Proposal for Garbage Collector Feature in CodeIgniter 4

Hello,



I wanted to share a new feature that I've developed for CodeIgniter 4, and I believe it could be a valuable addition to the framework. I've implemented a Garbage Collector for Models, providing an automated way to clean up unnecessary data. If this is the wrong section for this, please let me know. (I'm new to that forum, but I'm working with Codeigniter 3+4 since 2017)



Features:

• Flexible GC modes for different use cases.
  
• Customizable settings such as the deleted field name and expiration periods.
  
• Automatic cleanup execution with the garbageCleaner method automatically for every model. (and with that for every db-table)
  
• Small and efficient code
  
• Of course not perfect
  

Usage:

PHP Code:

<?php 

// Example usage in a model
class YourModel extends BaseModel {
    // ... your model attributes and settings ...

    /* ----------------------------------*
    * GARBAGE COLLECTOR VARIABLES
    * --------------------------------- */
    /**
    * * GC-MODES:
    * 
    * * Mode 1: default "deleted_at" Column from CI4-Models
    * * Mode 2: Custom Delted_at-Column ($gc_deletedField)
    * * Mode 3: Custom Deleted_at-Column, ($gc_deletedField) is timestamp (no Y-m-d H:i:s)
    */

    protected $gc_name                          = "myCollectorName";
    protected $gc_enabled                      = true;
    protected $gc_mode                          = 1;
    protected $gc_deletedField                  = 'model';
    protected $gc_setDeletedOnExpired          = true;
    protected $gc_deleteExpiredAfterXDays      = 14;
    protected $gc_deleteAfterXDays              = 60;

    // ... other settings ...

    // ... your model code ...
}

class BaseModel {
    // ... your model attributes and settings ...

    // ... your base model code ...

    /* ----------------------------------*
    * GARBAGE COLLECTOR FUNCTIONS
    * --------------------------------- */
    public function garbageCleaner(){
        if($this->gc_enabled){
            if($this->gc_setDeletedOnExpired){
                $this->prepareForCleanUp();
            }
            
            return $this->executeCleanUp($this->gc_mode);
        }

        return true;
    }

    public function executeCleanUp($gc_mode){
        if($gc_mode === 1){
            $rowsToDelete = $this->getDeletedEntries($this->gc_deleteAfterXDays);
        }else if($gc_mode === 2){
            $rowsToDelete = $this->getDeletedEntries($this->gc_deleteAfterXDays, $this->gc_deletedField);
        }else if($gc_mode === 3){
            $rowsToDelete = $this->getDeletedEntries($this->gc_deleteAfterXDays, $this->gc_deletedField, true);
        }else{
            return false;
        }

        $count        = count($rowsToDelete);

        if($count > 0){
            $idsToDelete = array_column($rowsToDelete, $this->primaryKey);
            if($this->delete($idsToDelete, true)){
                /* TODO: Insert your Log-Routine */
                writeLog("$this->gc_name.$this->table", "deleted data | $count rows deleted");
            }
        }

        return true;
    }

    public function prepareForCleanUp() {
        $today          = date($this->defaultTimeFormat);
        $expiredRows    = $this->getExpiredEntries($this->gc_deleteExpiredAfterXDays);
        $count          = count($expiredRows);

        if($count > 0){
            foreach($expiredRows as $key => $value){
                $expiredRows[$key]->{$this->deletedField} = $today;
            }

            $this->updateBatch(
                $expiredRows,
                $this->primaryKey
            );

            /* TODO: Insert your Log-Routine */
            writeLog("$this->gc_name.$this->table", "prepared expired data for delete | $count rows prepared");
        }

        return true;
    }

    protected function getDeletedEntries(int $olderThanXDays = 0, string $deletedField = 'model', bool $useTimestamp = false) {
        if ($deletedField == 'model') {
            $deletedField = $this->deletedField;
        }
    
        if ($olderThanXDays > 0) {
            if ($useTimestamp) {
                // Working with timestamps
                $this->where("$deletedField + ($olderThanXDays * 24 * 3600) <= UNIX_TIMESTAMP(NOW())", null, false);
            } else {
                // Working with datetime
                $this->where("DATE_ADD($deletedField, INTERVAL $olderThanXDays DAY) <= NOW()");
            }
        }
    
        return $this->where($deletedField . ' IS NOT NULL')
                    ->withDeleted()
                    ->findAll();
    }

    protected function getExpiredEntries(int $olderThanXDays = 0, string $expiredField = 'model'){
        if($expiredField == 'model'){
            $expiredField = $this->expiredField;
        }

        if($olderThanXDays > 0){
            $expirationDate = date($this->defaultTimeFormat, strtotime("+" . $olderThanXDays . " days"));
            $this->where($expiredField . ' <', $expirationDate);
        }

        return $this->where($expiredField . ' IS NOT NULL')->findAll();
    }
} 


I'm reaching out to gather feedback and discuss the possibility of integrating this feature into the main CodeIgniter 4 repository. Your thoughts, suggestions, and critiques are highly appreciated.