[Deprecated] DMZ 1.5.3 (DataMapper OverZealous Edition)

[eluser]BrianDHall[/eluser]
[quote author="OverZealous" date="1252466579"][quote author="BrianDHall" date="1252456736"]I have a question - is there any method, magic or otherwise, that would allow setting a datamapper object property to a value with a function?
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Hi Brian!

Before I answer in too much detail, why do you want this? I'm curious what the benefit of more redirection is. I'm not likely to add this to the core of DMZ, because I don't see the general benefit.[/quote]

First, thank you for letting me know how I can extend DMZ with this function

As for reasoning, it's solely to allow method-chaining when setting many properties in code. For instance if you want to register a new User from a form, in the form logic you have to do something like:

Code:

$user->username = $this->input->post('username');
$user->password = $this->input->post('password');
$user->email= $this->input->post('email');
$user->address = $this->input->post('address');
$user->phone= $this->input->post('phone');
$user->cellphone = $this->input->post('cellphone');
$user->carrier= $this->input->post('carrier');
$user->city= $this->input->post('city');
...ad ininitum...
$user->save();

Now if you collect 20 pieces of information, that gets to be a lot of copy-pasting. Now say you are going to create a form to allow the user to update their form info, but you only want some fields to be changeable - you have to copy/paste out this info again.

Now you have an admin form that allows the changing of entirely different information, or another special purpose form that requires a bit of different logic...

This just gets to be a lot of copy pasting, and I think method chaining allows less to be typed.

If this is a 'just me' thing I'm perfectly happy to extend DMZ with the function purely for my own uses - doesn't bother me a bit that it wouldn't be a core function - but then I don't know just how useful it would really be, so perhaps it just isn't worthwhile. I'm trying to ease the difficulty in making new forms, and perhaps this just isn't enough of an improvement to usability to be worthwhile, I dunno for sure.

I find forms to be the most time-consuming thing for me and am constantly trying to figure out how to make them more magic, less intensive, and I think DMZ is at the heart of how to do it - I just haven't figured out how exactly quite yet.

I'm just happy to know how it might actually be done - which you've answered and pointed me in the right direction for