Class Controller

Application controller class for organization of business logic. Provides basic functionality, such as rendering views inside layouts, automatic model availability, redirection, callbacks, and more.

Controllers should provide a number of 'action' methods. These are public methods on a controller that are not inherited from Controller. Each action serves as an endpoint for performing a specific action on a resource or collection of resources. For example adding or editing a new object, or listing a set of objects.

You can access request parameters, using $this->getRequest(). The request object contains all the POST, GET and FILES that were part of the request.

After performing the required action, controllers are responsible for creating a response. This usually takes the form of a generated View, or possibly a redirection to another URL. In either case $this->getResponse() allows you to manipulate all aspects of the response.

Controllers are created by ActionDispatcher based on request parameters and routing. By default controllers and actions use conventional names. For example /posts/index maps to PostsController::index(). You can re-map URLs using Router::connect() or RouterBuilder::connect().

Life cycle callbacks

CakePHP fires a number of life cycle callbacks during each request. By implementing a method you can receive the related events. The available callbacks are:

beforeFilter(EventInterface $event) Called before each action. This is a good place to do general logic that applies to all actions.
beforeRender(EventInterface $event) Called before the view is rendered.
beforeRedirect(EventInterface $event, $url, Response $response) Called before a redirect is done.
afterFilter(EventInterface $event) Called after each action is complete and after the view is rendered.

Namespace: Cake\Controller
Link: https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html

Property Summary

$Auth public @property

Cake\Controller\Component\AuthComponent
$Flash public @property

Cake\Controller\Component\FlashComponent
$FormProtection public @property

Cake\Controller\Component\FormProtectionComponent
$Paginator public @property

Cake\Controller\Component\PaginatorComponent
$RequestHandler public @property

Cake\Controller\Component\RequestHandlerComponent
$Security public @property

Cake\Controller\Component\SecurityComponent
$_components protected

Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry|null

Instance of ComponentRegistry used to create Components
$_eventClass protected

string

Default class name for new event objects.
$_eventManager protected

Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface|null

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

(callableCake\Datasource\Locator\LocatorInterface)[]

A list of overridden model factory functions.
$_modelType protected

string

The model type to use.
$_responseClass protected

string

The class name to use for creating the response object.
$_tableLocator protected

Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface|null

Table locator instance
$_viewBuilder protected

Cake\View\ViewBuilder|null

The view builder instance being used.
$autoRender protected

bool

Set to true to automatically render the view after action logic.
$modelClass protected

string|null

This object's primary model class name. Should be a plural form. CakePHP will not inflect the name.
$name protected

string

The name of this controller. Controller names are plural, named after the model they manipulate.
$paginate public

array

Settings for pagination.
$plugin protected

string|null

Automatically set to the name of a plugin.
$request protected

Cake\Http\ServerRequest

An instance of a \Cake\Http\ServerRequest 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 protected

Cake\Http\Response

An instance of a Response object that contains information about the impending response

Method Summary

__construct() public

Constructor.
__get() public

Magic accessor for model autoloading.
__set() public

Magic setter for removed properties.
_setModelClass() protected

Set the modelClass property based on conventions.
_templatePath() protected

Get the templatePath based on controller name and request prefix.
afterFilter() public

Called after the controller action is run and rendered.
beforeFilter() public

Called before the controller action. You can use this method to configure and customize components or perform logic that needs to happen before each controller action.
beforeRedirect() public

The beforeRedirect method is invoked when the controller's redirect method is called but before any further action.
beforeRender() public

Called after the controller action is run, but before the view is rendered. You can use this method to perform logic or set view variables that are required on every request.
components() public

Get the component registry for this controller.
createView() public

Constructs the view class instance based on the current configuration.
disableAutoRender() public

Disable automatic action rendering.
dispatchEvent() public

Wrapper for creating and dispatching events.
enableAutoRender() public

Enable automatic action rendering.
getAction() public

Get the closure for action to be invoked by ControllerFactory.
getEventManager() public

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

Get the model type to be used by this class
getName() public

Returns the controller name.
getPlugin() public

Returns the plugin name.
getRequest() public

Gets the request instance.
getResponse() public

Gets the response instance.
getTableLocator() public

Gets the table locator.
implementedEvents() public

Returns a list of all events that will fire in the controller during its lifecycle. You can override this function to add your own listener callbacks
initialize() public

