Class View

View, the V in the MVC triad. View interacts with Helpers and view variables passed in from the controller to render the results of the controller action. Often this is HTML, but can also take the form of JSON, XML, PDF's or streaming files.

CakePHP uses a two-step-view pattern. This means that the view content is rendered first, and then inserted into the selected layout. This also means you can pass data from the view to the layout using $this->set()

View class supports using plugins as themes. You can set $this->theme = 'SuperHot' in your Controller to use plugin SuperHot as a theme. Eg. If current action is Posts::index() then View class will look for template file plugins/SuperHot/Template/Posts/index.ctp. If a theme template is not found for the current action the default app template file is used.

Namespace: Cake\View

Constants

string

TYPE_ELEMENT ¶
```
'element'
```
Constant for view file type 'element'
string

TYPE_LAYOUT ¶
```
'layout'
```
Constant for view file type 'layout'
string

TYPE_VIEW ¶
```
'view'
```
Constant for view file type 'view'

Property Summary

$Blocks public @property

Cake\View\ViewBlock
$Form public @property

Cake\View\Helper\FormHelper
$Html public @property

Cake\View\Helper\HtmlHelper
$Number public @property

Cake\View\Helper\NumberHelper
$Paginator public @property

Cake\View\Helper\PaginatorHelper
$Rss public @property

Cake\View\Helper\RssHelper
$Session public @property

Cake\View\Helper\SessionHelper
$Text public @property

Cake\View\Helper\TextHelper
$Time public @property

Cake\View\Helper\TimeHelper
$Url public @property

Cake\View\Helper\UrlHelper
$_current protected

string

The currently rendering view file. Used for resolving parent files.
$_currentType protected

string

Currently rendering an element. Used for finding parent fragments for elements.
$_eventClass protected

string

Default class name for new event objects.
$_eventManager protected

Cake\Event\EventManager

Instance of the Cake\Event\EventManager this object is using to dispatch inner events.
$_ext protected

string

File extension. Defaults to CakePHP's template ".ctp".
$_helpers protected

Cake\View\HelperRegistry

Helpers collection
$_parents protected

array

The names of views and their parents used with View::extend();
$_passedVars protected

array

List of variables to collect from the associated controller.
$_paths protected

array

Holds an array of paths.
$_pathsForPlugin protected

array

Holds an array of plugin paths.
$_stack protected

array

Content stack, used for nested templates that all use View::extend();
$autoLayout public

bool

Turns on or off CakePHP's conventional mode of applying layout files. On by default. Setting to off means that layouts will not be automatically applied to rendered views.
$elementCache public

string

The Cache configuration View will use to store cached elements. Changing this will change the default configuration elements are stored under. You can also choose a cache config per element.
$hasRendered public

bool

True when the view has been rendered.
$helpers public

mixed

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

string

The name of the layout file to render the view inside of. The name specified is the filename of the layout in /app/Template/Layout without the .ctp extension.
$layoutPath public

string

The name of the layouts subfolder containing layouts for this View.
$name public

string

Name of the controller that created the View if any.
$passedArgs public

array

Current passed params. Passed to View from the creating Controller for convenience.
$plugin public

string

The name of the plugin.
$request public

Cake\Network\Request

An instance of a Cake\Network\Request object that contains information about the current request. This object contains all the information about a request and several methods for reading additional information about the request.
$response public

Cake\Network\Response

Reference to the Response object
$subDir public

string

Sub-directory for this view file. This is often used for extension based routing. Eg. With an xml extension, $subDir would be xml/
$theme public

string

The view theme to use.
$uuids public

array

List of generated DOM UUIDs.
$view public

string

The name of the view file to render. The name specified is the filename in /app/Template/ without the .ctp extension.
$viewPath public

string

The name of the views subfolder containing views for this View.
$viewVars public

array

Variables for the view

Method Summary

__construct() public

Constructor
__get() public

Magic accessor for helpers.
_checkFilePath() protected

Check that a view file path does not go outside of the defined template paths.
_createCell() protected

