[eluser]ThatAirplaneGuy[/eluser]
[quote author="Nick_MyShuitings" date="1305109635"]Just a question... but why would you have a preference for using only CI functions over plain PHP (when the answer is the difference between loading an entire new class and using a PHP function).
secondly, for sake of future readers of the forum, any details in your final solution are welcomed... if nothing else to give closure to the thread.[/quote]
No real reason for not mixing PHP with CI. If nothing else - just to keep the same look of the rest of the code. Once I get this project off the ground, I will be working with folks that have never used CI before and are barely experienced with PHP. Anything I can do to keep it all it one 'realm' - all PHP 'core' code or all CI code - would make it easier to get them up to speed. It prevents having to explain "No, that is not a CI function, it is a PHP function. No that is not a PHP function, it is a CI function." etc. etc. There is no functional reason for preferring not to mix the code.
My end solution for the project was to split my application out into two separate projects. I was trying to build a 'mobile' version of the application - complete with separate templates, etc. - in the same classes as a PC version of the application. I eventually decided that any 'pros' of having one set of code were far outweighed by not having jumbled mixed-environment code (again, going back to simplicity for the other people that will be working on the project). It also turned out that there wasn't a lot of overlap of functionality between the mobile vs. pc based versions.
Is it possible to do a mixed-environment project with CI? Definitely. It just wasn't the best scenario for my project this time.