Initialization hook method.
invokeAction() public

Dispatches the controller action.
isAction() public

Method to check that an action is accessible from a URL.
isAutoRenderEnabled() public

Returns true if an action should be rendered automatically.
loadComponent() public

Add a component to the controller's registry.
loadModel() public

Loads and constructs repository objects required by this object
log() public

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

Override a existing callable to generate repositories of a given type.
paginate() public

Handles pagination of records in Table objects.
redirect() public

Redirects to given $url, after turning off $this->autoRender.
referer() public

Returns the referring URL for this request.
render() public

Instantiates the correct view class, hands it its data, and uses it to render the view output.
set() public

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

Internally redirects one action to another. Does not perform another HTTP request unlike Controller::redirect()
setEventManager() public

Returns the Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface instance for this object.
setModelType() public

Set the model type to be used by this class
setName() public

Sets the controller name.
setPlugin() public

Sets the plugin name.
setRequest() public

Sets the request objects and configures a number of controller properties based on the contents of the request. Controller acts as a proxy for certain View variables which must also be updated here. The properties that get set are:
setResponse() public

Sets the response instance.
setTableLocator() public

Sets the table locator.
shutdownProcess() public

Perform the various shutdown processes for this controller. Fire the Components and Controller callbacks in the correct order.
startupProcess() public

Perform the startup process for this controller. Fire the Components and Controller callbacks in the correct order.
viewBuilder() public

Get the view builder being used.

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

__construct(Cake\Http\ServerRequest|null $request = null, Cake\Http\Response|null $response = null, string|null $name = null, Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface|null $eventManager = null, Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry|null $components = null)

Constructor.

Sets a number of properties based on conventions if they are empty. To override the conventions CakePHP uses you can define properties in your class declaration.

Parameters

Cake\Http\ServerRequest|null $request optional: Request object for this controller. Can be null for testing, but expect that features that use the request parameters will not work.
Cake\Http\Response|null $response optional: Response object for this controller.
string|null $name optional: Override the name useful in testing when using mocks.
Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface|null $eventManager optional: The event manager. Defaults to a new instance.
Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry|null $components optional: The component registry. Defaults to a new instance.

__get() ¶ public

__get(string $name): Cake\Datasource\RepositoryInterface|null

Magic accessor for model autoloading.

Parameters

string $name: Property name

Returns

Cake\Datasource\RepositoryInterface|null

__set() ¶ public

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

Magic setter for removed properties.

Parameters

string $name: Property name.
mixed $value: Value to set.

Returns

void

_setModelClass() ¶ protected

_setModelClass(string $name): void

Set the modelClass property based on conventions.

If the property is already set it will not be overwritten

Parameters

string $name: Class name.

Returns

void

_templatePath() ¶ protected

_templatePath(): string

Get the templatePath based on controller name and request prefix.

Returns

string

afterFilter() ¶ public

afterFilter(Cake\Event\EventInterface $event): Cake\Http\Response|null|void

Called after the controller action is run and rendered.

Parameters

Cake\Event\EventInterface $event: An Event instance

Returns

Cake\Http\Response|null|void

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

beforeFilter() ¶ public

beforeFilter(Cake\Event\EventInterface $event): Cake\Http\Response|null|void

Called before the controller action. You can use this method to configure and customize components or perform logic that needs to happen before each controller action.

Parameters

Cake\Event\EventInterface $event: An Event instance

Returns

Cake\Http\Response|null|void

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

beforeRedirect() ¶ public

beforeRedirect(Cake\Event\EventInterface $event, string|array $url, Cake\Http\Response $response): Cake\Http\Response|null|void

The beforeRedirect method is invoked when the controller's redirect method is called but before any further action.

If the event is stopped the controller will not continue on to redirect the request. The $url and $status variables have same meaning as for the controller's method. You can set the event result to response instance or modify the redirect location using controller's response instance.

Parameters

Cake\Event\EventInterface $event: An Event instance
string|array $url: A string or array-based URL pointing to another location within the app, or an absolute URL
Cake\Http\Response $response: The response object.

Returns

Cake\Http\Response|null|void

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

beforeRender() ¶ public

beforeRender(Cake\Event\EventInterface $event): Cake\Http\Response|null|void

Called after the controller action is run, but before the view is rendered. You can use this method to perform logic or set view variables that are required on every request.

