Class JsonView

A view class that is used for JSON responses.

By setting the '_serialize' key in your controller, you can specify a view variable that should be serialized to JSON and used as the response for the request. This allows you to omit views + layouts, if your just need to emit a single view variable as the JSON response.

In your controller, you could do the following:

$this->set(array('posts' => $posts, '_serialize' => 'posts'));

When the view is rendered, the $posts view variable will be serialized into JSON.

You can also define '_serialize' as an array. This will create a top level object containing all the named view variables:

{{{ $this->set(compact('posts', 'users', 'stuff')); $this->set('_serialize', array('posts', 'users')); }}}

The above would generate a JSON object that looks like:

{"posts": [...], "users": [...]}

If you don't use the _serialize key, you will need a view. You can use extended views to provide layout like functionality.

Object

View

JsonView

Package: Cake\View
Since: CakePHP(tm) v 2.1.0
Copyright: Copyright 2005-2012, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
License: License (http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php)
Location: Cake/View/JsonView.php

Inherited Constants

TYPE_ELEMENT, TYPE_LAYOUT, TYPE_VIEW

Properties summary

$subDir public

string

JSON views are always located in the 'json' sub directory for a controllers views.

Inherited Magic Properties

Blocks, Cache, Form, Html, Js, Number, Paginator, Rss, Session, Text, Time

Inherited Properties

Blocks, Helpers, _current, _currentType, _eventManager, _eventManagerConfigured, _helpersLoaded, _parents, _passedVars, _paths, _scripts, _stack, autoLayout, cacheAction, elementCache, ext, hasRendered, helpers, layout, layoutPath, name, passedArgs, plugin, request, response, theme, uuids, validationErrors, view, viewPath, viewVars

Method Summary

__construct() public

Constructor
render() public

Render a JSON view.

Method Detail

__construct() public ¶

__construct( Controller $controller = null )

Constructor

Parameters

Controller $controller optional null

Overrides

View::__construct()

render() public ¶

render( string $view = null , string $layout = null )

Render a JSON view.

Uses the special '_serialize' parameter to convert a set of view variables into a JSON response. Makes generating simple JSON responses very easy. You can omit the '_serialize' parameter, and use a normal view + layout as well.

Parameters

string $view optional null: The view being rendered.
string $layout optional null: The layout being rendered.

Returns

string
The rendered view.

Throws

CakeException
if there is an error in the view.

Overrides

View::render()

Methods inherited from View

__get() public ¶

__get( string $name )

Magic accessor for helpers. Provides access to attributes that were deprecated.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the attribute to get.

Returns

mixed

__isset() public ¶

__isset( string $name )

Magic isset check for deprecated attributes.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the attribute to check.

Returns

boolean

__set() public ¶

__set( string $name , string $value )

Magic accessor for deprecated attributes.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the attribute to set.
string $value: Value of the attribute to set.

Returns

mixed

_evaluate() protected ¶

_evaluate( string $___viewFn , array $___dataForView )

Sandbox method to evaluate a template / view script in.

Parameters

string $___viewFn: Filename of the view
array $___dataForView: Data to include in rendered view. If empty the current View::$viewVars will be used.

Returns

string
Rendered output

_getElementFileName() protected ¶

_getElementFileName( string $name )

Finds an element filename, returns false on failure.

Parameters

string $name: The name of the element to find.

Returns

mixed
Either a string to the element filename or false when one can't be found.

_getExtensions() protected ¶

_getExtensions( )

Get the extensions that view files can use.

Returns

array
Array of extensions view files use.

_getLayoutFileName() protected ¶

_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).

Throws

MissingLayoutException
when a layout cannot be located

_getViewFileName() protected ¶

_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

Throws

MissingViewException
when a view file could not be found.

_paths() protected ¶

_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() protected ¶

_render( string $viewFile , array $data = array() )

Renders and returns output for given view filename with its array of data. Handles parent/extended views.

Parameters

string $viewFile: Filename of the view
array $data optional array(): Data to include in rendered view. If empty the current View::$viewVars will be used.

Returns

string
Rendered output

Throws

CakeException
when a block is left open.

addScript() public deprecated ¶

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

Deprecated

Will be removed in 3.0. Supersceeded by blocks functionality.

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.

See

View::start()

append() public ¶

append( string $name , string $value = null )

Append to an existing or new block. Appending to a new block will create the block.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the block
string $value optional null: The content for the block.

Throws

CakeException
when you use non-string values.

See

ViewBlock::append()

assign() public ¶

assign( string $name , string $value )

Set the content for a block. This will overwrite any existing content.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the block
string $value: The content for the block.

Throws

CakeException
when you use non-string values.

See

ViewBlock::assign()

blocks() public ¶

blocks( )

Get the names of all the existing blocks.

Returns

array
An array containing the blocks.

See

ViewBlock::keys()

element() public deprecated ¶

element( string $name , array $data = array() , array $options = array() )

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 improving performance by using the cache option.

Deprecated

The $options['plugin'] is deprecated and will be removed in CakePHP 3.0. Use Plugin.element_name instead.

Parameters

string $name: Name of template file in the/app/View/Elements/ folder, or MyPlugin.template to use the template element from MyPlugin. If the element is not found in the plugin, the normal view path cascade will be searched.
array $data optional array(): Array of data to be made available to the rendered view (i.e. the Element)
array $options optional array(): Array of options. Possible keys are: - cache - Can either be true, to enable caching using the config in View::$elementCache. Or an array If an array, the following keys can be used: - config - Used to store the cached element in a custom cache configuration. - key - Used to define the key used in the Cache::write(). It will be prefixed with element_ - plugin - Load an element from a specific plugin. This option is deprecated, see below. - callbacks - Set to true to fire beforeRender and afterRender helper callbacks for this element. Defaults to false.