Create and configure the cell instance.
_elementCache() protected

Generate the cache configuration options for an element.
_evaluate() protected

Sandbox method to evaluate a template / view script in.
_getElementFileName() protected

Finds an element filename, returns false on failure.
_getLayoutFileName() protected

Returns layout filename for this template as a string.
_getSubPaths() protected

Find all sub templates path, based on $basePath If a prefix is defined in the current request, this method will prepend the prefixed template path to the $basePath, cascading up in case the prefix is nested. This is essentially used to find prefixed template paths for elements and layouts.
_getViewFileName() protected

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.
_paths() protected

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

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

Renders an element and fires the before and afterRender callbacks for it and writes to the cache if a cache is used
append() public

Append to an existing or new block.
assign() public

Set the content for a block. This will overwrite any existing content.
blocks() public

Get the names of all the existing blocks.
cache() public

Create a cached block of view logic.
cell() public

Renders the given cell.
createView() public

Constructs the view class instance based on object properties.
dispatchEvent() public

Wrapper for creating and dispatching events.
element() public

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

Checks if an element exists
end() public

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

Returns the Cake\Event\EventManager manager instance for this object.
exists() public

Check if a block exists
extend() public

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

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

Returns the contents of the given View variable.
getCurrentType() public

Retrieve the current view type
getVars() public

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

Get view instance
helpers() public

Get the helper registry in use by this View class.
initialize() public

Initialization hook method.
loadHelper() public

Loads a helper. Delegates to the HelperRegistry::load() to load the helper
loadHelpers() public

Interact with the HelperRegistry to load all the helpers.
log() public

Convenience method to write a message to Log. See Log::write() for more information on writing to logs.
pluginSplit() public

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
prepend() public

Prepend to an existing or new block.
render() public

Renders view for given view file and layout.
renderLayout() public

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

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.
set() public

Saves a variable or an associative array of variables for use inside a template.
start() public

Start capturing output for a 'block'
uuid() public

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

Get/Set valid view options in the object's _validViewOptions property. The property is created as an empty array if it is not set. If called without any parameters it will return the current list of valid view options. See createView().

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

__construct(Cake\Network\Request|null $request = null, Cake\Network\Response|null $response = null, Cake\Event\EventManager|null $eventManager = null, array $viewOptions = [])

Constructor

Parameters

Cake\Network\Request|null $request optional: Request instance.
Cake\Network\Response|null $response optional: Response instance.
Cake\Event\EventManager|null $eventManager optional: Event manager instance.
array $viewOptions optional: View options. See View::$_passedVars for list of options which get set as class properties.

__get() ¶ public

__get(string $name): mixed

Magic accessor for helpers.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the attribute to get.

Returns

mixed

_checkFilePath() ¶ protected

_checkFilePath(string $file, string $path): string

Check that a view file path does not go outside of the defined template paths.

Only paths that contain .. will be checked, as they are the ones most likely to have the ability to resolve to files outside of the template paths.

Parameters

string $file: The path to the template file.
string $path: Base path that $file should be inside of.

Returns

string

Throws

InvalidArgumentException

_createCell() ¶ protected

_createCell(string $className, string $action, string $plugin, array $options): Cake\View\Cell

Create and configure the cell instance.

Parameters

string $className: The cell classname.
string $action: The action name.
string $plugin: The plugin name.
array $options: The constructor options for the cell.

Returns

Cake\View\Cell

_elementCache() ¶ protected

_elementCache(string $name, array $data, array $options): array

Generate the cache configuration options for an element.

Parameters

string $name: Element name
array $data: Data
array $options: Element options

Returns

array

_evaluate() ¶ protected

_evaluate(string $viewFile, array $dataForView): string

Sandbox method to evaluate a template / view script in.

Parameters

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

Returns

string

_getElementFileName() ¶ protected

_getElementFileName(string $name): mixed

Finds an element filename, returns false on failure.

Parameters

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

Returns

mixed

_getLayoutFileName() ¶ protected

_getLayoutFileName(string|null $name = null): string

Returns layout filename for this template as a string.