Parameters

Cake\Event\EventInterface $event: An Event instance

Returns

Cake\Http\Response|null|void

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

components() ¶ public

components(Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry|null $components = null): Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry

Get the component registry for this controller.

If called with the first parameter, it will be set as the controller $this->_components property

Parameters

Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry|null $components optional: Component registry.

Returns

Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry

createView() ¶ public

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

Constructs the view class instance based on the current configuration.

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.

disableAutoRender() ¶ public

disableAutoRender(): $this

Disable automatic action rendering.

Returns

$this

dispatchEvent() ¶ public

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

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\EventInterface

enableAutoRender() ¶ public

enableAutoRender(): $this

Enable automatic action rendering.

Returns

$this

getAction() ¶ public

getAction(): Closure

Get the closure for action to be invoked by ControllerFactory.

Returns

Closure

Throws

Cake\Controller\Exception\MissingActionException

getEventManager() ¶ public

getEventManager(): Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface

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.

Returns

Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface

getModelType() ¶ public

getModelType(): string

Get the model type to be used by this class

Returns

string

getName() ¶ public

getName(): string

Returns the controller name.

Returns

string

getPlugin() ¶ public

getPlugin(): string|null

Returns the plugin name.

Returns

string|null

getRequest() ¶ public

getRequest(): Cake\Http\ServerRequest

Gets the request instance.

Returns

Cake\Http\ServerRequest

getResponse() ¶ public

getResponse(): Cake\Http\Response

Gets the response instance.

Returns

Cake\Http\Response

getTableLocator() ¶ public

getTableLocator(): Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface

Gets the table locator.

Returns

Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface

implementedEvents() ¶ public

implementedEvents(): array

Returns a list of all events that will fire in the controller during its lifecycle. You can override this function to add your own listener callbacks

Example:

 public function implementedEvents()
 {
     return [
         'Order.complete' => 'sendEmail',
         'Article.afterBuy' => 'decrementInventory',
         'User.onRegister' => ['callable' => 'logRegistration', 'priority' => 20, 'passParams' => true]
     ];
 }

Returns

array

initialize() ¶ public

initialize(): void

Initialization hook method.

Implement this method to avoid having to overwrite the constructor and call parent.

Returns

void

invokeAction() ¶ public

invokeAction(Closure $action, array $args): void

Dispatches the controller action.

Parameters

Closure $action: The action closure.
array $args: The arguments to be passed when invoking action.

Returns

void

Throws

UnexpectedValueException
If return value of action is not `null` or `ResponseInterface` instance.

isAction() ¶ public

isAction(string $action): bool

Method to check that an action is accessible from a URL.

Override this method to change which controller methods can be reached. The default implementation disallows access to all methods defined on Cake\Controller\Controller, and allows all public methods on all subclasses of this class.

Parameters

string $action: The action to check.

Returns

bool

Throws

ReflectionException

isAutoRenderEnabled() ¶ public

isAutoRenderEnabled(): bool

Returns true if an action should be rendered automatically.

Returns

bool

loadComponent() ¶ public

loadComponent(string $name, array $config = []): Cake\Controller\Component

Add a component to the controller's registry.

This method will also set the component to a property. For example:

$this->loadComponent('Authentication.Authentication');

Will result in a Authentication property being set.

Parameters

string $name: The name of the component to load.
array $config optional: The config for the component.

Returns

Cake\Controller\Component

Throws

Exception

loadModel() ¶ public

loadModel(string|null $modelClass = null, string|null $modelType = null): Cake\Datasource\RepositoryInterface

Loads and constructs repository objects required by this object

Typically used to load ORM Table objects as required. Can also be used to load other types of repository objects your application uses.

If a repository provider does not return an object a MissingModelException will be thrown.

Parameters

string|null $modelClass optional: Name of model class to load. Defaults to $this->modelClass. The name can be an alias like 'Post' or FQCN like App\Model\Table\PostsTable::class.
string|null $modelType optional: The type of repository to load. Defaults to the getModelType() value.

