How can I use the pagination from the index() method inside the search() method?

I am working on a basic blog application in Codeigniter 3.1.8. The posts are paginated. The application uses a pagination.php configuration file.

There is a search box for searching posts. I wish to paginate the search results and, since the methods index() and search() are in the same Posts controller, I am looking for a way avoid code redundancy by using the pagination inside for the search results too.

In the posts controller I have:

Code:

class Posts extends CI_Controller {
 public function __construct() {
   parent::__construct();
   $this->load->model('Static_model');
   $this->load->model('Posts_model');
   $this->load->model('Categories_model');
   $this->load->model('Comments_model');
 }

 public function index() {
   //load and configure pagination
   $this->load->library('pagination');
   $config['base_url'] = base_url("/posts");
   $config['query_string_segment'] = 'page';
   $config['total_rows'] = $this->Posts_model->get_num_rows();
   $config['per_page'] = 12;
   if (!isset($_GET[$config['query_string_segment']]) || $_GET[$config['query_string_segment']] < 1) {
     $_GET[$config['query_string_segment']] = 1;
   }
   $limit = $config['per_page'];
   $offset = ($this->input->get($config['query_string_segment']) - 1) * $limit;
   $this->pagination->initialize($config);
   $data = $this->Static_model->get_static_data();
   $data['categories'] = $this->Categories_model->get_categories();
   $data['posts'] = $this->Posts_model->get_posts($limit, $offset);
   $this->load->view('partials/header', $data);
   $this->load->view('posts');
   $this->load->view('partials/footer');
 }

 public function search() {
   $this->form_validation->set_rules('search', 'Search term', 'required|trim|min_length[3]');
   $this->form_validation->set_error_delimiters('<p class = "error search-error"> ', ' </p>
     ');
     // If search fails
     if ($this->form_validation->run() === FALSE) {
       return $this->index();
     } else {
       $expression = $this->input->post('search');
       $data = $this->Static_model->get_static_data();
       $data['categories'] = $this->Categories_model->get_categories();
       $data['posts'] = $this->Posts_model->search($expression, $limit, $offset);
       $data['expression'] = $expression;
       $this->load->view('partials/header', $data);
       $this->load->view('search');
       $this->load->view('partials/footer');
     }
   }
 }

The Posts_model model has the code for both the posts list and the search results:

Code:

public function get_posts($limit, $offset) {
   $this->db->order_by('id', 'DESC');
   $query = $this->db->get('posts', $limit, $offset);
   return $query->result();
}

public function search_count() {
    $query = $this->db->like('title', $expression)
        ->or_like('description', $expression)
                ->or_like('content', $expression);
    $query = $this->db->get('posts');
    return $query->num_rows();  
}

public function search($expression, $limit, $offset) {
   $query = $this->db->like('title', $expression)
                     ->or_like('description', $expression)
                     ->or_like('content', $expression);
   $this->db->order_by('posts.id', 'DESC');
   $query = $this->db->get('posts');
   return $query->result();
}

The code above is nonfunctional. The browser throws this error:

Code:

Message: Undefined variable: limit
Filename: controllers/Posts.php

I got stuck in my attempt to borrow the pagination from index() to search().

What is missing?

You could add an extra method to your controller, e.g. private function show_list(). Put the pagination logic in this new method.
Use the index() method to fetch all records (without search criteria), and the search() function to fetch records that meet the search criteria.

At the end of both functions (index and search):

PHP Code:

$this->show_list();