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Derek Allard404e35d2007-08-07 01:00:45 +00005<title>CodeIgniter User Guide : Loader Class</title>
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Derek Allard197d10b2008-02-12 04:20:38 +000031<td><h1>CodeIgniter User Guide Version 1.6.1</h1></td>
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45Loader Class
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59<h1>Loader Class</h1>
60
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000061<p>Loader, as the name suggests, is used to load elements. These elements can be libraries (classes) <a href="../general/views.html">View files</a>,
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000062<a href="../general/helpers.html">Helpers</a>, <a href="../general/plugins.html">Plugins</a>, or your own files.</p>
63
64<p class="important"><strong>Note:</strong> This class is initialized automatically by the system so there is no need to do it manually.</p>
65
66<p>The following functions are available in this class:</p>
67
68
69
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000070<h2>$this->load->library('<var>class_name</var>')</h2>
71
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000072<p>This function is used to load core classes. Where <var>class_name</var> is the name of the class you want to load.
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000073Note: We use the terms "class" and "library" interchangeably.</p>
74
Derek Allardd2df9bc2007-04-15 17:41:17 +000075<p>For example, if you would like to send email with CodeIgniter, the first step is to load the email class within your controller:</p>
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000076
77<code>$this->load->library('email');</code>
78
79<p>Once loaded, the library will be ready for use, using <kbd>$this->email-></kbd><samp><em>some_function</em>()</samp>.
80
admine7e1dcd2006-10-21 18:04:01 +000081Each library is described in detail in its own page, so please read the information regarding each one you would like to use.</p>
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000082
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +000083<p>Parameters can be passed to the library via an array in the second parameter.</p>
admincf493902006-10-10 07:12:31 +000084
85
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000086<h2>$this->load->view('<var>file_name</var>', <samp>$data</samp>, <kbd>true/false</kbd>)</h2>
87
88<p>This function is used to load your View files. If you haven't read the <a href="../general/views.html">Views</a> section of the
89user guide it is recommended that you do since it shows you how this function is typically used.</p>
90
admin1b90c272006-10-31 18:22:29 +000091<p>The first parameter is required. It is the name of the view file you would like to load. &nbsp;Note: The .php file extension does not need to be specified unless you use something other then <kbd>.php</kbd>.</p>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000092
93<p>The second <strong>optional</strong> parameter can take
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000094an associative array or an object as input, which it runs through the PHP <a href="http://www.php.net/extract">extract</a> function to
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000095convert to variables that can be used in your view files. Again, read the <a href="../general/views.html">Views</a> page to learn
96how this might be useful.</p>
97
98<p>The third <strong>optional</strong> parameter lets you change the behavior of the function so that it returns data as a string
99rather than sending it to your browser. This can be useful if you want to process the data in some way. If you
100set the parameter to <kbd>true</kbd> (boolean) it will return data. The default behavior is <kbd>false</kbd>, which sends it
Derek Allardd8b92a32007-03-28 01:26:32 +0000101to your browser. Remember to assign it to a variable if you want the data returned:</p>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000102
103<code>$string = $this->load->view('<var>myfile</var>', '', <kbd>true</kbd>);</code>
104
105
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000106<h2>$this->load->database('<var>options</var>', <kbd>true/false</kbd>)</h2>
107
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000108<p>This function lets you load the database class. The two parameters are <strong>optional</strong>. Please see the
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000109<a href="./database/index.html">database</a> section for more info.</p>
110
111
112<h2>$this->load->scaffolding('<var>table_name</var>')</h2>
113
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000114<p>This function lets you enable scaffolding. Please see the
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000115<a href="../general/scaffolding.html">scaffolding</a> section for more info.</p>
116
117
118
119<h2>$this->load->vars(<samp>$array</samp>)</h2>
120
121<p>This function takes an associative array as input and generates variables using the PHP <a href="http://www.php.net/extract">extract</a> function.
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000122This function produces the same result as using the second parameter of the <dfn>$this->load->view()</dfn> function above. The reason you might
123want to use this function independently is if you would like to set some global variables in the constructor of your controller
124and have them become available in any view file loaded from any function. You can have multiple calls to this function. The data get cached
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000125and merged into one array for conversion to variables.
126</p>
127
128
129<h2>$this->load->helper('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
130<p>This function loads helper files, where <var>file_name</var> is the name of the file, without the <kbd>_helper.php</kbd> extension.</p>
131
132
133<h2>$this->load->plugin('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
134<p>This function loads plugins files, where <var>file_name</var> is the name of the file, without the <kbd>_plugin.php</kbd> extension.</p>
135
136<h2>$this->load->file('<var>filepath/filename</var>', <kbd>true/false</kbd>)</h2>
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000137<p>This is a generic file loading function. Supply the filepath and name in the first parameter and it will open and read the file.
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000138By default the data is sent to your browser, just like a View file, but if you set the second parameter to <kbd>true</kbd> (boolean)
139it will instead return the data as a string.</p>
140
141
142<h2>$this->load->lang('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
143<p>This function is an alias of the <a href="language.html">language loading function</a>: $this->lang->load()</p>
144
145<h2>$this->load->config('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
146<p>This function is an alias of the <a href="config.html">config file loading function</a>: $this->config->load()</p>
147
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