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 the controller that are not prefixed with a '_' and not part of 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->request. The request object contains all the POST, GET and FILES that were part of the request.

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

Controllers are created by Dispatcher 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().

Object
Extended by Controller implements CakeEventListener

Direct known subclasses

AppController

Indirect known subclasses

CakeErrorController, PagesController
Package: Cake\Controller
Copyright: Copyright (c) Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://cakefoundation.org)
License: MIT License
Link: http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html
Located at Cake/Controller/Controller.php

Method Detail

__constructsource public 

__construct( CakeRequest $request null , CakeResponse $response null )

Constructor.

Parameters

CakeRequest $request optional null
Request object for this controller. Can be null for testing, but expect that features that use the request parameters will not work.
CakeResponse $response optional null
Response object for this controller.

Overrides

Object::__construct()

__getsource public 

__get( string $name )

Provides backwards compatibility access to the request object properties. Also provides the params alias.

Parameters

string $name
The name of the requested value

Returns

mixed
The requested value for valid variables/aliases else null

__issetsource public 

__isset( string $name )

Provides backwards compatibility to avoid problems with empty and isset to alias properties. Lazy loads models using the loadModel() method if declared in $uses

Parameters

string $name
Property name to check.

Returns

boolean
bool

__setsource public 

__set( string $name , mixed $value )

Provides backwards compatibility access for setting values to the request object.

Parameters

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

_afterScaffoldSavesource protected 

_afterScaffoldSave( string $method )

Alias to afterScaffoldSave()

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0.

Parameters

string $method
Method name.

Returns

boolean
bool

See

Controller::afterScaffoldSave()

_afterScaffoldSaveErrorsource protected 

_afterScaffoldSaveError( string $method )

Alias to afterScaffoldSaveError()

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0.

Parameters

string $method
Method name.

Returns

boolean
bool

See

Controller::afterScaffoldSaveError()

_beforeScaffoldsource protected 

_beforeScaffold( string $method )

Alias to beforeScaffold()

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0.

Parameters

string $method
Method name.

Returns

boolean
bool

See

Controller::beforeScaffold()

_getScaffoldsource protected 

_getScaffold( CakeRequest $request )

Returns a scaffold object to use for dynamically scaffolded controllers.

Parameters

CakeRequest $request
Request instance.

Returns

Scaffold
Scaffold

_getViewObjectsource protected 

_getViewObject( )

Constructs the view class instance based on the controller property

Returns

View
View

_isPrivateActionsource protected 

_isPrivateAction( ReflectionMethod $method , CakeRequest $request )

Check if the request's action is marked as private, with an underscore, or if the request is attempting to directly accessing a prefixed action.

Parameters

ReflectionMethod $method
The method to be invoked.
CakeRequest $request
The request to check.

Returns

boolean
bool

_mergeControllerVarssource protected 

_mergeControllerVars( )

Merge components, helpers, and uses vars from Controller::$_mergeParent and PluginAppController.

_mergeUsessource protected 

_mergeUses( array $merge )

Helper method for merging the $uses property together.

Merges the elements not already in $this->uses into $this->uses.

Parameters

array $merge
The data to merge in.

_parseBeforeRedirectsource protected 

_parseBeforeRedirect( mixed $response , string|array $url , integer $status , boolean $exit )

Parse beforeRedirect Response

Parameters

mixed $response
Response from beforeRedirect callback
string|array $url
The same value of beforeRedirect
integer $status
The same value of beforeRedirect
boolean $exit
The same value of beforeRedirect

Returns

array
Array with keys url, status and exit

_scaffoldErrorsource protected 

_scaffoldError( string $method )

Alias to scaffoldError()

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0.

Parameters

string $method
Method name.

Returns

boolean
bool

See

Controller::scaffoldError()

afterFiltersource public 

afterFilter( )

Called after the controller action is run and rendered.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

afterScaffoldSavesource public 

afterScaffoldSave( string $method )

This method should be overridden in child classes.

Parameters

string $method
name of method called either edit or update.

Returns

boolean
Success

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#callbacks

afterScaffoldSaveErrorsource public 

afterScaffoldSaveError( string $method )

This method should be overridden in child classes.

Parameters

string $method
name of method called either edit or update.

