Class HtmlHelper

Html Helper class for easy use of HTML widgets.

HtmlHelper encloses all methods needed while working with HTML pages.

Namespace: Cake\View\Helper
Link: https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html

Property Summary

$Url public @property

Cake\View\Helper\UrlHelper
$_View protected

Cake\View\View

The View instance this helper is attached to
$_config protected

array

Runtime config
$_configInitialized protected

bool

Whether the config property has already been configured with defaults
$_defaultConfig protected

array

Default config for this class
$_helperMap protected

array

A helper lookup table used to lazy load helper objects.
$_includedAssets protected

array

Names of script & css files that have been included once
$_scriptBlockOptions protected

array

Options for the currently opened script block buffer if any.
$_templater protected

Cake\View\StringTemplate|null

StringTemplate instance.
$helpers protected

array

List of helpers used by this helper

Method Summary

__call() public

Provide non fatal errors on missing method calls.
__construct() public

Default Constructor
__debugInfo() public

Returns an array that can be used to describe the internal state of this object.
__get() public

Lazy loads helpers.
_configDelete() protected

Deletes a single config key.
_configRead() protected

Reads a config key.
_configWrite() protected

Writes a config key.
_confirm() protected

Returns a string to be used as onclick handler for confirm dialogs.
_nestedListItem() protected

Internal function to build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.
_renderCells() protected

Renders cells for a row of a table.
addClass() public

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

Returns a charset META-tag.
configShallow() public

Merge provided config with existing config. Unlike config() which does a recursive merge for nested keys, this method does a simple merge.
css() public

Creates a link element for CSS stylesheets.
div() public

Returns a formatted DIV tag for HTML FORMs.
formatTemplate() public

Formats a template string with $data
getConfig() public

Returns the config.
getConfigOrFail() public

Returns the config for this specific key.
getTemplates() public

Gets templates to use or a specific template.
getView() public

Get the view instance this helper is bound to.
image() public

Creates a formatted IMG element.
implementedEvents() public

Event listeners.
initialize() public

Constructor hook method.
link() public

Creates an HTML link.
linkFromPath() public

Creates an HTML link from route path string.
media() public

Returns an audio/video element
meta() public

Creates a link to an external resource and handles basic meta tags
nestedList() public

Build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.
para() public

Returns a formatted P tag.
script() public

Returns one or many <script> tags depending on the number of scripts given.
scriptBlock() public

Wrap $script in a script tag.
scriptEnd() public

End a Buffered section of JavaScript capturing. Generates a script tag inline or appends to specified view block depending on the settings used when the scriptBlock was started
scriptStart() public

Begin a script block that captures output until HtmlHelper::scriptEnd() is called. This capturing block will capture all output between the methods and create a scriptBlock from it.
setConfig() public

Sets the config.
setTemplates() public

Sets templates to use.
style() public

Builds CSS style data from an array of CSS properties
tableCell() public

Renders a single table cell (A TD with attributes).
tableCells() public

Returns a formatted string of table rows (TR's with TD's in them).
tableHeaders() public

Returns a row of formatted and named TABLE headers.
tableRow() public

Renders a single table row (A TR with attributes).
tag() public

Returns a formatted block tag, i.e DIV, SPAN, P.
templater() public

Returns the templater instance.

Method Detail

__call() ¶ public

__call(string $method, array $params): mixed|void

Provide non fatal errors on missing method calls.

Parameters

string $method: Method to invoke
array $params: Array of params for the method.

Returns

mixed|void

__construct() ¶ public

__construct(Cake\View\View $view, array $config = [])

Default Constructor

Parameters

Cake\View\View $view: The View this helper is being attached to.
array $config optional: Configuration settings for the helper.

__debugInfo() ¶ public

__debugInfo(): array

Returns an array that can be used to describe the internal state of this object.

Returns

array

__get() ¶ public

__get(string $name): Cake\View\Helper|null|void

Lazy loads helpers.

Parameters

string $name: Name of the property being accessed.

Returns

Cake\View\Helper|null|void

Helper instance if helper with provided name exists

_configDelete() ¶ protected

_configDelete(string $key): void

Deletes a single config key.

Parameters

string $key: Key to delete.

Returns

void

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\CakeException
if attempting to clobber existing config

_configRead() ¶ protected

_configRead(string|null $key): mixed

Reads a config key.

Parameters

string|null $key: Key to read.

