts (and/or other tags) for the layout
$action public

string

Action to be performed.
$association public

string

Name of association model this view context is attached to
$autoLayout public

boolean

Turns on or off Cake's conventional mode of finding layout files. On by default.
$autoRender public

boolean

Turns on or off Cake's conventional mode of rendering views. On by default.
$base public

string

Path parts for creating links in views.
$cacheAction public

mixed

Used to define methods a controller that will be cached.
$data public

array

Array of data
$ext public

string

File extension. Defaults to Cake's template ".ctp".
$field public

string

Name of current model field this view context is attached to
$fieldSuffix public

string

Suffix of current field this view context is attached to
$hasRendered public

boolean

True when the view has been rendered.
$helpers public

mixed

An array of names of built-in helpers to include.
$here public

string

Stores the current URL (for links etc.)
$layout public

string

Name of layout to use with this View.
$layoutPath public

string

Path to Layout.
$loaded public

array

Array of loaded view helpers.
$model public

string

Name of current model this view context is attached to
$modelId public

mixed

The current model ID this view context is attached to
$modelScope public

boolean

True if in scope of model-specific region
$name public

string

Name of the controller.
$output public

string

Holds View output.
$params public

array

Array of parameter data
$passedArgs public

mixed

Current passed params
$plugin public

string

Name of the plugin.
$subDir public

string

Sub-directory for this view file.
$theme public

string

Theme name.
$uuids public

array

List of generated DOM UUIDs
$validationErrors public

array

holds current errors for the model validation
$viewPath public

string

Path to View.
$viewVars public

array

Variables for the view

Method Summary

__construct() public

Constructor
_getExtensions() public

Get the extensions that view files can use.
_getLayoutFileName() public

Returns layout filename for this template as a string.
_getViewFileName() public

Returns filename of given action's template file (.ctp) as a string. CamelCased action names will be under_scored! This means that you can have LongActionNames that refer to long_action_names.ctp views.
_loadHelpers() public

Loads helpers, with their dependencies.
_missingView() public

Return a misssing view error message
_paths() public

Return all possible paths to find view files in order
_render() public

Renders and returns output for given view filename with its array of data.
_triggerHelpers() public

Fire a callback on all loaded Helpers. All helpers must implement this method, it is not checked before being called. You can add additional helper callbacks in AppHelper.
addScript() public

Adds a script block or other element to be inserted in $scripts_for_layout in the <head /> of a document layout
element() public

Renders a piece of PHP with provided parameters and returns HTML, XML, or any other string.
entity() public

Returns the entity reference of the current context as an array of identity parts
error() public

Displays an error page to the user. Uses layouts/error.ctp to render the page.
getVar() public

Returns the contents of the given View variable(s)
getVars() public

Returns a list of variables available in the current View context
render() public

Renders view for given action and layout. If $file is given, that is used for a view filename (e.g. customFunkyView.ctp).
renderCache() public

Render cached view. Works in concert with CacheHelper and Dispatcher to render cached view files.
renderLayout() public

Renders a layout. Returns output from _render(). Returns false on error. Several variables are created for use in layout.
set() public

Allows a template or element to set a variable that will be available in a layout or other element. Analagous to Controller::set.
uuid() public

Generates a unique, non-random DOM ID for an object, based on the object type and the target URL.

Method Detail

__construct() public ¶

__construct( Controller $controller , boolean $register = true )

Constructor

Parameters

Controller $controller: A controller object to pull View::__passedArgs from.
boolean $register optional true: Should the View instance be registered in the ClassRegistry

Returns

View

Overrides

Object::__construct()

_getExtensions() public ¶

_getExtensions( )

Get the extensions that view files can use.

Returns

array
Array of extensions view files use.

_getLayoutFileName() public ¶

_getLayoutFileName( string $name = null )

Returns layout filename for this template as a string.

Parameters

string $name optional null: The name of the layout to find.

Returns

string
Filename for layout file (.ctp).

_getViewFileName() public ¶

_getViewFileName( string $name = null )

Returns filename of given action's template file (.ctp) as a string. CamelCased action names will be under_scored! This means that you can have LongActionNames that refer to long_action_names.ctp views.

Parameters

string $name optional null: Controller action to find template filename for

Returns

string
Template filename

_loadHelpers() public ¶

_loadHelpers( array $loaded , array $helpers , string $parent = null )

Loads helpers, with their dependencies.

Parameters

array $loaded: List of helpers that are already loaded.
array $helpers: List of helpers to load.
string $parent optional null: holds name of helper, if loaded helper has helpers

Returns

array
Array containing the loaded helpers.

