MVC issues...trying to avoid interacting with the database from my controller

[eluser]Buso[/eluser]
Write a generic method, something like: get_field_by($wanted_field,$where_field,$where_field_value)

eg:

Code:

$users_ids = $this->user_m->get_field_by('id','registration_date <',time()-60*60*24*30); // gets all the id's from users that has been registered for longer than 1 month

You could also add other already existing methods from the database class, to yor base model, like 'where()'. Or just add all of them:

Code:

public function __call($name,$arguments) {
  call_user_func_array(array($this->db,$name),$arguments);
  return $this;
}

I haven't tested the code, but you get the point. The idea is to be able to do this from your controller:

Code:

$this->user_m->where('role !=','admin')->get_accounts(); // where() doesn't belong to user_m, it was created dinamically

Or if you are in a hurry, you can do this:

Code:

$this->db->select('id,name,role')->where('role !=','admin');
$this->user_m->get_accounts();

Don't worry about 'breaking MVC', as long as get_accounts does all the rest. The problem comes when you start writting foreach's and stuff like that in your controller, just to add an extra field to the results.