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

Properties summary

  • $Url public
    \Cake\View\Helper\UrlHelper
  • $_View protected
    \Cake\View\View

    The View instance this helper is attached to

  • $_config protected
    array

    Runtime config

  • 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

  • array

    Options for the currently opened script block buffer if any.

  • $_templater protected
    \Cake\View\StringTemplate

    StringTemplate instance.

  • $helpers public
    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.

  • 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)

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()

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

Returns

array

__get() public

__get(string $name)

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)

Deletes a single config key.

Parameters

string $key

Key to delete.

Throws

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

_configRead() protected

_configRead(?string $key)

Reads a config key.

Parameters

string|null $key

Key to read.

Returns

mixed

_configWrite() protected

_configWrite(mixed $key, mixed $value, mixed $merge)

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.

Throws

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

_confirm() protected

_confirm(string $okCode, string $cancelCode)

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)

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

See Also

\Cake\View\Helper\HtmlHelper::nestedList()

_renderCells() protected

_renderCells(array $line, bool $useCount)

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)

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 $charset)

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

configShallow() public

configShallow(mixed $key, mixed $value)

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(mixed $path, array $options)

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

div() public

div(?string $class, ?string $text, array $options)

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)

Formats a template string with $data

Parameters

string $name

The template name.

array $data

The data to insert.

Returns

string

getConfig() public

getConfig(?string $key, mixed $default)

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)

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 $template)

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()

Get the view instance this helper is bound to.

Returns

\Cake\View\View

The bound view instance.

image() public

image(mixed $path, array $options)

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

implementedEvents() public

implementedEvents()

Event listeners.

Returns

array

initialize() public

initialize(array $config)

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.

link(mixed $title, mixed $url, array $options)

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

linkFromPath() public

linkFromPath(string $title, string $path, array $params, array $options)

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.

See Also

\Cake\Routing\Router::pathUrl()

Links

media() public

media(mixed $path, array $options)

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(mixed $type, mixed $content, array $options)

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

nestedList() public

nestedList(array $list, array $options, array $itemOptions)

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

para() public

para(?string $class, ?string $text, array $options)

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(mixed $url, array $options)

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

scriptBlock() public

scriptBlock(string $script, array $options)

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

scriptEnd() public

scriptEnd()

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

scriptStart() public

scriptStart(array $options)

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.

Links

setConfig() public

setConfig(mixed $key, mixed $value, mixed $merge)

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

setTemplates() public

setTemplates(array $templates)

Sets templates to use.

Parameters

string[] $templates

Templates to be added.

Returns

$this

style() public

style(array $data, bool $oneLine)

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

tableCell() public

tableCell(string $content, array $options)

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(mixed $data, mixed $oddTrOptions, mixed $evenTrOptions, bool $useCount, bool $continueOddEven)

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

tableHeaders() public

tableHeaders(array $names, ?array $trOptions, ?array $thOptions)

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

tableRow() public

tableRow(string $content, array $options)

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 $text, array $options)

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()

Returns the templater instance.

Returns

\Cake\View\StringTemplate

Property Detail

$Url public

Type

\Cake\View\Helper\UrlHelper

$_View protected

The View instance this helper is attached to

Type

\Cake\View\View

$_config protected

Runtime config

Type

array

$_configInitialized protected

Whether the config property has already been configured with defaults

Type

bool

$_defaultConfig protected

Default config for this class

Type

array

$_helperMap protected

A helper lookup table used to lazy load helper objects.

Type

array

$_includedAssets protected

Names of script & css files that have been included once

Type

array

$_scriptBlockOptions protected

Options for the currently opened script block buffer if any.

Type

array

$_templater protected

StringTemplate instance.

Type

\Cake\View\StringTemplate

$helpers public

List of helpers used by this helper

Type

array

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https://api.cakephp.org/4.1/class-Cake.View.Helper.HtmlHelper.html