Parameters

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

Returns

string

Throws

Cake\View\Exception\MissingLayoutException
when a layout cannot be located

_getSubPaths() ¶ protected

_getSubPaths(string $basePath): array

Find all sub templates path, based on $basePath If a prefix is defined in the current request, this method will prepend the prefixed template path to the $basePath, cascading up in case the prefix is nested. This is essentially used to find prefixed template paths for elements and layouts.

Parameters

string $basePath: Base path on which to get the prefixed one.

Returns

array

_getViewFileName() ¶ protected

_getViewFileName(string|null $name = null): string

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

Returns

string

Throws

Cake\View\Exception\MissingTemplateException
when a view file could not be found.

_paths() ¶ protected

_paths(string|null $plugin = null, bool $cached = true): array

Return all possible paths to find view files in order

Parameters

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

Returns

array

_render() ¶ protected

_render(string $viewFile, array $data = []): string

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 $data optional: Data to include in rendered view. If empty the current View::$viewVars will be used.

Returns

string

Throws

LogicException
When a block is left open.

_renderElement() ¶ protected

_renderElement(string $file, array $data, array $options): string

Renders an element and fires the before and afterRender callbacks for it and writes to the cache if a cache is used

Parameters

string $file: Element file path
array $data: Data to render
array $options: Element options

Returns

string

append() ¶ public

append(string $name, mixed $value = null): void

Append to an existing or new block.

Appending to a new block will create the block.

Parameters

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

Returns

void

assign() ¶ public

assign(string $name, mixed $value): void

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

Parameters

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

Returns

void

blocks() ¶ public

blocks(): array

Get the names of all the existing blocks.

Returns

array

cache() ¶ public

cache(callable $block, array $options = []): string

Create a cached block of view logic.

This allows you to cache a block of view output into the cache defined in elementCache.

This method will attempt to read the cache first. If the cache is empty, the $block will be run and the output stored.

Parameters

callable $block: The block of code that you want to cache the output of.
array $options optional: The options defining the cache key etc.

Returns

string

Throws

RuntimeException
When $options is lacking a 'key' option.

cell() ¶ public

cell(string $cell, array $data = [], array $options = []): Cake\View\Cell

Renders the given cell.

Example:

// Taxonomy\View\Cell\TagCloudCell::smallList()
$cell = $this->cell('Taxonomy.TagCloud::smallList', ['limit' => 10]);

// App\View\Cell\TagCloudCell::smallList()
$cell = $this->cell('TagCloud::smallList', ['limit' => 10]);

The display action will be used by default when no action is provided:

// Taxonomy\View\Cell\TagCloudCell::display()
$cell = $this->cell('Taxonomy.TagCloud');

Cells are not rendered until they are echoed.

Parameters

string $cell: You must indicate cell name, and optionally a cell action. e.g.: TagCloud::smallList will invoke View\Cell\TagCloudCell::smallList(), display action will be invoked by default when none is provided.
array $data optional: Additional arguments for cell method. e.g.: cell('TagCloud::smallList', ['a1' => 'v1', 'a2' => 'v2']) maps to View\Cell\TagCloud::smallList(v1, v2)
array $options optional: Options for Cell's constructor

Returns

Cake\View\Cell

Throws

Cake\View\Exception\MissingCellException
If Cell class was not found.
BadMethodCallException
If Cell class does not specified cell action.

createView() ¶ public

createView(string|null $viewClass = null): Cake\View\View

Constructs the view class instance based on object properties.

Parameters

string|null $viewClass optional: Optional namespaced class name of the View class to instantiate.

Returns

Cake\View\View

Throws

Cake\View\Exception\MissingViewException
If view class was not found.

dispatchEvent() ¶ public

dispatchEvent(string $name, array|null $data = null, object|null $subject = null): Cake\Event\Event

Wrapper for creating and dispatching events.

Returns a dispatched event.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the event.
array|null $data optional: Any value you wish to be transported with this event to it can be read by listeners.
object|null $subject optional: The object that this event applies to ($this by default).