Returns

mixed

_configWrite() ¶ protected

_configWrite(string|array $key, mixed $value, bool|string $merge = false): void

Writes a config key.

Parameters

string|array $key: Key to write to.
mixed $value: Value to write.
bool|string $merge optional: True to merge recursively, 'shallow' for simple merge, false to overwrite, defaults to false.

Returns

void

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\CakeException
if attempting to clobber existing config

_confirm() ¶ protected

_confirm(string $okCode, string $cancelCode): string

Returns a string to be used as onclick handler for confirm dialogs.

Parameters

string $okCode: Code to be executed after user chose 'OK'
string $cancelCode: Code to be executed after user chose 'Cancel'

Returns

string

"onclick" JS code

_nestedListItem() ¶ protected

_nestedListItem(array $items, array $options, array $itemOptions): string

Internal function to build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.

Parameters

array $items: Set of elements to list.
array $options: Additional HTML attributes of the list (ol/ul) tag.
array $itemOptions: Options and additional HTML attributes of the list item (LI) tag.

Returns

string

The nested list element

_renderCells() ¶ protected

_renderCells(array $line, bool $useCount = false): string[]

Renders cells for a row of a table.

This is a helper method for tableCells(). Overload this method as you need to change the behavior of the cell rendering.

Parameters

array $line: Line data to render.
bool $useCount optional: Renders the count into the row. Default is false.

Returns

string[]

addClass() ¶ public

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

Adds the given class to the element options

Parameters

array $options: Array options/attributes to add a class to
string $class: The class name being added.
string $key optional: the key to use for class. Defaults to 'class'.

Returns

array

Array of options with $key set.

charset() ¶ public

charset(string|null $charset = null): string

Returns a charset META-tag.

Parameters

string|null $charset optional: The character set to be used in the meta tag. If empty, The App.encoding value will be used. Example: "utf-8".

Returns

string

A meta tag containing the specified character set.

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-charset-tags

configShallow() ¶ public

configShallow(string|array $key, mixed|null $value = null): $this

Merge provided config with existing config. Unlike config() which does a recursive merge for nested keys, this method does a simple merge.

Setting a specific value:

$this->configShallow('key', $value);

Setting a nested value:

$this->configShallow('some.nested.key', $value);

Updating multiple config settings at the same time:

$this->configShallow(['one' => 'value', 'another' => 'value']);

Parameters

string|array $key: The key to set, or a complete array of configs.
mixed|null $value optional: The value to set.

Returns

$this

css() ¶ public

css(string|string[] $path, array $options = []): string|null

Creates a link element for CSS stylesheets.

Usage

Include one CSS file:

echo $this->Html->css('styles.css');

Include multiple CSS files:

echo $this->Html->css(['one.css', 'two.css']);

Add the stylesheet to view block "css":

$this->Html->css('styles.css', ['block' => true]);

Add the stylesheet to a custom block:

$this->Html->css('styles.css', ['block' => 'layoutCss']);

Options

block Set to true to append output to view block "css" or provide custom block name.
once Whether or not the css file should be checked for uniqueness. If true css files will only be included once, use false to allow the same css to be included more than once per request.
plugin False value will prevent parsing path as a plugin
rel Defaults to 'stylesheet'. If equal to 'import' the stylesheet will be imported.
fullBase If true the URL will get a full address for the css file.

Parameters

string|string[] $path: The name of a CSS style sheet or an array containing names of CSS stylesheets. If $path is prefixed with '/', the path will be relative to the webroot of your application. Otherwise, the path will be relative to your CSS path, usually webroot/css.
array $options optional: Array of options and HTML arguments.

Returns

string|null

CSS <link /> or <style /> tag, depending on the type of link.

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#linking-to-css-files

div() ¶ public

div(string|null $class = null, string|null $text = null, array $options = []): string

Returns a formatted DIV tag for HTML FORMs.

Options

escape Whether or not the contents should be html_entity escaped.

Parameters

string|null $class optional: CSS class name of the div element.
string|null $text optional: String content that will appear inside the div element. If null, only a start tag will be printed
array $options optional: Additional HTML attributes of the DIV tag

Returns

string

The formatted DIV element

formatTemplate() ¶ public

formatTemplate(string $name, array $data): string

Formats a template string with $data

Parameters

string $name: The template name.
array $data: The data to insert.

Returns

string

getConfig() ¶ public

getConfig(string|null $key = null, mixed $default = null): mixed

Returns the config.

