CodeIgniter Powerful Model

A CodeIgniter extension to work with database tables with an easy and intuitive Object Oriented / Entity Framework approach.

Installation

Download the files from this repository and place them into the corresponding folders in your CodeIgniter project.
The add-in consists of a solid MY_Model implementation and also redefines the CI_Loader::model method. If you already have a MY_Loader extension, just copy the MY_Loader::model extended method within your extended class.

Usage

Let's make some examples with a classic cars table.

Table Schema
Define a New Entity Object
Load a Model
Get All Records
Get Some Records
Get a Single Record
Add a New record
Make Some Changes
Automatic Join
Manual Join
CodeIgniter's Query Builder
Pagination
Count
Automatically Get a Foreign Key Object
Define Custom Methods
Usege of the Defined Custom Methods
Support for CodeIgniter Query Builder Caching System
Delete
Created/Modified Datetime
Soft Delete Support

Table Schema

The best practice is to name your table in plural form (eg. cars), and name the primary key column as id.
There's no particular preferences for other column names.
Mind that you can still use other naming conventions for your tables. In this case, it's necessary to set this names by manually set the value of table, id_field and row_type properties in the constructor of the entity model definition (see next paragraph).

Define a New Entity Object

In the Models folder, create a new Cars_model.php file defining the Cars_model extending MY_Model class (use the plural for the entire table) and the Car_object extending Model_object class (use the singular for the single record).

Here the code in Models/Cars_model.php:

<?php defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

class Cars_model extends MY_Model {
	
	public function __construct()
	{
		// If you use standard naming convention, this code can be omitted.
		/*$this->table = 'cars';
		$this->id_field = 'id';
		$this->row_type = 'Car_object';*/
		parent::__construct();
	}
}

class Car_object extends Model_object {
	
}

Load a Model

$this->load->model('Cars');
// or autoload in CI's application/config/autoload.php like this: $autoload['model'] = array('Cars');

Get All Records

$all_cars = $this->Cars->get_list();

Get Some Records

// Get some records (apply a filter in query)
$some_cars = $this->Cars->where('brand_id', 1)->get_list();

Get a Single Record

$a_car = $this->Cars->get(1);	// this is a "get by id"

Add a New Record

$new_car = $this->Cars->new_row();
$new_car->name = "Powerful Car";
$new_car->brand_id = 1;
$id = $new_car->save();	// this produces the insert command

Make Some Changes

$edit_car = $this->Cars->get($id);
$edit_car->name = "Change its name";
$edit_car->save();		// this produces the update command (only for the changed fields, the CI Powerful Model tracks object changes)

Automatic Join

$all_cars = $this->Cars->autojoin()->get_list();	// automatic LEFT join with the brands table
// uses the CI's inflector helper to transform <entity>_id to <entities>

Manual Join

$this->Cars->join('brands', 'cars.brand_id = brands.id', 'LEFT');
$all_cars = $this->Cars->get_list();

CodeIgniter's Query Builder

You can use all the CodeIgniter's Query Builder methods, allowing method chaining.

$some_cars = $this->Cars->where_in('brand_id', array(1, 2, 3))->like('name', "%Something")->order_by('name')->get_list();

Pagination

// (page 1, with 10 cars per page)
$cars_page1 = $this->Cars->pagination(1, 10)->order_by('name')->get_list();

Count

$brand1_cars_count = $this->Cars->where('brand_id', 1)->count();

Automatically Get a Foreign Key Object

$this->load->model('Brands');	// just another CI Powerful Model object
$car = $this->Cars->get(1);
$brand = $car->get_brand();	// cars.brand_id => brands.id
// uses the CI inflector's helper to transform <entity>_id to <entities>.id

Define Custom Methods

Here the code in Models/Cars_model.php:

<?php defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

class Cars_model extends MY_Model {
	
	public function has_brand()
	{
		$this->db->where('brand_id >', 0);
		
		return $this;	// remember to return $this for method chaining support
	}
	
}

class Car_object extends Model_object {
	
	public function brand_name()
	{
		$CI = get_instance();
		
		$CI->load->model('Brands_model', 'Brands');	// just another CI Power Model object
		$brand = $CI->Brands->get($this->brand_id);
		if ($brand)
			return $brand->name;
		return '';
	}
}

Usege of the Defined Custom Methods

$cars = $this->Cars->has_brand()->get_list();
foreach ($cars as $car)
{
	echo 'Car: '.$car->name.', Brand: '.$car->brand_name().'<br>';
}

Support for CodeIgniter Query Builder Caching System

$this->Cars->start_cache();
$this->Cars->where('brand_id', 1);
$this->Cars->order_by('name');
$this->Cars->stop_cache();
$current_page_cars = $this->Cars->pagination(1, 10)->order_by('name')->get_list();
$total_cars_to_show = $this->Cars->count();	// this maintains the filter defined between start_cache() and stop_cache()
$this->Cars->flush_cache();

Delete

$to_delete = $this->Cars->get($id);
$to_delete->delete();

Created/Modified Datetime

If you add a created (datetime) and a modified (datetime) field in your table, CI Powerful Model automatically write the creation date and the last change date

Soft Delete Support

If you add a deleted (datetime) field in your table, the delete function doesn't hard delete the record, but writes the delete datetime in this field.
In this case, to filter your queries excluding the logical deleted records, call the all method before. Example:

$all_cars = $this->Cars->all()->get_list();
$some_cars = $this->Cars->all()->where_in('brand_id', array(1, 2, 3))->get_list();

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