Returns

Cake\Event\Event

element() ¶ public

element(string $name, array $data = [], array $options = []): string

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.

Parameters

string $name

Name of template file in the/app/Template/Element/ 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 of data to be made available to the rendered view (i.e. the Element)

array $options optional

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_
callbacks - Set to true to fire beforeRender and afterRender helper callbacks for this element. Defaults to false.
ignoreMissing - Used to allow missing elements. Set to true to not throw exceptions.

Returns

string

Throws

Cake\View\Exception\MissingElementException
When an element is missing and `ignoreMissing` is false.

elementExists() ¶ public

elementExists(string $name): bool

Checks if an element exists

Parameters

string $name: Name of template file in the /app/Template/Element/ folder, or MyPlugin.template to check the template element from MyPlugin. If the element is not found in the plugin, the normal view path cascade will be searched.

Returns

bool

end() ¶ public

end(): void

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

Returns

void

eventManager() ¶ public

eventManager(Cake\Event\EventManager|null $eventManager = null): Cake\Event\EventManager

Returns the Cake\Event\EventManager manager instance for this object.

You can use this instance to register any new listeners or callbacks to the object events, or create your own events and trigger them at will.

Parameters

Cake\Event\EventManager|null $eventManager optional: the eventManager to set

Returns

Cake\Event\EventManager

exists() ¶ public

exists(string $name): bool

Check if a block exists

Parameters

string $name: Name of the block

Returns

bool

extend() ¶ public

extend(string $name): void

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.

Returns

void

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, string $default = ''): string

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

Parameters

string $name: Name of the block
string $default optional: Default text

Returns

string

get() ¶ public

get(string $var, mixed $default = null): mixed

Returns the contents of the given View variable.

Parameters

string $var: The view var you want the contents of.
mixed $default optional: The default/fallback content of $var.

Returns

mixed

getCurrentType() ¶ public

getCurrentType(): string

Retrieve the current view type

Returns

string

getVars() ¶ public

getVars(): array

Returns a list of variables available in the current View context

Returns

array

getView() ¶ public

getView(string|null $viewClass = null): Cake\View\View

Get view instance

Parameters

string|null $viewClass optional: View class name or null to use $viewClass

Returns

Cake\View\View

Throws

Cake\View\Exception\MissingViewException
If view class was not found.

helpers() ¶ public

helpers(): Cake\View\HelperRegistry

Get the helper registry in use by this View class.

Returns

Cake\View\HelperRegistry

initialize() ¶ public

initialize(): void

Initialization hook method.

Properties like $helpers etc. cannot be initialized statically in your custom view class as they are overwritten by values from controller in constructor. So this method allows you to manipulate them as required after view instance is constructed.

Returns

void

loadHelper() ¶ public

loadHelper(string $name, array $config = []): Helper

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

Parameters

string $name: Name of the helper to load.
array $config optional: Settings for the helper

Returns

Helper

loadHelpers() ¶ public

loadHelpers(): void

Interact with the HelperRegistry to load all the helpers.

Returns

void

log() ¶ public

log(mixed $msg, int|string $level = LogLevel::ERROR, string|array $context = []): bool

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

Parameters

mixed $msg: Log message.
int|string $level optional: Error level.
string|array $context optional: Additional log data relevant to this message.

Returns

bool

pluginSplit() ¶ public

pluginSplit(string $name, bool $fallback = true): array

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.
bool $fallback optional: If true uses the plugin set in the current Request when parsed plugin is not loaded

Returns

array

prepend() ¶ public

prepend(string $name, mixed $value): void

Prepend to an existing or new block.

Prepending to a new block will create the block.

Parameters

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

Returns

void

render() ¶ public

render(string|null $view = null, string|null $layout = null): string|void

Renders view for given view file and layout.

Render triggers helper callbacks, which are fired before and after the view are rendered, as well as before and after the layout. The helper callbacks are called:

beforeRender
afterRender
beforeLayout
afterLayout

If View::$autoRender is false and no $layout is provided, the view will be returned bare.