Usage

Reading the whole config:

$this->getConfig();

Reading a specific value:

$this->getConfig('key');

Reading a nested value:

$this->getConfig('some.nested.key');

Reading with default value:

$this->getConfig('some-key', 'default-value');

Parameters

string|null $key optional: The key to get or null for the whole config.
mixed $default optional: The return value when the key does not exist.

Returns

mixed

Configuration data at the named key or null if the key does not exist.

getConfigOrFail() ¶ public

getConfigOrFail(string $key): mixed

Returns the config for this specific key.

The config value for this key must exist, it can never be null.

Parameters

string $key: The key to get.

Returns

mixed

Configuration data at the named key

Throws

InvalidArgumentException

getTemplates() ¶ public

getTemplates(string|null $template = null): string|array

Gets templates to use or a specific template.

Parameters

string|null $template optional: String for reading a specific template, null for all.

Returns

string|array

getView() ¶ public

getView(): Cake\View\View

Get the view instance this helper is bound to.

Returns

Cake\View\View

The bound view instance.

image() ¶ public

image(string|array $path, array $options = []): string

Creates a formatted IMG element.

This method will set an empty alt attribute if one is not supplied.

Usage:

Create a regular image:

echo $this->Html->image('cake_icon.png', ['alt' => 'CakePHP']);

Create an image link:

echo $this->Html->image('cake_icon.png', ['alt' => 'CakePHP', 'url' => 'https://cakephp.org']);

Options:

url If provided an image link will be generated and the link will point at $options['url'].
fullBase If true the src attribute will get a full address for the image file.
plugin False value will prevent parsing path as a plugin

Parameters

string|array $path: Path to the image file, relative to the webroot/img/ directory.
array $options optional: Array of HTML attributes. See above for special options.

Returns

string

completed img tag

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#linking-to-images

implementedEvents() ¶ public

implementedEvents(): array

Event listeners.

By defining one of the callback methods a helper is assumed to be interested in the related event.

Override this method if you need to add non-conventional event listeners. Or if you want helpers to listen to non-standard events.

Returns

array

initialize() ¶ public

initialize(array $config): void

Constructor hook method.

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

Parameters

array $config: The configuration settings provided to this helper.

Returns

void

link() ¶ public

link(string|array $title, string|array|null $url = null, array $options = []): string

Creates an HTML link.

If $url starts with "http://" this is treated as an external link. Else, it is treated as a path to controller/action and parsed with the UrlHelper::build() method.

If the $url is empty, $title is used instead.

Options

escape Set to false to disable escaping of title and attributes.
escapeTitle Set to false to disable escaping of title. Takes precedence over value of escape)
confirm JavaScript confirmation message.

Parameters

string|array $title: The content to be wrapped by <a> tags. Can be an array if $url is null. If $url is null, $title will be used as both the URL and title.
string|array|null $url optional: Cake-relative URL or array of URL parameters, or external URL (starts with http://)
array $options optional: Array of options and HTML attributes.

Returns

string

An <a /> element.

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-links

linkFromPath() ¶ public

linkFromPath(string $title, string $path, array $params = [], array $options = []): string

Creates an HTML link from route path string.

Options

escape Set to false to disable escaping of title and attributes.
escapeTitle Set to false to disable escaping of title. Takes precedence over value of escape)
confirm JavaScript confirmation message.

Parameters

string $title: The content to be wrapped by <a> tags.
string $path: Cake-relative route path.
array $params optional: An array specifying any additional parameters. Can be also any special parameters supported by Router::url().
array $options optional: Array of options and HTML attributes.

Returns

string

An <a /> element.

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/3/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-links

media() ¶ public

media(string|array $path, array $options = []): string

Returns an audio/video element

Usage

Using an audio file:

echo $this->Html->media('audio.mp3', ['fullBase' => true]);

Outputs:

<video src="http://www.somehost.com/files/audio.mp3">Fallback text</video>

Using a video file:

echo $this->Html->media('video.mp4', ['text' => 'Fallback text']);

Outputs:

<video src="/files/video.mp4">Fallback text</video>

Using multiple video files:

echo $this->Html->media(
     ['video.mp4', ['src' => 'video.ogv', 'type' => "video/ogg; codecs='theora, vorbis'"]],
     ['tag' => 'video', 'autoplay']
);

Outputs:

<video autoplay="autoplay">
     <source src="/files/video.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
     <source src="/files/video.ogv" type="video/ogv; codecs='theora, vorbis'"/>
</video>

Options

tag Type of media element to generate, either "audio" or "video". If tag is not provided it's guessed based on file's mime type.
text Text to include inside the audio/video tag
pathPrefix Path prefix to use for relative URLs, defaults to 'files/'
fullBase If provided the src attribute will get a full address including domain name

Parameters

string|array $path: Path to the video file, relative to the webroot/{$options['pathPrefix']} directory. Or an array where each item itself can be a path string or an associate array containing keys src and type
array $options optional: Array of HTML attributes, and special options above.