Returns

Cake\Datasource\RepositoryInterface

Throws

Cake\Datasource\Exception\MissingModelException
If the model class cannot be found.
UnexpectedValueException
If $modelClass argument is not provided and ModelAwareTrait::$modelClass property value is empty.

log() ¶ public

log(string $message, 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

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

Returns

bool

modelFactory() ¶ public

modelFactory(string $type, callableCake\Datasource\Locator\LocatorInterface $factory): void

Override a existing callable to generate repositories of a given type.

Parameters

string $type: The name of the repository type the factory function is for.
callableCake\Datasource\Locator\LocatorInterface $factory: The factory function used to create instances.

Returns

void

paginate() ¶ public

paginate(Cake\ORM\Table|stringCake\ORM\Query|null $object = null, array $settings = []): Cake\ORM\ResultSetCake\Datasource\ResultSetInterface

Handles pagination of records in Table objects.

Will load the referenced Table object, and have the PaginatorComponent paginate the query using the request date and settings defined in $this->paginate.

This method will also make the PaginatorHelper available in the view.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Table|stringCake\ORM\Query|null $object optional: Table to paginate (e.g: Table instance, 'TableName' or a Query object)
array $settings optional: The settings/configuration used for pagination.

Returns

Cake\ORM\ResultSetCake\Datasource\ResultSetInterface

Throws

RuntimeException
When no compatible table object can be found.

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html#paginating-a-model

redirect() ¶ public

redirect(string|arrayPsr\Http\Message\UriInterface $url, int $status = 302): Cake\Http\Response|null

Redirects to given $url, after turning off $this->autoRender.

Parameters

string|arrayPsr\Http\Message\UriInterface $url: A string, array-based URL or UriInterface instance.
int $status optional: HTTP status code. Defaults to 302.

Returns

Cake\Http\Response|null

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html#Controller::redirect

referer() ¶ public

referer(string|array|null $default = '/', bool $local = true): string

Returns the referring URL for this request.

Parameters

string|array|null $default optional: Default URL to use if HTTP_REFERER cannot be read from headers
bool $local optional: If false, do not restrict referring URLs to local server. Careful with trusting external sources.

Returns

string

render() ¶ public

render(string|null $template = null, string|null $layout = null): Cake\Http\Response

Instantiates the correct view class, hands it its data, and uses it to render the view output.

Parameters

string|null $template optional: Template to use for rendering
string|null $layout optional: Layout to use

Returns

Cake\Http\Response

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/controllers.html#rendering-a-view

set() ¶ public

set(string|array $name, mixed $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.
mixed $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

setAction() ¶ public

setAction(string $action, mixed ...$args): mixed

Internally redirects one action to another. Does not perform another HTTP request unlike Controller::redirect()

Examples:

setAction('another_action');
setAction('action_with_parameters', $parameter1);

Parameters

string $action: The new action to be 'redirected' to. Any other parameters passed to this method will be passed as parameters to the new action.
mixed ...$args: Arguments passed to the action

Returns

mixed

setEventManager() ¶ public

setEventManager(Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface $eventManager): $this

Returns the Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface 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\EventManagerInterface $eventManager: the eventManager to set

Returns

$this

setModelType() ¶ public

setModelType(string $modelType): $this

Set the model type to be used by this class

Parameters

string $modelType: The model type

Returns

$this

setName() ¶ public

setName(string $name): $this

Sets the controller name.

Parameters

string $name: Controller name.

Returns

$this

setPlugin() ¶ public

setPlugin(string|null $name): $this

Sets the plugin name.

Parameters

string|null $name: Plugin name.

Returns

$this

setRequest() ¶ public

setRequest(Cake\Http\ServerRequest $request): $this

Sets the request objects and configures a number of controller properties based on the contents of the request. Controller acts as a proxy for certain View variables which must also be updated here. The properties that get set are:

$this->request - To the $request parameter

Parameters

Cake\Http\ServerRequest $request: Request instance.

Returns

$this

setResponse() ¶ public

setResponse(Cake\Http\Response $response): $this

Sets the response instance.

Parameters

Cake\Http\Response $response: Response instance.

Returns

$this

setTableLocator() ¶ public

setTableLocator(Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface $tableLocator): $this

Sets the table locator.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface $tableLocator: LocatorInterface instance.

