cakePHP Cheet Sheet

          A CakePHP cheat sheet
(source:http://www.devdaily.com/php/cakephp-cheat-sheet-reference-page-examples)
===========================================
** CakePHP Default Directory Structure: **
===========================================

/app
app_controller.php
app_model.php
/config
acl.ini.php
bootstrap.php
core.php
databases.php
inflections.php
routes.php
/controllers
/components
your_components_here.php
your_controllers_here.php
/locale
/eng
/models
/behaviors
your_behaviors_here.php
your_models_here.php
/plugins
/tests
/cases
/behaviors
/components
/controllers
/helpers
/models
/fixtures
/groups
/tmp
/vendors
/views
/helpers
your_views_here.ctp
/webroot
/css
/files
/js
/cake
cake_core_files_are_in_here
/docs
release_notes_here
/vendors

===========================================
** CakePHP Naming Conventions **
===========================================

--- CakePHP Models

class names are singular
class names UpperCamelCased
filenames use a lower-case underscored syntax
database tables are plural underscored
set var $name in your model definition (PHP4)


--- CakePHP Controllers

class names are plural
class names are UpperCamelCased for multi-word controllers
class names also end with 'Controller'
file names use a lower-case underscored syntax
file names also end with '_controller.php'.


--- CakePHP Views

views are in folders that match controller
view folders are plural underscored
views are named after actions they display.
name the view file after action name, in lowercase.

===========================================
** CakePHP naming conventions - Examples **
===========================================

--- Assuming we have a database table named orders, the following standard
CakePHP naming conventions should be used:

Model
  filename  = order.php
  classname = Order
  directory = app/models

View
  filename  = (same as the action name in the controller)
  extension = .ctp (the filename extension)
  directory = app/views/orders

Controller
  filename  = orders_controller.php
  classname = OrdersController
  directory = app/controllers

--- Assuming we have a database table named order_items, the following standard
CakePHP naming conventions should be used:

Model
  filename  = order_item.php
  classname = OrderItem
  directory = app/models

View
  filename  = (same as the action name in the controller)
  extension = .ctp (the filename extension)
  directory = app/views/order_items

Controller
  filename  = order_items_controller.php
  classname = OrderItemsController
  directory = app/controllers


===========================================
** CakePHP bake Command Examples **
===========================================

cake bake

cake bake controller
cake bake model
cake bake view
cake bake project

cake bake controller orders
cake bake model order


===========================================
** CakePHP Foreign Key Examples and Relationship Types **
===========================================

*Relationship*  *Association Type*     *Example*
one to one      hasOne                 A user has one profile.
one to many     hasMany                A user can have multiple recipes.
many to one     belongsTo              Many recipes belong to a user.
many to many    hasAndBelongsToMany    Recipes have, and belong to many tags.

-- CakePHP relationship type examples:

# in a Post model class:

# each Post belongs to a User
var $belongsTo = array('User');

# TODO
var $hasOne ...

# in the User model
var $hasMany = array('Post');

# TODO
var $hasAndBelongsToMany

===========================================
** The CakePHP recursive attribute **
===========================================

*Value* *Meaning*
-1      returns only the current model, and ignores all associations.
 0      returns the current model, plus its owner(s).
 1      returns the current model, its owner(s), plus their associated models.
 2      returns the current model, its owner(s), their associated models,
        and the associated models of any associations.