Returns

string

Generated media element

meta() ¶ public

meta(string|array $type, string|array|null $content = null, array $options = []): string|null

Creates a link to an external resource and handles basic meta tags

Create a meta tag that is output inline:

$this->Html->meta('icon', 'favicon.ico');

Append the meta tag to custom view block "meta":

$this->Html->meta('description', 'A great page', ['block' => true]);

Append the meta tag to custom view block:

$this->Html->meta('description', 'A great page', ['block' => 'metaTags']);

Create a custom meta tag:

$this->Html->meta(['property' => 'og:site_name', 'content' => 'CakePHP']);

Options

block - Set to true to append output to view block "meta" or provide custom block name.

Parameters

string|array $type: The title of the external resource, Or an array of attributes for a custom meta tag.
string|array|null $content optional: The address of the external resource or string for content attribute
array $options optional: Other attributes for the generated tag. If the type attribute is html, rss, atom, or icon, the mime-type is returned.

Returns

string|null

A completed <link /> element, or null if the element was sent to a block.

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-meta-tags

nestedList() ¶ public

nestedList(array $list, array $options = [], array $itemOptions = []): string

Build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.

Options for $options:

tag - Type of list tag to use (ol/ul)

Options for $itemOptions:

even - Class to use for even rows.
odd - Class to use for odd rows.

Parameters

array $list: Set of elements to list
array $options optional: Options and additional HTML attributes of the list (ol/ul) tag.
array $itemOptions optional: Options and additional HTML attributes of the list item (LI) tag.

Returns

string

The nested list

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-nested-lists

para() ¶ public

para(string|null $class, string|null $text, array $options = []): string

Returns a formatted P tag.

Options

escape Whether or not the contents should be html_entity escaped.

Parameters

string|null $class: CSS class name of the p element.
string|null $text: String content that will appear inside the p element.
array $options optional: Additional HTML attributes of the P tag

Returns

string

The formatted P element

script() ¶ public

script(string|string[] $url, array $options = []): string|null

Returns one or many <script> tags depending on the number of scripts given.

If the filename is prefixed with "/", the path will be relative to the base path of your application. Otherwise, the path will be relative to your JavaScript path, usually webroot/js.

Usage

Include one script file:

echo $this->Html->script('styles.js');

Include multiple script files:

echo $this->Html->script(['one.js', 'two.js']);

Add the script file to a custom block:

$this->Html->script('styles.js', ['block' => 'bodyScript']);

Options

block Set to true to append output to view block "script" or provide custom block name.
once Whether or not the script should be checked for uniqueness. If true scripts will only be included once, use false to allow the same script to be included more than once per request.
plugin False value will prevent parsing path as a plugin
fullBase If true the url will get a full address for the script file.

Parameters

string|string[] $url: String or array of javascript files to include
array $options optional: Array of options, and html attributes see above.

Returns

string|null

String of <script /> tags or null if block is specified in options or if $once is true and the file has been included before.

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#linking-to-javascript-files

scriptBlock() ¶ public

scriptBlock(string $script, array $options = []): string|null

Wrap $script in a script tag.

Options

block Set to true to append output to view block "script" or provide custom block name.

Parameters

string $script: The script to wrap
array $options optional: The options to use. Options not listed above will be treated as HTML attributes.

Returns

string|null

String or null depending on the value of $options['block']

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-inline-javascript-blocks

scriptEnd() ¶ public

scriptEnd(): string|null

End a Buffered section of JavaScript capturing. Generates a script tag inline or appends to specified view block depending on the settings used when the scriptBlock was started

Returns

string|null

Depending on the settings of scriptStart() either a script tag or null

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-inline-javascript-blocks

scriptStart() ¶ public

scriptStart(array $options = []): void

Begin a script block that captures output until HtmlHelper::scriptEnd() is called. This capturing block will capture all output between the methods and create a scriptBlock from it.

