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59 <p>Models are <strong>optionally</strong> available for those who want to use a more traditional MVC approach.</p>
64 <li><a href="#what">What is a Model?</a></li>
65 <li><a href="#anatomy">Anatomy of a Model</a></li>
66 <li><a href="#loading">Loading a Model</a></li>
67 <li><a href="#auto_load_model">Auto-Loading a Model</a> </li>
68 <li><a href="#conn">Connecting to your Database</a></li>
73 <h2><a name="what"></a>What is a Model?</h2>
75 <p>Models are PHP classes that are designed to work with information in your database. For example, let's say
76 you use CodeIgniter to manage a blog. You might have a model class that contains functions to insert, update, and
77 retrieve your blog data. Here is an example of what such a model class might look like:</p>
80 class Blogmodel extends CI_Model {<br />
82 var $title = '';<br />
83 var $content = '';<br />
84 var $date = '';<br />
86 function __construct()<br />
87 {<br />
88 // Call the Model constructor<br />
89 parent::__construct();<br />
90 }<br />
91 <br />
92 function get_last_ten_entries()<br />
93 {<br />
94 $query = $this->db->get('entries', 10);<br />
95 return $query->result();<br />
96 }<br />
98 function insert_entry()<br />
99 {<br />
100 $this->title = $_POST['title']; // please read the below note<br />
101 $this->content = $_POST['content'];<br />
102 $this->date = time();<br />
104 $this->db->insert('entries', $this);<br />
105 }<br />
107 function update_entry()<br />
108 {<br />
109 $this->title = $_POST['title'];<br />
110 $this->content = $_POST['content'];<br />
111 $this->date = time();<br />
113 $this->db->update('entries', $this, array('id' => $_POST['id']));<br />
114 }<br />
118 <p>Note: The functions in the above example use the <a href="../database/active_record.html">Active Record</a> database functions.</p>
119 <p class="important"><strong>Note:</strong> For the sake of simplicity in this example we're using $_POST directly. This is generally bad practice, and a more common approach would be to use the <a href="../libraries/input.html">Input Class</a> $this->input->post('title')</p>
120 <h2><a name="anatomy"></a>Anatomy of a Model</h2>
122 <p>Model classes are stored in your <dfn>application/models/</dfn> folder. They can be nested within sub-folders if you
123 want this type of organization.</p>
125 <p>The basic prototype for a model class is this:</p>
129 class <var>Model_name</var> extends CI_Model {<br />
131 function <var>__construct</var>()<br />
132 {<br />
133 parent::__construct();<br />
134 }<br />
137 <p>Where <var>Model_name</var> is the name of your class. Class names <strong>must</strong> have the first letter capitalized with the rest of the name lowercase.
138 Make sure your class extends the base Model class.</p>
140 <p>The file name will be a lower case version of your class name. For example, if your class is this:</p>
143 class <var>User_model</var> extends CI_Model {<br />
145 function <var>__construct</var>()<br />
146 {<br />
147 parent::__construct();<br />
148 }<br />
151 <p>Your file will be this:</p>
153 <code>application/models/<var>user_model.php</var></code>
157 <h2><a name="loading"></a>Loading a Model</h2>
159 <p>Your models will typically be loaded and called from within your <a href="controllers.html">controller</a> functions.
160 To load a model you will use the following function:</p>
162 <code>$this->load->model('<var>Model_name</var>');</code>
164 <p>If your model is located in a sub-folder, include the relative path from your models folder. For example, if
165 you have a model located at <dfn>application/models/blog/queries.php</dfn> you'll load it using:</p>
167 <code>$this->load->model('<var>blog/queries</var>');</code>
170 <p>Once loaded, you will access your model functions using an object with the same name as your class:</p>
173 $this->load->model('<var>Model_name</var>');<br />
175 $this-><var>Model_name</var>->function();
178 <p>If you would like your model assigned to a different object name you can specify it via the second parameter of the loading
183 $this->load->model('<var>Model_name</var>', '<kbd>fubar</kbd>');<br />
185 $this-><kbd>fubar</kbd>->function();
188 <p>Here is an example of a controller, that loads a model, then serves a view:</p>
191 class Blog_controller extends CI_Controller {<br />
193 function blog()<br />
194 {<br />
195 $this->load->model('Blog');<br />
197 $data['query'] = $this->Blog->get_last_ten_entries();<br /><br />
198 $this->load->view('blog', $data);<br />
199 }<br />
202 <h2><a name="auto_load_model" id="auto_load_model"></a>Auto-loading Models</h2>
203 <p>If you find that you need a particular model globally throughout your application, you can tell CodeIgniter to auto-load it during system initialization. This is done by opening the application/config/autoload.php file and adding the model to the autoload array.</p>
206 <h2><a name="conn"></a>Connecting to your Database</h2>
208 <p>When a model is loaded it does <strong>NOT</strong> connect automatically to your database. The following options for connecting are available to you:</p>
211 <li>You can connect using the standard database methods <a href="../database/connecting.html">described here</a>, either from within your Controller class or your Model class.</li>
212 <li>You can tell the model loading function to auto-connect by passing <kbd>TRUE</kbd> (boolean) via the third parameter,
213 and connectivity settings, as defined in your database config file will be used:
215 <code>$this->load->model('<var>Model_name</var>', '', <kbd>TRUE</kbd>);</code>
219 <li>You can manually pass database connectivity settings via the third parameter:
222 <code>$config['hostname'] = "localhost";<br />
223 $config['username'] = "myusername";<br />
224 $config['password'] = "mypassword";<br />
225 $config['database'] = "mydatabase";<br />
226 $config['dbdriver'] = "mysql";<br />
227 $config['dbprefix'] = "";<br />
228 $config['pconnect'] = FALSE;<br />
229 $config['db_debug'] = TRUE;<br />
231 $this->load->model('<var>Model_name</var>', '', <kbd>$config</kbd>);</code></li>
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