-- In a simple controller index() method, the recursive attribute may be used
like this:

function index()
{
  $this->Post->recursive = 0;
  $this->set('posts', $this->paginate);
}

===========================================
** CakePHP find Examples **
===========================================

Name        Default  Description
type        'first'  can be 'all', 'first', or 'list'. determines what type of
                     find operation to perform. (TODO - more info here)

conditions  null     array containing the find (select) conditions as
                     key/value pairs

fields      null     array specifying which fields should be retrieved
                     in the resulting select query

order       null     sql 'order by conditions. field name must be
                     followed by ASC or DESC

page        null     page number, used for paged data

limit       null     a limit on the number of results returned, like
                     'select * from orders limit 20'.

offset      null     sql offset value (i haven't used this query much
                     myself, but i think it refers to skipping X
                     number of rows returned in a query)

recursive      1     the cakephp recursive value, relating to associated
                     model data

--- Code

$this->Post->find('all');

---------------------------------

$this->Post->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>5)));

---------------------------------

$this->Post->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>'<> 5')));

---------------------------------

# this is a little lame, but i'm trying to avoid dates
$this->Post->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>1, 'Post.id'=>'>
50')));

---------------------------------

$this->Post->find('all',
                  array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>5),
                        'fields'=>'Post.name',
                        'order'=>'Post.id ASC',
                        'limit'=>20,
                        'recursive'=>0));
---------------------------------

# note: you can search for date or datetime fields by enclosing the table's
field name
#       in the SQL DATE() function.
$this->Post->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>5,
'DATE(Post.date)'=>'CURDATE()')));

---------------------------------

CakePHP find queries with ORDER BY examples:

array('order'=>'date ASC')
array('order'=>'date DESC')
array('order'=>'User.id DESC')

---------------------------------

These CakePHP find examples are lines of code that would be used in an
OrderController class:

$this->Order->find('all');
$this->Order->find(null, null, 'date DESC');
$this->Order->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>1)));
$this->Order->find('all',
array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>array(1,2,3,4))));
$this->Order->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>'<> 1')));
$this->Order->find('all', array('conditions'=>array('User.id'=>1,
'DATE(Post.date)'=>'CURDATE()')));
$this->Order->find('all', array('order'=>'date ASC', 'limit'=>20,
'recursive'=>0);

---------------------------------

$params can contain all these:

array(
  'conditions' => array('Model.field' => $thisValue), //array of conditions
  'recursive' => 1, //int
  'fields' => array('Model.field1', 'DISTINCT Model.field2'), //array of field
  names
  'order' => array('Model.created', 'Model.field3 DESC'), //string or array
  defining order
  'group' => array('Model.field'), //fields to GROUP BY
  'limit' => n, //int
  'page' => n, //int
  'offset'=>n, //int  
  'callbacks' => true //other possible values are false, 'before', 'after'
)

---------------------------------

# find('first', $params) syntax

function some_function() {
  ...
  $this->Article->order = null; // resetting if it's set
  $semiRandomArticle = $this->Article->find();
  $this->Article->order = 'Article.created DESC'; // simulating the model having
  a default order
  $lastCreated = $this->Article->find();
  $alsoLastCreated = $this->Article->find('first', array('order' =>
  array('Article.created DESC')));
  $specificallyThisOne = $this->Article->find('first', array('conditions' =>
  array('Article.id' => 1)));
  ...
}

---------------------------------

# find('count', $params)

function some_function() {
   ...
   $total = $this->Article->find('count');
   $pending = $this->Article->find('count', array('conditions' =>
   array('Article.status' => 'pending')));
   $authors = $this->Article->User->find('count');
   $publishedAuthors = $this->Article->find('count', array(
      'fields' => 'DISTINCT Article.user_id',
      'conditions' => array('Article.status !=' => 'pending')
   ));
   ...
}

---------------------------------

# find('all', $params) syntax

function some_function() {
   ...
   $allArticles = $this->Article->find('all');
   $pending = $this->Article->find('all', array('conditions' =>
   array('Article.status' => 'pending')));
   $allAuthors = $this->Article->User->find('all');
   $allPublishedAuthors = $this->Article->User->find('all', array('conditions'
   => array('Article.status !=' => 'pending')));
   ...
}