Options

block Set to true to append output to view block "script" or provide custom block name.

Parameters

array $options optional: Options for the code block.

Returns

void

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-inline-javascript-blocks

setConfig() ¶ public

setConfig(string|array $key, mixed|null $value = null, bool $merge = true): $this

Sets the config.

Usage

Setting a specific value:

$this->setConfig('key', $value);

Setting a nested value:

$this->setConfig('some.nested.key', $value);

Updating multiple config settings at the same time:

$this->setConfig(['one' => 'value', 'another' => 'value']);

Parameters

string|array $key: The key to set, or a complete array of configs.
mixed|null $value optional: The value to set.
bool $merge optional: Whether to recursively merge or overwrite existing config, defaults to true.

Returns

$this

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\CakeException
When trying to set a key that is invalid.

setTemplates() ¶ public

setTemplates(string[] $templates): $this

Sets templates to use.

Parameters

string[] $templates: Templates to be added.

Returns

$this

style() ¶ public

style(array $data, bool $oneLine = true): string

Builds CSS style data from an array of CSS properties

Usage:

echo $this->Html->style(['margin' => '10px', 'padding' => '10px'], true);

// creates
'margin:10px;padding:10px;'

Parameters

array $data: Style data array, keys will be used as property names, values as property values.
bool $oneLine optional: Whether or not the style block should be displayed on one line.

Returns

string

CSS styling data

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-css-programatically

tableCell() ¶ public

tableCell(string $content, array $options = []): string

Renders a single table cell (A TD with attributes).

Parameters

string $content: The content of the cell.
array $options optional: HTML attributes.

Returns

string

tableCells() ¶ public

tableCells(array|string $data, array|bool|null $oddTrOptions = null, array|bool|null $evenTrOptions = null, bool $useCount = false, bool $continueOddEven = true): string

Returns a formatted string of table rows (TR's with TD's in them).

Parameters

array|string $data: Array of table data
array|bool|null $oddTrOptions optional: HTML options for odd TR elements if true useCount is used
array|bool|null $evenTrOptions optional: HTML options for even TR elements
bool $useCount optional: adds class "column-$i"
bool $continueOddEven optional: If false, will use a non-static $count variable, so that the odd/even count is reset to zero just for that call.

Returns

string

Formatted HTML

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-table-cells

tableHeaders() ¶ public

tableHeaders(array $names, array|null $trOptions = null, array|null $thOptions = null): string

Returns a row of formatted and named TABLE headers.

Parameters

array $names: Array of tablenames. Each tablename can be string, or array with name and an array with a set of attributes to its specific tag
array|null $trOptions optional: HTML options for TR elements.
array|null $thOptions optional: HTML options for TH elements.

Returns

string

Completed table headers

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-table-headings

tableRow() ¶ public

tableRow(string $content, array $options = []): string

Renders a single table row (A TR with attributes).

Parameters

string $content: The content of the row.
array $options optional: HTML attributes.

Returns

string

tag() ¶ public

tag(string $name, string|null $text = null, array $options = []): string

Returns a formatted block tag, i.e DIV, SPAN, P.

Options

escape Whether or not the contents should be html_entity escaped.

Parameters

string $name: Tag name.
string|null $text optional: String content that will appear inside the div element. If null, only a start tag will be printed
array $options optional: Additional HTML attributes of the DIV tag, see above.

Returns

string

The formatted tag element

templater() ¶ public

templater(): Cake\View\StringTemplate

__construct() public

__debugInfo() public

__get() public

_configDelete() protected

_configRead() protected

_configWrite() protected

_confirm() protected

_nestedListItem() protected

_renderCells() protected

addClass() public

charset() public

configShallow() public

css() public

div() public

formatTemplate() public

getConfig() public

getConfigOrFail() public

getTemplates() public

getView() public

image() public

implementedEvents() public

initialize() public

link() public

linkFromPath() public

media() public

meta() public

nestedList() public

para() public

script() public

scriptBlock() public

scriptEnd() public

scriptStart() public

setConfig() public

setTemplates() public

style() public

tableCell() public

tableCells() public

tableHeaders() public

tableRow() public

tag() public

templater() public

Method Detail

__call() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

__construct() ¶ public

Parameters

__debugInfo() ¶ public

Returns

__get() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

_configDelete() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

Throws

_configRead() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_configWrite() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

Throws

_confirm() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_nestedListItem() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

See Also

_renderCells() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

addClass() ¶ public

Parameters