Returns

boolean
Success

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#callbacks

beforeFiltersource public 

beforeFilter( )

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.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

beforeRedirectsource public 

beforeRedirect( string|array $url , integer $status null , boolean $exit true )

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

If this method returns false the controller will not continue on to redirect the request. The $url, $status and $exit variables have same meaning as for the controller's method. You can also return a string which will be interpreted as the URL to redirect to or return associative array with key 'url' and optionally 'status' and 'exit'.

Parameters

string|array $url
A string or array-based URL pointing to another location within the app, or an absolute URL
integer $status optional null
Optional HTTP status code (eg: 404)
boolean $exit optional true
If true, exit() will be called after the redirect

Returns

mixed
false to stop redirection event, string controllers a new redirection URL or array with the keys url, status and exit to be used by the redirect method.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

beforeRendersource public 

beforeRender( )

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.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#request-life-cycle-callbacks

beforeScaffoldsource public 

beforeScaffold( string $method )

This method should be overridden in child classes.

Parameters

string $method
name of method called example index, edit, etc.

Returns

boolean
Success

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#callbacks

constructClassessource public 

constructClasses( )

Loads Model classes based on the uses property see Controller::loadModel(); for more info. Loads Components and prepares them for initialization.

Returns

mixed
true if models found and instance created.

Throws

MissingModelException
MissingModelException

See

Controller::loadModel()

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#Controller::constructClasses

disableCachesource public 

disableCache( )

Forces the user's browser not to cache the results of the current request.

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0. Use CakeResponse::disableCache().

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#Controller::disableCache

flashsource public 

flash( string $message , string|array $url , integer $pause 1 , string $layout 'flash' )

Shows a message to the user for $pause seconds, then redirects to $url. Uses flash.ctp as the default layout for the message. Does not work if the current debug level is higher than 0.

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0. Use Session::setFlash().

Parameters

string $message
Message to display to the user
string|array $url
Relative string or array-based URL to redirect to after the time expires
integer $pause optional 1
Time to show the message
string $layout optional 'flash'
Layout you want to use, defaults to 'flash'

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#Controller::flash

getEventManagersource 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
CakeEventManager

headersource public 

header( string $status )

Convenience and object wrapper method for CakeResponse::header().

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0. Use CakeResponse::header().

Parameters

string $status
The header message that is being set.

httpCodessource public 

httpCodes( integer|array $code null )

Queries & sets valid HTTP response codes & messages.

Deprecated

3.0.0 Since 2.4. Will be removed in 3.0. Use CakeResponse::httpCodes().

Parameters

integer|array $code optional null
If $code is an integer, then the corresponding code/message is returned if it exists, null if it does not exist. If $code is an array, then the 'code' and 'message' keys of each nested array are added to the default HTTP codes. Example: httpCodes(404); // returns array(404 => 'Not Found') httpCodes(array( 701 => 'Unicorn Moved', 800 => 'Unexpected Minotaur' )); // sets these new values, and returns true

Returns

array
Associative array of the HTTP codes as keys, and the message strings as values, or null of the given $code does not exist.

implementedEventssource public 

implementedEvents( )

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

Returns

array
array

Implementation of

CakeEventListener::implementedEvents()

invokeActionsource public 

invokeAction( CakeRequest $request )

Dispatches the controller action. Checks that the action exists and isn't private.

Parameters

CakeRequest $request
Request instance.

Returns

mixed
The resulting response.

Throws

PrivateActionException
When actions are not public or prefixed by _
MissingActionException
When actions are not defined and scaffolding is not enabled.

loadModelsource public 

loadModel( string $modelClass null , integer|string $id null )

Loads and instantiates models required by this controller. If the model is non existent, it will throw a missing database table error, as CakePHP generates dynamic models for the time being.

Parameters

string $modelClass optional null
Name of model class to load
integer|string $id optional null
Initial ID the instanced model class should have

Returns

boolean
True if the model was found

Throws

MissingModelException
if the model class cannot be found.

paginatesource public 

paginate( Model|string $object null , string|array $scope array() , array $whitelist array() )

Handles automatic pagination of model records.

