Examples.md

Examples

The following are a few basic examples of common usage in the Cake Toolkit.

Creating a Div

Create a HTML div object and add it to the View.

$myDiv = $this->Html->Div();

$this->add($myDiv);

Creating a Div with a Span

Create a HTML div object and add a HTML span object as a child.

$myDiv = $this->Html->Div();

	$mySpan = $this->Html->Span();

$myDiv->add($mySpan);

Chaining Objects

Create various objects as children of each other in a sequence.

$myDiv->Span()->Em()->Strong();

IMPORTANT: When chaining objects, the last object in the chain is returned. Also, only objects of the common factory can be called.

Setting a Unique ID

Set a unique ID on an object, by default all objects have a unique ID assigned to them.

$myDiv->setId('myId');

Setting Parameters

Set the "text" configuration parameter on a HTML div object, this will render as text inside the element.

$myDiv = $this->Html->Div(array(
	'text' => __('Hello World')
));

$myDiv->text = 'Updated';

Special Parameters

A collection of special configuration parameters available on all objects.

$mySpan = $this->Html->Span(array(
	'_id' => 'myId',
	'_parent' => $myDiv,
	'_children' => array(
		$myButton,
		'Strong' => array(
			'text' => __('Hello World')
		)
	),
	'_events' => array(
		'click' => $this->Js->Alert(array(
			'text' => __('Hello World')
		))
	)
));

IMPORTANT: The special parameters available are shortcuts to common actions on an object.

Copying an Object

Make a copy of an object, the unique ID is automatically updated.

$myDivCopy = $myDiv->copy();

Adding Multiple Objects

Add multiple objects as children.

$myDiv->addMany(array(
	$mySpan,
	'Button',
	'Strong' => array(
		'text' => __('Hello World')
	)
));

Adding Objects Before and After

Add objects before or after a specific child.

$myDiv->addBefore($newSpan, $mySpan);
$myDiv->addAfter($newSpan, $mySpan);

Conditionally Adding Objects

Add an object based upon a condition, which will only be added if the condition resolves to true.

$myDiv->addIf($condition === true, $mySpan);

Adding Objects from a Callback

Add an object from a callback function, any "callable" function in PHP is valid.

$myDiv->addWhile(function(&$parent, &$view, &$data, $i) {
	if ($i <= 9) {
		$parent->add($view->Html->Span(array(
			'text' => 'I was added'
		)));
	}
});

Inherit Children

Inherit the children from another object, these are not duplicated but moved to the new parent.

$myDiv->addFrom($otherDiv);

Replacing and Removing Children

Replace or remove children.

$myDiv->replaceChild($mySpan, $otherSpan);
$myDiv->removeChild($otherSpan);

Traversing Objects

Various methods for traversing parents and children.

$parent = $myUl->getParent();
$children = $myUl->getChildren();
$firstChild = $myUl->getFirst();
$lastChild = $myUl->getLast();
$previousChild = $lastChild->getPrevious();
$nextChild = $firstChild->getNext();

$myUl->each(function(&$child, &$parent, &$view, &$data, $i) {
	$child->text = 'Updated';
});

Binding an Event

Bind a JavaScript alert event to an object.

$myButton->bind('click', $this->Js->Alert(array(
	'text' => __('Hello World')
)));

Redirecting

Bind a JavaScript redirection event to an object.

$myButton->bind('click', $this->Js->Redirect(array(
	'location' => Router::url(array(
		'controller' => 'Example',
		'action' => 'index'
	))
)));

Content via Ajax

Load the content of an object via Ajax.

$myButton->bind('click', $this->Js->Element(array(
	'node' => $myDiv
))->ajax(Router::url(array(
	'controller' => 'Example',
	'action' => 'index'
))));

Including an Element

Include a CakePHP element in a CTK based View.

$myDiv = $this->Html->Div();

	$exampleElement = $this->element('example');

$myDiv->add($exampleElement);

IMPORTANT: The content of elements are returned as an object. This allows you to add elements to other objects, however, elements do not accept children.

Appending to View Blocks

Append a HTML script to the "script" view block.

$this->append('script', $this->Html->Script(array(
	'src' => 'example.js'
)));

Using a Helper

Use an example helper in a CTK based View.

$myDiv = $this->Html->Div();

	$something = $this->ExampleHelper->something();

$myDiv->add($something);

IMPORTANT: The output of a helper method is returned as an object. Objects returned from helpers are automatically converted to their original value if passed to other helpers.