Returns

$this

shutdownProcess() ¶ public

shutdownProcess(): Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface|null

Perform the various shutdown processes for this controller. Fire the Components and Controller callbacks in the correct order.

triggers the component shutdown callback.
calls the Controller's afterFilter method.

Returns

Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface|null

startupProcess() ¶ public

startupProcess(): Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface|null

Perform the startup process for this controller. Fire the Components and Controller callbacks in the correct order.

Initializes components, which fires their initialize callback
Calls the controller beforeFilter.
triggers Component startup methods.

Returns

Psr\Http\Message\ResponseInterface|null

viewBuilder() ¶ public

viewBuilder(): Cake\View\ViewBuilder

Get the view builder being used.

Returns

Cake\View\ViewBuilder

Property Detail

`$Auth` ¶ public @property

Type

Cake\Controller\Component\AuthComponent

`$Flash` ¶ public @property

Type

Cake\Controller\Component\FlashComponent

`$FormProtection` ¶ public @property

Type

Cake\Controller\Component\FormProtectionComponent

`$Paginator` ¶ public @property

Type

Cake\Controller\Component\PaginatorComponent

`$RequestHandler` ¶ public @property

Type

Cake\Controller\Component\RequestHandlerComponent

`$Security` ¶ public @property

Type

Cake\Controller\Component\SecurityComponent

`$_components` ¶ protected

Instance of ComponentRegistry used to create Components

Type

Cake\Controller\ComponentRegistry|null

`$_eventClass` ¶ protected

Default class name for new event objects.

Type

string

`$_eventManager` ¶ protected

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

Type

Cake\Event\EventManagerInterface|null

`$_modelFactories` ¶ protected

A list of overridden model factory functions.

Type

(callableCake\Datasource\Locator\LocatorInterface)[]

`$_modelType` ¶ protected

The model type to use.

Type

string

`$_responseClass` ¶ protected

The class name to use for creating the response object.

Type

string

`$_tableLocator` ¶ protected

Table locator instance

Type

Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface|null

`$_viewBuilder` ¶ protected

The view builder instance being used.

Type

Cake\View\ViewBuilder|null

`$autoRender` ¶ protected

Set to true to automatically render the view after action logic.

Type

bool

`$modelClass` ¶ protected

This object's primary model class name. Should be a plural form. CakePHP will not inflect the name.

Example: For an object named 'Comments', the modelClass would be 'Comments'. Plugin classes should use Plugin.Comments style names to correctly load models from the correct plugin.

Use empty string to not use auto-loading on this object. Null auto-detects based on controller name.

Type

string|null

`$name` ¶ protected

The name of this controller. Controller names are plural, named after the model they manipulate.

Set automatically using conventions in Controller::__construct().

Type

string

`$paginate` ¶ public

Settings for pagination.

Used to pre-configure pagination preferences for the various tables your controller will be paginating.

Type

array

`$plugin` ¶ protected

Automatically set to the name of a plugin.

Type

string|null

`$request` ¶ protected

An instance of a \Cake\Http\ServerRequest 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.

Type

Cake\Http\ServerRequest

`$response` ¶ protected

An instance of a Response object that contains information about the impending response

Type

Cake\Http\Response

Namespaces

Class Controller

Life cycle callbacks

Property Summary

Method Summary

__construct() public

__get() public

__set() public

_setModelClass() protected

_templatePath() protected

afterFilter() public

beforeFilter() public

beforeRedirect() public

beforeRender() public

components() public

createView() public

disableAutoRender() public

dispatchEvent() public

enableAutoRender() public

getAction() public

getEventManager() public

getModelType() public

getName() public

getPlugin() public

getRequest() public

getResponse() public

getTableLocator() public

implementedEvents() public

initialize() public

invokeAction() public

isAction() public

isAutoRenderEnabled() public

loadComponent() public

loadModel() public

log() public

modelFactory() public

paginate() public

redirect() public

referer() public

render() public

set() public

setAction() public deprecated

setEventManager() public

setModelType() public

setName() public

setPlugin() public

setRequest() public

setResponse() public

setTableLocator() public

shutdownProcess() public

startupProcess() public

viewBuilder() public

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

Parameters

__get() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

__set() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

_setModelClass() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_templatePath() ¶ protected

Returns

afterFilter() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

Links

beforeFilter() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

Links

beforeRedirect() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

Links

beforeRender() ¶ public

Parameters