---------------------------------

# find('list', $params) syntax

function some_function() {
   ...
    $allArticles = $this->Article->find('list');
    $pending = $this->Article->find('list', array(
        'conditions' => array('Article.status' => 'pending')
    ));
    $allAuthors = $this->Article->User->find('list');
    $allPublishedAuthors = $this->Article->find('list', array(
        'fields' => array('User.id', 'User.name'),
        'conditions' => array('Article.status !=' => 'pending'),
        'recursive' => 0
    ));
   ...
}

===========================================
** CakePHP paginate Examples **
===========================================

A basic CakePHP paginate method in a controller:

function index() {
  $this->Order->recursive = 0;
  $this->set('orders', $this->paginate());
}

---------------------------------

class RecipesController extends AppController {

    var $paginate = array(
        'limit' => 25,
        'order' => array(
            'Post.title' => 'asc'
        )
    );
}

--- or this:

class RecipesController extends AppController {

    var $paginate = array(
        'fields' => array('Post.id', 'Post.created'),
        'limit' => 25,      
        'order' => array(
            'Post.title' => 'asc'
        )
    );
}

===========================================
** CakePHP logging **
===========================================

CakeLog::write('debug', 'Something did not work');

---------------------------------

$this->log("Something did not work!", 'debug');

---------------------------------

Configure::write('log', E_WARNING);


===========================================
** CakePHP Global Methods **
===========================================

__(string $string_id, boolean $return = false) — function handles localization

config('some_file', 'myconfig') — Can be used to load files from your
application config-folder via include_once

convertSlash(string $string) — Converts forward slashes to underscores and
removes the first and last underscores in a string

uses(string $lib1, $lib2, $lib3...) — Used to load CakePHP's core libraries
(found in cake/libs/).

debug(mixed $var, boolean $showHtml = false) - If the application's DEBUG level
is non-zero, $var is printed out.

a(mixed $one, $two, $three...) — Returns an array of the parameters used to
call the wrapping function

aa(string $one, $two, $three...) — Used to create associative arrays formed
from the parameters used to call the wrapping function.

am(array $one, $two, $three...) — Merges all the arrays passed as parameters
and returns the merged array.

e(mixed $data) — Convenience wrapper for echo()

env(string $key) — Gets an environment variable from available sources

ife($condition, $ifNotEmpty, $ifEmpty) — Used for ternary-like operations

low(string $string) — Convenience wrapper for strtolower()

up(string $string) — Convenience wrapper for strtoupper()

r(string $search, string $replace, string $subject) — Convenience wrapper for
str_replace()

h(string $text, string $charset = null) — Convenience wrapper for
htmlspecialchars()

pr - shortcut for print_r()

stripslashes_deep(array $value) — Recursively strips slashes from the supplied
$value. Returns the modified array.

fileExistsInPath(string $file) — Checks to make sure that the supplied file is
within the current PHP include_path



===========================================
** CakePHP Global Constants **
===========================================

ACL_CLASSNAME
ACL_FILENAME
APP
APP_DIR
APP_PATH
AUTO_SESSION
CACHE
CACHE_CHECK
CAKE
CAKE_CORE_INCLUDE_PATH
CAKE_SECURITY
CAKE_SESSION_COOKIE
CAKE_SESSION_SAVE
CAKE_SESSION_STRING
CAKE_SESSION_TABLE
CAKE_SESSION_TIMEOUT
COMPONENTS
COMPRESS_CSS
CONFIGS
CONTROLLER_TESTS
CONTROLLERS
CORE_PATH
CSS
DATASOURCE
DAY
DEBUG
DS
ELEMENTS
HELPER_TESTS
HELPERS
HOUR
INFLECTIONS
JS
LAYOUTS
LIB_TESTS
LIBS
LOG_ERROR
LOGS
MAX_MD5SIZE
MINUTE
MODEL_TESTS
MODELS
MODULES
MONTH
ROOT
SCRIPTS
SECOND
TAG_DIV
TAG_FIELDSET
TAG_LABEL
TAG_P_CLASS
TESTS
TMP
VENDORS
VIEWS
WEBROOT_DIR
WEBSERVICES
WEEK
WWW_ROOT
YEAR