Returns

string
Rendered Element

end() public ¶

end( )

End a capturing block. The compliment to View::start()

See

ViewBlock::start()

extend() public ¶

extend( string $name )

Provides view or element extension/inheritance. Views can extends a parent view and populate blocks in the parent template.

Parameters

string $name: The view or element to 'extend' the current one with.

Throws

LogicException
when you extend a view with itself or make extend loops.
LogicException
when you extend an element which doesn't exist

fetch() public ¶

fetch( string $name )

Fetch the content for a block. If a block is empty or undefined '' will be returned.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the block

Returns

The
block content or '' if the block does not exist.

See

ViewBlock::fetch()

get() public ¶

get( string $var )

Returns the contents of the given View variable or a block. Blocks are checked before view variables.

Parameters

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

Returns

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

getEventManager() public ¶

getEventManager( )

Returns the CakeEventManager manager instance that is handling any callbacks. You can use this instance to register any new listeners or callbacks to the controller events, or create your own events and trigger them at will.

Returns

CakeEventManager

getVar() public deprecated ¶

getVar( string $var )

Returns the contents of the given View variable(s)

Deprecated

Will be removed in 3.0 Use View::get() instead.

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.

loadHelper() public ¶

loadHelper( string $helperName , array $settings = array() )

Loads a helper. Delegates to the HelperCollection::load() to load the helper

Parameters

string $helperName: Name of the helper to load.
array $settings optional array(): Settings for the helper

Returns

Helper
a constructed helper object.

See

HelperCollection::load()

loadHelpers() public ¶

loadHelpers( )

Interact with the HelperCollection to load all the helpers.

pluginSplit() public ¶

pluginSplit( string $name , boolean $fallback = true )

Splits a dot syntax plugin name into its plugin and filename. If $name does not have a dot, then index 0 will be null. It checks if the plugin is loaded, else filename will stay unchanged for filenames containing dot

Parameters

string $name: The name you want to plugin split.
boolean $fallback optional true: If true uses the plugin set in the current CakeRequest when parsed plugin is not loaded

Returns

array
Array with 2 indexes. 0 => plugin name, 1 => filename

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 , string $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 content added with addScript() as well as any content in the 'meta', 'css', and 'script' blocks. They are appended in that order.

Deprecated features:

$scripts_for_layout is deprecated and will be removed in CakePHP 3.0. Use the block features instead. meta, css and script will be populated by the matching methods on HtmlHelper.
$title_for_layout is deprecated and will be removed in CakePHP 3.0
$content_for_layout is deprecated and will be removed in CakePHP 3.0. Use the content block instead.

Parameters

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

Returns

mixed
Rendered output, or false on error

Throws

CakeException
if there is an error in the view.

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. Analogous 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.

start() public ¶

start( string $name )

Start capturing output for a 'block'

Parameters

string $name: The name of the block to capture for.

See

ViewBlock::start()

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

_mergeVars() protected ¶

_mergeVars( array $properties , string $class , boolean $normalize = true )

Merges this objects $property with the property in $class' definition. This classes value for the property will be merged on top of $class'

This provides some of the DRY magic CakePHP provides. If you want to shut it off, redefine this method as an empty function.

Parameters

array $properties: The name of the properties to merge.
string $class: The class to merge the property with.
boolean $normalize optional true: Set to true to run the properties through Set::normalize() before merging.

_set() protected ¶

_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() protected ¶

_stop( integer|string $status = 0 )

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

Parameters

integer|string $status optional 0: see http://php.net/exit for values

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 )

Convenience 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.

Under the hood this method uses Router::reverse() to convert the $url parameter into a string URL. You should use URL formats that are compatible with Router::reverse()

Passing POST and GET data

POST and GET data can be simulated in requestAction. Use $extra['url'] for GET data. The $extra['data'] parameter allows POST data simulation.

Parameters

mixed $url: String or array-based url. Unlike other url arrays in CakePHP, this url will not automatically handle passed and named arguments in the $url parameter.
array $extra optional array(): if array includes the key "return" it sets the AutoRender to true. Can also be used to submit GET/POST data, and named/passed arguments.

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

`$subDir` ¶

public string

JSON views are always located in the 'json' sub directory for a controllers views.

'json'

Packages

Classes

Class JsonView

Inherited Constants

Properties summary

Inherited Magic Properties

Inherited Properties

Method Summary

__construct() public

render() public

Method Detail

__construct() public ¶

Parameters

Overrides

render() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

Throws

Overrides

Methods inherited from View

__get() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

__isset() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

__set() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

_evaluate() protected ¶

Parameters

Returns

_getElementFileName() protected ¶

Parameters

Returns

_getExtensions() protected ¶

Returns

_getLayoutFileName() protected ¶

Parameters

Returns

Throws

_getViewFileName() protected ¶

Parameters

Returns

Throws

_paths() protected ¶

Parameters

Returns

_render() protected ¶

Parameters

Returns

Throws

addScript() public deprecated ¶

Deprecated

Parameters

See

append() public ¶

Parameters

Throws

See

assign() public ¶

Parameters

Throws

See

blocks() public ¶

Returns

See

element() public deprecated ¶

Deprecated

Parameters

Returns

end() public ¶

See

extend() public ¶

Parameters

Throws

fetch() public ¶

Parameters

Returns

See

`$subDir` ¶