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+--- Thread: noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" (/showthread.php?tid=8693)
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noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]cirox![/eluser]
Hi everyone,
I'm new to both ci & php and I need your help. I've successfully followed the online video - blog system tutorial - and I'm now attempting to add some more functionality to it as an exercise.
Namely, I'm trying to get the "Comments" link to show the number of comments, e.g. "Comments(8)".
I can't think of an easy way to do it, without violate (what's my understanding of) MVC.
I'd be grateful if someone could tell me a straightforward of doing it.
Thanks.
blog_view.php
Code:
<html>
<head>
<title><?php echo $title; ?></title>
</head>
<body>
<h1><?php echo $title; ?></h1>
<?php foreach($query->result() as $row): ?>
<h3><?php echo $row->title ?></h3>
<p><?php echo $row->body ?></p>
<p><?php echo anchor('blog/comments/'.$row->id,'Comments'); ?></p>
<hr />
<?php endforeach; ?>
</body>
</html>blog.php
Code:
<?php
class Blog extends Controller {
function Blog()
{
parent::Controller();
$this->load->helper('url');
$this->load->helper('form');
}
function index()
{
$data['title'] = "My Blog Title";
$data['heading'] = "My Blog Heading";
$data['query'] = $this->db->get('entries');
$this->load->view('blog_view', $data);
}
function comments()
{
$data['title'] = "My Comment Title";
$data['heading'] = "My Coment Heading";
$this->db->where('entry_id',$this->uri->segment(3));
$data['query'] = $this->db->get('comments');
$this->load->view('comment_view', $data);
}
function comment_insert()
{
$this->db->insert('comments',$_POST);
redirect('blog/comments/'.$_POST['entry_id']);
}
}
?>noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]AgentPhoenix[/eluser]
Actually, CI has a pretty shiny object associated with the Database library that'll return the number of rows a query generates. Once you've run your query, you could do something like this (assuming you've assigned the query result to a variable called query):
Code:
$data['num_comments'] = $query->num_rows();Then in your view, you can just echo out $num_comments wherever you want that count.
noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]Jamie Rumbelow[/eluser]
Hello cirox!, and welcome to the CI forums!
Yes, as AgentPheonix said, the num_rows() function is a great function to count the number of rows associated with the query that you ran. I prefer to use multi-dimensional arrays when I require sending lots of data from the controller to views.
So in this case I would do something like this:
Code:
$data['blog_info']['name'] = "My Blog";
...
...
$data['comments']['number'] = $query->num_rows();
...
...Thanks,
Jamie
noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]cirox![/eluser]
I'm still not getting it.
$query is my original query that returns the blog entries. (table `entries`)
My understanding is that I need to run a separate query that will return the number of comments for a particular $entry_id. (different table `comments`)
But because the posts are extracted in the foreach loop inside the view, that's the only place I can see fit to run the query. (i.e. that's where I will be able to pass the entryid of the current $row as a parameter to the second query).
noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]Jamie Rumbelow[/eluser]
well, you've got it in one. Just do this:
blog_view.php
Code:
<?php $this->load->helper("comment"); ?>
<?php foreach($query->result() as $row): ?>
<h3><?php echo $row->title ?></h3>
<p><?php echo $row->body ?></p>
<p><?php echo anchor('blog/comments/'.$row->id,'Comments ('.get_comments_no($row->id).')'); ?></p>
<hr />
<?php endforeach; ?>Then create a new helper.
helpers/comment_helper.php
Code:
function get_comments_no($id)
{
$q = $this->db->get("comments");
return $q->num_rows();
}That should do the trick, and it introduces you to new helpers!
Thanks,
Jamie
noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]cirox![/eluser]
That's exactly what I did the first time. But I was getting:
Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_comments_no()
I will try again now and let you know! Thanks.
EDIT: No, actually I defined that function inside the controller, not in a new file. Do you know what the difference is, and why it was throwing that error? Thanks
noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]Jamie Rumbelow[/eluser]
Ah!
Controller functions are only accessible from the URL (/blog/posts). Helpers give you access to function that can be used anywhere in your application.
noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]cirox![/eluser]
now when I refresh I get the actual function printed out on the page?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
My Blog Title
function get_comments_no($id) { $q = $this->db->get("comments"); return $q->num_rows(); }
entry title
dummy txt entry.
Fatal error: Call to undefined function get_comments_no() in /var/www/CodeIgniter_1.6.2/system/application/views/blog_view.php on line 17
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
blog_view.php
Code:
<html>
<head>
<title><?php echo $title; ?></title>
</head>
<body>
<h1><?php echo $title; ?></h1>
<?php $this->load->helper("comment"); ?>
<?php foreach($query->result() as $row): ?>
<h3><?php echo $row->title ?></h3>
<p><?php echo $row->body ?></p>
<p><?php echo anchor('blog/comments/'.$row->id,'Comments ('.get_comments_no($row->id).')'); ?></p>
<hr />
<?php endforeach; ?>
</body>
</html>helpers/comment_helper.php
Code:
function get_comments_no($id)
{
$q = $this->db->get("comments");
return $q->num_rows();
}noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]Jamie Rumbelow[/eluser]
Not really sure what's going wrong. Try reading the user guide page on Helpers.
noob: trying to build on "blog tutorial" - El Forum - 05-27-2008
[eluser]cirox![/eluser]
I will do. Thanks for you help and your patience. Hope it's going to be an easy one..