===========================================
** CakePHP Controller properties, methods, callbacks **
===========================================

--- CakePHP controller properties:

$name = null
$action = null
$autoLayout = true
$autoRender = true
$base = null
$beforeFilter = null
$cacheAction = false
$components = array()
$data = array()
$helpers = array('Html')
$here = null
$layout = 'default'
$output = null
$pageTitle = false
$params = array()
$persistModel = false
$plugin = null
$uses = false
$view = 'View'
$viewPath = null
$webroot = null
$_viewClass = null
$_viewVars = array()

--- CakePHP controller methods

cleanUpFields ()
constructClasses ()
flash ($message, $url, $pause = 1)
flashOut ($message, $url, $pause = 1)
generateFieldNames ($data = null, $doCreateOptions = true)
postConditions ($data, $operator = '', $bool = 'AND', $exclusive = false)
redirect ($url, $status = null)
referer ($default = null, $local = false)
render ($action = null, $layout = null, $file = null)
set ($one, $two = null)
setAction ($action)
validate ()
validateErrors ()

--- CakePHP controller callbacks

afterFilter ()
beforeFilter ()
beforeRender ()


===========================================
** CakePHP Model properties, methods, callbacks, and validation **
===========================================

--- CakePHP Model properties:

$belongsTo = array()
$cacheQueries = true
$data = array()
$displayField = null
$hasAndBelongsToMany = array()
$hasMany = array()
$hasOne = array()
$id = false
$logTransactions = false
$name = null
$primaryKey = null
$recursive = 1
$useDbConfig = 'default'
$useTable = null
$validate = array()
$validationErrors = array()

--- CakePHP Model methods:

bindModel ($params)
create ()
delete ($id = null, $cascade = true)
escapeField ($field)
execute ($data)
exists ()
field ($name, $conditions = null, $order = null)
find ($conditions = null, $fields = null, $order = null, $recursive = null)
findAll ($conditions = null, $fields = null, $order = null, $limit = null, $page
= 1, $recursive = null)
findAllThreaded ($conditions = null, $fields = null, $sort = null)
findCount ($conditions = null, $recursive = 0)
findNeighbours ($conditions = null, $field, $value)
generateList ($conditions = null, $order = null, $limit = null, $keyPath = null,
$valuePath = null)
getAffectedRows ()
getColumnType ($column)
getColumnTypes ()
getDisplayField ()
getID ($list=0)
getLastInsertID ()
getNumRows ()
hasAny ($conditions = null)
hasField ($name)
invalidate ($field)
invalidFields ($data = array())
isForeignKey ($field)
loadInfo ()
query ()
read ($fields = null, $id = null)
remove ($id = null, $cascade = true)
save ($data = null, $validate = true, $fieldList = array())
saveField ($name, $value, $validate = false)
set ($one, $two = null)
setDataSource ($dataSource = null)
setSource ($tableName)
unbindModel ($params)
validates ($data=array())
setSource ($tableName)

--- CakePHP Model callbacks

afterDelete ()
afterFind ($results)
afterSave ()
beforeDelete ()
beforeFind (&$queryData)
beforeSave ()
beforeValidate ()

--- CakePHP Model validation

'VALID_EMAIL`
'VALID_NOT_EMPTY`
'VALID_NUMBER`
'VALID_YEAR`



===========================================
** CakePHP View properties and methods **
===========================================

--- CakePHP View properties

$action = null
$autoLayout = true
$autoRender = true
$base = null
$controller = null
$ext = '.thtml'
$hasRendered = null
$helpers = array('Html')
$here = null
$layout = 'default'
$loaded = array()
$models = array()
$name = null
$pageTitle = false
$params
$parent = null
$plugin = null
$subDir = null
$themeWeb = null
$uses = false
$viewPath