Parameters

Model|string $object optional null
Model to paginate (e.g: model instance, or 'Model', or 'Model.InnerModel')
string|array $scope optional array()
Conditions to use while paginating
array $whitelist optional array()
List of allowed options for paging

Returns

array
Model query results

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#Controller::paginate

postConditionssource public 

postConditions( array $data array() , string|array $op null , string $bool 'AND' , boolean $exclusive false )

Converts POST'ed form data to a model conditions array, suitable for use in a Model::find() call.

Deprecated

3.0.0 Will be removed in 3.0.

Parameters

array $data optional array()
POST'ed data organized by model and field
string|array $op optional null
A string containing an SQL comparison operator, or an array matching operators to fields
string $bool optional 'AND'
SQL boolean operator: AND, OR, XOR, etc.
boolean $exclusive optional false
If true, and $op is an array, fields not included in $op will not be included in the returned conditions

Returns

array|null
An array of model conditions

redirectsource public 

redirect( string|array $url , integer|array|null $status null , boolean $exit true )

Redirects to given $url, after turning off $this->autoRender. Script execution is halted after the redirect.

Parameters

string|array $url
A string or array-based URL pointing to another location within the app, or an absolute URL
integer|array|null $status optional null
HTTP status code (eg: 301). Defaults to 302 when null is passed.
boolean $exit optional true
If true, exit() will be called after the redirect

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#Controller::redirect

Triggers

Controller.beforeRedirect $this, array($url, $status, $exit)

referersource public 

referer( string $default null , boolean $local false )

Returns the referring URL for this request.

Parameters

string $default optional null
Default URL to use if HTTP_REFERER cannot be read from headers
boolean $local optional false
If true, restrict referring URLs to local server

Returns

string
Referring URL

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#Controller::referer

rendersource public 

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

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

Parameters

string $view optional null
View to use for rendering
string $layout optional null
Layout to use

Returns

CakeResponse
A response object containing the rendered view.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#Controller::render

Triggers

Controller.beforeRender $this

scaffoldErrorsource public 

scaffoldError( string $method )

This method should be overridden in child classes. If not it will render a scaffold error. Method MUST return true in child classes

Parameters

string $method
name of method called example index, edit, etc.

Returns

boolean
Success

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#callbacks

setsource public 

set( string|array $one , string|array $two null )

Saves a variable for use inside a view template.

Parameters

string|array $one
A string or an array of data.
string|array $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.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#interacting-with-views

setActionsource public 

setAction( string $action )

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.

Returns

mixed
Returns the return value of the called action

setRequestsource public 

setRequest( CakeRequest $request )

Sets the request objects and configures a number of controller properties based on the contents of the request. The properties that get set are

  • $this->request - To the $request parameter
  • $this->plugin - To the $request->params['plugin']
  • $this->view - To the $request->params['action']
  • $this->autoLayout - To the false if $request->params['bare']; is set.
  • $this->autoRender - To false if $request->params['return'] == 1
  • $this->passedArgs - The the combined results of params['named'] and params['pass]

Parameters

CakeRequest $request
Request instance.

shutdownProcesssource public 

shutdownProcess( )

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.

Triggers

Controller.shutdown $this

startupProcesssource public 

startupProcess( )

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.

Triggers

Controller.initialize $this
Controller.startup $this

validatesource public 

validate( )

Returns number of errors in a submitted FORM.

Deprecated

3.0.0 This method will be removed in 3.0

Returns

integer
Number of errors

validateErrorssource public 

validateErrors( )

Validates models passed by parameters. Takes a list of models as a variable argument. Example:

$errors = $this->validateErrors($this->Article, $this->User);

Deprecated

3.0.0 This method will be removed in 3.0

Returns

array
Validation errors, or false if none

Methods inherited from Object

_mergeVarssource 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 Hash::normalize() before merging.

_setsource 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.

_stopsource 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

dispatchMethodsource 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

logsource public 

log( string $msg , integer $type LOG_ERR , null|string|array $scope null )

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_ERR
Error type constant. Defined in app/Config/core.php.
null|string|array $scope optional null
The scope(s) a log message is being created in. See CakeLog::config() for more information on logging scopes.

Returns

boolean
Success of log write

requestActionsource public 

requestAction( string|array $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

string|array $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.

toStringsource public 

toString( )

Object-to-string conversion. Each class can override this method as necessary.