_missingView() public ¶

_missingView( string $file , $error = 'missingView' )

Return a misssing view error message

Parameters

string $file: $viewFileName the filename that should exist
$error optional 'missingView'

Returns

false

_paths() public ¶

_paths( string $plugin = null , boolean $cached = true )

Return all possible paths to find view files in order

Parameters

string $plugin optional null: Optional plugin name to scan for view files.
boolean $cached optional true: Set to true to force a refresh of view paths.

Returns

array
paths

_render() public ¶

_render( string $___viewFn , array $___dataForView , boolean $loadHelpers = true , boolean $cached = false )

Renders and returns output for given view filename with its array of data.

Parameters

string $___viewFn: Filename of the view
array $___dataForView: Data to include in rendered view
boolean $loadHelpers optional true: Boolean to indicate that helpers should be loaded.
boolean $cached optional false: Whether or not to trigger the creation of a cache file.

Returns

string
Rendered output

_triggerHelpers() public ¶

_triggerHelpers( string $callback )

Fire a callback on all loaded Helpers. All helpers must implement this method, it is not checked before being called. You can add additional helper callbacks in AppHelper.

Parameters

string $callback: name of callback fire.

addScript() public ¶

addScript( string $name , string $content = null )

Adds a script block or other element to be inserted in $scripts_for_layout in the <head /> of a document layout

Parameters

string $name: Either the key name for the script, or the script content. Name can be used to update/replace a script element.
string $content optional null: The content of the script being added, optional.

element() public ¶

element( string $name , array $params = array() , $loadHelpers = false )

Renders a piece of PHP with provided parameters and returns HTML, XML, or any other string.

This realizes the concept of Elements, (or "partial layouts") and the $params array is used to send data to be used in the Element. Elements can be cached through use of the cache key.

Special params

cache - enable caching for this element accepts boolean or strtotime compatible string. Can also be an array. If cache is an array, time is used to specify duration of cache. key can be used to create unique cache files.
plugin - Load an element from a specific plugin.

Parameters

string $name: Name of template file in the/app/views/elements/ folder
array $params optional array(): Array of data to be made available to the for rendered view (i.e. the Element)
$loadHelpers optional false

Returns

string
Rendered Element

entity() public ¶

entity( )

Returns the entity reference of the current context as an array of identity parts

Returns

array
An array containing the identity elements of an entity

error() public ¶

error( integer $code , string $name , string $message )

Displays an error page to the user. Uses layouts/error.ctp to render the page.

Parameters

integer $code: HTTP Error code (for instance: 404)
string $name: Name of the error (for instance: Not Found)
string $message: Error message as a web page

getVar() public ¶

getVar( string $var )

Returns the contents of the given View variable(s)

Parameters

string $var: The view var you want the contents of.

Returns

mixed
The content of the named var if its set, otherwise null.

getVars() public ¶

getVars( )

Returns a list of variables available in the current View context

Returns

array
Array of the set view variable names.

render() public ¶

render( string $action = null , string $layout = null , string $file = null )

Renders view for given action and layout. If $file is given, that is used for a view filename (e.g. customFunkyView.ctp).

Parameters

string $action optional null: Name of action to render for
string $layout optional null: Layout to use
string $file optional null: Custom filename for view

Returns

string
Rendered Element

renderCache() public ¶

renderCache( string $filename , string $timeStart )

Render cached view. Works in concert with CacheHelper and Dispatcher to render cached view files.

Parameters

string $filename: the cache file to include
string $timeStart: the page render start time

Returns

boolean
Success of rendering the cached file.

renderLayout() public ¶

renderLayout( string $content_for_layout , $layout = null )

Renders a layout. Returns output from _render(). Returns false on error. Several variables are created for use in layout.

title_for_layout - A backwards compatible place holder, you should set this value if you want more control.
content_for_layout - contains rendered view file
scripts_for_layout - contains scripts added to header

Parameters

string $content_for_layout: Content to render in a view, wrapped by the surrounding layout.
$layout optional null

Returns

mixed
Rendered output, or false on error

set() public ¶

set( mixed $one , mixed $two = null )

Allows a template or element to set a variable that will be available in a layout or other element. Analagous to Controller::set.

Parameters

mixed $one: A string or an array of data.
mixed $two optional null: Value in case $one is a string (which then works as the key). Unused if $one is an associative array, otherwise serves as the values to $one's keys.

uuid() public ¶

uuid( string $object , string $url )

Generates a unique, non-random DOM ID for an object, based on the object type and the target URL.

Parameters

string $object: Type of object, i.e. 'form' or 'link'
string $url: The object's target URL

Returns

string

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

__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

`$__passedVars` ¶

public array

List of variables to collect from the associated controller

array(
    'viewVars', 'action', 'autoLayout', 'autoRender', 'ext', 'base', 'webroot',
    'helpers', 'here', 'layout', 'name', 'layoutPath', 'viewPath',
    'params', 'data', 'plugin', 'passedArgs', 'cacheAction'
)