--- CakePHP View methods

element ($name)
error ($code, $name, $message)
pluginView ($action, $layout)
render ($action = null, $layout = null, $file = null)
renderCache ($filename, $timeStart)
renderElement ($name, $params = array())
renderLayout ($content_for_layout)
setLayout ($layout)



===========================================
** CakePHP Data Validation **
===========================================

<?php
class User extends AppModel {
    var $name = 'User';
    var $validate = array(
        'login' => 'alphaNumeric',
        'email' => 'email',
        'born' => 'date'
    );
}
?>



===========================================
** CakePHP Helpers **
===========================================

--- CakePHP Html Helper

addCrumb ($name, $link)
charset ($charset, $return = false)
checkbox ($fieldName, $title = null, $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
css ($path, $rel = 'stylesheet', $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
dateTimeOptionTag ($tagName, $dateFormat = 'DMY', $timeFormat = '12', $selected
= null, $selectAttr = null, $optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true)
dayOptionTag ($tagName, $value = null, $selected = null, $selectAttr = null,
$optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true)
file ($fieldName, $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
formTag ($target = null, $type = 'post', $htmlAttributes = null)
getCrumbs ($separator = '»', $startText = false, $return = false)
guiListTree ($data, $htmlAttributes = null, $bodyKey = 'body', $childrenKey =
'children', $return = false)
hidden ($fieldName, $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
hourOptionTag ($tagName, $value = null, $format24Hours = false, $selected =
null, $selectAttr = null, $optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true)
image ($path, $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
input ($fieldName, $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
link ($title, $url = null, $htmlAttributes = null, $confirmMessage = false,
$escapeTitle = true, $return = false)
linkEmail ($title, $email = null, $options = null)
meridianOptionTag ($tagName, $value = null, $selected = null, $selectAttr =
null, $optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true)
minuteOptionTag ($tagName, $value = null, $selected = null, $selectAttr = null,
$optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true)
monthOptionTag ($tagName, $value = null, $selected = null, $selectAttr = null,
$optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true)
parseHtmlOptions ($options, $exclude = null, $insertBefore = ' ', $insertAfter =
null)
password ($fieldName, $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
radio ($fieldName, $options, $inbetween = null, $htmlAttributes = array(),
$return = false)
selectTag ($fieldName, $optionElements, $selected = null, $selectAttr = null,
$optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true, $return = false)
setFormTag ($tagValue)
submit ($caption = 'Submit', $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
tableCells ($data, $oddTrOptions = null, $evenTrOptions = null, $return = false)
tableHeaders ($names, $trOptions = null, $thOptions = null, $return = false)
tagErrorMsg ($field, $text)
tagIsInvalid ($model, $field)
tagValue ($fieldName)
textarea ($fieldName, $htmlAttributes = null, $return = false)
trim ()
url ($url = null, $return = false)
validate ()
validateErrors ()
yearOptionTag ($tagName, $value = null, $minYear = null, $maxYear = null,
$selected = null, $selectAttr = null, $optionAttr = null, $showEmpty = true)
_parseAttributes ($options, $exclude = null, $insertBefore = ' ', $insertAfter =
null)

--- CakePHP Form Helper

button ($params, $type= 'button', $options=array())
create ($model=null, $options=array())
dateTime ($tagName, $dateFormat= 'DMY', $timeFormat= '12', $selected=null,
$attributes=array(), $showEmpty=true)
day ($fieldName, $selected=null, $attributes=array(), $showEmpty=true)
end ($options=null)
error ($field, $text=null, $options=array())
file ($fieldName, $options=array())
hidden ($fieldName, $options=array())
hour ($tagName, $format24Hours=false, $selected=null, $attributes=array(),
$showEmpty=true)
input ($tagName, $options=array())
inputs ($fields=null, $blacklist=null)
isFieldError ($field)
label ($tagName=null, $text=null, $attributes=array())
meridian ($tagName, $selected=null, $attributes=array(), $showEmpty=true)
minute ($tagName, $selected=null, $attributes=array(), $showEmpty=true)
month ($tagName, $selected=null, $attributes=array(), $showEmpty=true)
password ($fieldName, $options=array())
secure ($fields)
select ($fieldName, $options=array(), $selected=null, $attributes=array(),
$showEmpty= '')
submit ($caption= 'Submit', $options=array())
submitImage ($path, $options=array())
text ($fieldName, $options=array())
textarea ($fieldName, $options=array())
year ($fieldName, $minYear=null, $maxYear=null, $selected=null,
$attributes=array(), $showEmpty=true)