Returns

string
The name of this class

Properties summary

$Componentssource

public ComponentCollection

Instance of ComponentCollection used to handle callbacks.

null

$Viewsource

public View

Instance of the View created during rendering. Won't be set until after Controller::render() is called.

$_eventManagersource

protected CakeEventManager

Instance of the CakeEventManager this controller is using to dispatch inner events.

null

$_mergeParentsource

protected string

The class name of the parent class you wish to merge with. Typically this is AppController, but you may wish to merge vars with a different parent class.

'AppController'

$_responseClasssource

protected string

The class name to use for creating the response object.

'CakeResponse'

$autoLayoutsource

public boolean

Set to true to automatically render the layout around views.

true

$autoRendersource

public boolean

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

true

$cacheActionsource

public mixed

Used to define methods a controller that will be cached. To cache a single action, the value is set to an array containing keys that match action names and values that denote cache expiration times (in seconds).

Example:

public $cacheAction = array(
        'view/23/' => 21600,
        'recalled/' => 86400
);

$cacheAction can also be set to a strtotime() compatible string. This marks all the actions in the controller for view caching.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/core-libraries/helpers/cache.html#additional-configuration-options
false

$componentssource

public array

Array containing the names of components this controller uses. Component names should not contain the "Component" portion of the class name.

Example: public $components = array('Session', 'RequestHandler', 'Acl');

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers/components.html
array('Session', 'Flash')

$extsource

public string

File extension for view templates. Defaults to CakePHP's conventional ".ctp".

'.ctp'

$helperssource

public mixed

An array containing the names of helpers this controller uses. The array elements should not contain the "Helper" part of the class name.

Example: public $helpers = array('Html', 'Js', 'Time', 'Ajax');

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#components-helpers-and-uses
array()

$layoutsource

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/View/Layouts without the .ctp extension.

'default'

$layoutPathsource

public string

The name of the layouts subfolder containing layouts for this controller.

null

$methodssource

public array

Holds current methods of the controller. This is a list of all the methods reachable via URL. Modifying this array will allow you to change which methods can be reached.

array()

$modelClasssource

public string

This controller's primary model class name, the Inflector::singularize()'ed version of the controller's $name property.

Example: For a controller named 'Comments', the modelClass would be 'Comment'

null

$modelKeysource

public string

This controller's model key name, an underscored version of the controller's $modelClass property.

Example: For a controller named 'ArticleComments', the modelKey would be 'article_comment'

null

$namesource

public string

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

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#controller-attributes
null

$passedArgssource

public mixed

Holds all params passed and named.

array()

$pluginsource

public string

Automatically set to the name of a plugin.

null

$requestsource

public CakeRequest

An instance of a CakeRequest 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.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers/request-response.html#cakerequest

$responsesource

public CakeResponse

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

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers/request-response.html#cakeresponse

$scaffoldsource

public mixed

Triggers Scaffolding

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers/scaffolding.html
false

$usessource

public mixed

An array containing the class names of models this controller uses.

Example: public $uses = array('Product', 'Post', 'Comment');

Can be set to several values to express different options:

  • true Use the default inflected model name.
  • array() Use only models defined in the parent class.
  • false Use no models at all, do not merge with parent class either.
  • array('Post', 'Comment') Use only the Post and Comment models. Models Will also be merged with the parent class.

The default value is true.

Link

http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/controllers.html#components-helpers-and-uses
true

$validationErrorssource

public array

Holds any validation errors produced by the last call of the validateErrors() method.

null

$viewsource

public string

The name of the view file to render. The name specified is the filename in /app/View/<SubFolder> without the .ctp extension.

null

$viewClasssource

public string

The name of the View class this controller sends output to.

'View'

$viewPathsource

public string

The name of the views subfolder containing views for this controller.

null

$viewVarssource

public array

Contains variables to be handed to the view.

array()

Magic properties summary

$Aclsource

public AclComponent

$Authsource

public AuthComponent

$Cookiesource

public CookieComponent

$Emailsource

public EmailComponent

$Paginatorsource

public PaginatorComponent

$RequestHandlersource

public RequestHandlerComponent

$Securitysource

public SecurityComponent

$Sessionsource

public SessionComponent

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http://api.cakephp.org/2.7/class-Controller.html