View and layout names can point to plugin views/layouts. Using the Plugin.view syntax a plugin view/layout can be used instead of the app ones. If the chosen plugin is not found the view will be located along the regular view path cascade.

Parameters

string|null $view optional: Name of view file to use
string|null $layout optional: Layout to use.

Returns

string|void

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\Exception
If there is an error in the view.

renderLayout() ¶ public

renderLayout(string $content, string|null $layout = null): mixed

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

Parameters

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

Returns

mixed

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\Exception
if there is an error in the view.

requestAction() ¶ public

requestAction(string|array $url, array $extra = []): mixed

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()

Examples

A basic example getting the return value of the controller action:

$variables = $this->requestAction('/articles/popular');

A basic example of request action to fetch a rendered page without the layout.

$viewHtml = $this->requestAction('/articles/popular', ['return']);

You can also pass the URL as an array:

$vars = $this->requestAction(['controller' => 'articles', 'action' => 'popular']);

Passing other request data

You can pass POST, GET, COOKIE and other data into the request using the appropriate keys. Cookies can be passed using the cookies key. Get parameters can be set with query and post data can be sent using the post key.

$vars = $this->requestAction('/articles/popular', [
  'query' => ['page' => 1],
  'cookies' => ['remember_me' => 1],
]);

Sending environment or header values

By default actions dispatched with this method will use the global $_SERVER and $_ENV values. If you want to override those values for a request action, you can specify the values:

$vars = $this->requestAction('/articles/popular', [
  'environment' => ['CONTENT_TYPE' => 'application/json']
]);

Transmitting the session

By default actions dispatched with this method will use the standard session object. If you want a particular session instance to be used, you need to specify it.

$vars = $this->requestAction('/articles/popular', [
  'session' => new Session($someSessionConfig)
]);

Parameters

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

Returns

mixed

set() ¶ public

set(string|array $name, string|array|null $value = null): $this

Saves a variable or an associative array of variables for use inside a template.

Parameters

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

Returns

$this

start() ¶ public

start(string $name): void

Start capturing output for a 'block'

You can use start on a block multiple times to append or prepend content in a capture mode.

// Append content to an existing block.
$this->start('content');
echo $this->fetch('content');
echo 'Some new content';
$this->end();

// Prepend content to an existing block
$this->start('content');
echo 'Some new content';
echo $this->fetch('content');
$this->end();

Parameters

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

Returns

void

uuid() ¶ public

uuid(string $object, string $url): string

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

viewOptions() ¶ public

viewOptions(string|array|null $options = null, bool $merge = true): array

Get/Set valid view options in the object's _validViewOptions property. The property is created as an empty array if it is not set. If called without any parameters it will return the current list of valid view options. See createView().

Parameters

string|array|null $options optional: string or array of string to be appended to _validViewOptions.
bool $merge optional: Whether to merge with or override existing valid View options. Defaults to true.

Returns

array

Property Detail

Variables for the view

Type

array

Namespaces

Class View

Constants

Property Summary

Method Summary

__construct() public

__get() public

_checkFilePath() protected

_createCell() protected

_elementCache() protected

_evaluate() protected

_getElementFileName() protected

_getLayoutFileName() protected

_getSubPaths() protected

_getViewFileName() protected

_paths() protected

_render() protected

_renderElement() protected

append() public

assign() public

blocks() public

cache() public

cell() public

createView() public

dispatchEvent() public

element() public

elementExists() public

end() public

eventManager() public

exists() public

extend() public

fetch() public

get() public

getCurrentType() public

getVars() public

getView() public

helpers() public

initialize() public

loadHelper() public

loadHelpers() public

log() public

pluginSplit() public

prepend() public

render() public

renderLayout() public

requestAction() public

set() public

start() public

uuid() public

viewOptions() public

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

Parameters

__get() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

_checkFilePath() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

Throws

_createCell() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_elementCache() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_evaluate() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_getElementFileName() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_getLayoutFileName() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

Throws

_getSubPaths() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_getViewFileName() ¶ protected