--- CakePHP Ajax Helper

autoComplete ($field, $url="", $options=array())
div ($id, $options=array())
divEnd ($id)
drag ($id, $options=array())
drop ($id, $options=array())
dropRemote ($id, $options=array(), $ajaxOptions=array())
editor ($id, $url, $options=array())
form ($params=null, $type= 'post', $options=array())
isAjax ()
link ($title, $href=null, $options=array(), $confirm=null, $escapeTitle=true)
observeField ($field_id, $options=array())
observeForm ($field_id, $options=array())
remoteFunction ($options=null)
remoteTimer ($options=null)
slider ($id, $track_id, $options=array())
sortable ($id, $options=array())
submit ($title= 'Submit', $options=array())

--- CakePHP Text Helper

highlight ($text, $phrase, $highlighter= '< span class="highlight">\1</span >')
stripLinks ($text)
autoLinkUrls ($text, $htmlOptions = array())
autoLinkEmails ($text, $htmlOptions = array())
autoLink ($text, $htmlOptions = array())
truncate ($text, $length, $ending = '...', $exact = true)
trim ()
excerpt ($text, $phrase, $radius = 100, $ending = "...")
flay ($text, $allowHtml = false)

--- CakePHP Time Helper

dayAsSql ($date_string, $field_name, $return = false)
daysAsSql ($begin, $end, $field_name, $return = false)
fromString ($date_string)
isThisYear ($date_string, $return = false)
isToday ($date_string, $return = false)
isTomorrow ($date_string, $return = false)
nice ($date_string=null, $return = false)
niceShort ($date_string=null, $return = false)
relativeTime ($datetime_string, $format = 'j/n/y', $return = false)
timeAgoInWords ($datetime_string, $format = 'j/n/y', $backwards = false, $return
= false)
toAtom ($date_string, $return = false)
toRSS ($date_string, $return = false)
toUnix ($date_string, $return = false)
trim ($string, $length, $ending = '..')
wasWithinLast ($timeInterval, $date_string, $return = false)
wasYesterday ($date_string, $return = false)

--- CakePHP Number Helper

precision ($number, $precision = 3)
toReadableSize ($size)
toPercentage ($number, $precision = 2)


===========================================
** CakePHP Components **
===========================================

--- CakePHP Session Component

check ($name)
del ($name)
delete ($name)
error ()
flash ($key)
read ($name)
renew ()
setFlash ($flashMessage, $layout = 'default', $param = null, $key = 'flash')
valid ()
write($name, $value)

--- CakePHP RequestHandler Component

accepts ($types)
getAjaxVersion ()
getClientIP ()
getReferer ()
isAjax ()
isAtom ()
isDelete ()
isGet ()
isMobile ()
isPost ()
isPut ()
isRss ()
isXml ()
setContent ($name, $type)
stripAll ($string)
stripImages ($string)
stripScripts ($string)

--- CakePHP Security Component

requirePost ([$action1, $ action2, $action3, ...])
requireAuth ([$action1, $ action2, $action3, ...])

--- CakePHP ACL Component

check ($aro, $aco, $action="*")
allow ($aro, $aco, $action="*")
deny ($aro, $aco, $action="*")
inherit ($aro, $aco, $action="*")
grant ($aro, $aco, $action="*")
revoke ($aro, $aco, $action="*")
getAro ($id)
getAco ($id)