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Derek Jonesfd93d222008-05-06 15:18:50 +00006<title>Views : CodeIgniter User Guide</title>
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Derek Jones1ca3fc42008-06-27 00:19:33 +000031<td><h1>CodeIgniter User Guide Version 1.6.3</h1></td>
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57
58<h1>Views</h1>
59
60<p>A <dfn>view</dfn> is simply a web page, or a page fragment, like a header, footer, sidebar, etc.
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000061In fact, views can flexibly be embedded within other views (within other views, etc., etc.) if you need this type
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000062of hierarchy.</p>
63
64<p>Views are never called directly, they must be loaded by a <a href="controllers.html">controller</a>. Remember that in an MVC framework, the Controller acts as the
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000065traffic cop, so it is responsible for fetching a particular view. If you have not read the <a href="controllers.html">Controllers</a> page
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000066you should do so before continuing.</p>
67
68<p>Using the example controller you created in the <a href="controllers.html">controller</a> page, let's add a view to it.</p>
69
70<h2>Creating a View</h2>
71
72<p>Using your text editor, create a file called <dfn>blogview.php</dfn>, and put this in it:</p>
73
74<textarea class="textarea" style="width:100%" cols="50" rows="10">
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +000075&lt;html>
76&lt;head>
77&lt;title>My Blog&lt;/title>
78&lt;/head>
79&lt;body>
80 &lt;h1>Welcome to my Blog!&lt;/h1>
81&lt;/body>
82&lt;/html>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000083</textarea>
84
85<p>Then save the file in your <dfn>application/views/</dfn> folder.</p>
86
87<h2>Loading a View</h2>
88
89<p>To load a particular view file you will use the following function:</p>
90
91<code>$this->load->view('<var>name</var>');</code>
92
admin108d18a2006-09-02 17:45:38 +000093<p>Where <var>name</var> is the name of your view file. 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 +000094
Rick Ellis325197e2006-11-20 17:29:05 +000095
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +000096<p>Now, open the controller file you made earlier called <dfn>blog.php</dfn>, and replace the echo statement with the view loading function:</p>
97
98
99<textarea class="textarea" style="width:100%" cols="50" rows="10">
100<?php
101class Blog extends Controller {
102
103 function index()
104 {
105 $this->load->view('blogview');
106 }
107}
108?>
109</textarea>
110
111
112<p>If you visit the your site using the URL you did earlier you should see your new view. The URL was similar to this:</p>
113
Derek Jonesff845f92008-06-26 17:05:55 +0000114<code>example.com/index.php/<var>blog</var>/</code>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000115
Derek Allard270c0aa2008-01-18 23:19:41 +0000116<h2>Loading multiple views</h2>
117<p>CodeIgniter will intelligently handle multiple calls to $this-&gt;load-&gt;view from within a controller. If more then one call happens they will be appended together. For example, you may wish to have a header view, a menu view, a content view, and a footer view. That might look something like this:</p>
118<p><code>&lt;?php<br />
119<br />
120class Page extends Controller {<br /><br />
Rick Ellis325197e2006-11-20 17:29:05 +0000121
Derek Allard270c0aa2008-01-18 23:19:41 +0000122 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;function index()<br />
123&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;{<br />
124&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$data['page_title'] = 'Your title';<br />
125&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$this-&gt;load-&gt;view('header');<br />
126&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$this-&gt;load-&gt;view('menu');<br />
127&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$this-&gt;load-&gt;view('content', $data);<br />
128&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;$this-&gt;load-&gt;view('footer');<br />
129&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;}<br />
130<br />
131}<br />
132 ?&gt;</code></p>
133<p>In the example above, we are using &quot;dynamically added data&quot;, which you will see below.</p>
134<h2>Storing Views within Sub-folders</h2>
Rick Ellis325197e2006-11-20 17:29:05 +0000135<p>Your view files can also be stored within sub-folders if you prefer that type of organization. When doing so you will need
136to include the folder name loading the view. Example:</p>
137
138<code>$this->load->view('<kbd>folder_name</kbd>/<var>file_name</var>');</code>
139
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000140
141<h2>Adding Dynamic Data to the View</h2>
142
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000143<p>Data is passed from the controller to the view by way of an <strong>array</strong> or an <strong>object</strong> in the second
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000144parameter of the view loading function. Here is an example using an array:</p>
145
146<code>$data = array(<br />
147&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'title' => 'My Title',<br />
Rick Ellis0cb34042007-03-23 21:02:11 +0000148&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'heading' => 'My Heading',<br />
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000149&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;'message' => 'My Message'<br />
150&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;);<br />
151<br />
152$this->load->view('blogview', <var>$data</var>);</code>
153
154<p>And here's an example using an object:</p>
155
156<code>$data = new Someclass();<br />
157$this->load->view('blogview', <var>$data</var>);</code>
158
159<p>Note: If you use an object, the class variables will be turned into array elements.</p>
160
161
162<p>Let's try it with your controller file. Open it add this code:</p>
163
164<textarea class="textarea" style="width:100%" cols="50" rows="14">
Derek Allard78c3fa82008-01-21 15:11:13 +0000165&lt;?php
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000166class Blog extends Controller {
167
168 function index()
169 {
170 $data['title'] = "My Real Title";
171 $data['heading'] = "My Real Heading";
172
173 $this->load->view('blogview', $data);
174 }
175}
Derek Allard78c3fa82008-01-21 15:11:13 +0000176?&gt;
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000177</textarea>
178
179
180<p>Now open your view file and change the text to variables that correspond to the array keys in your data:</p>
181
182
183<textarea class="textarea" style="width:100%" cols="50" rows="10">
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +0000184&lt;html>
185&lt;head>
186&lt;title>&lt;?php echo $title;?>&lt;/title>
187&lt;/head>
188&lt;body>
189 &lt;h1>&lt;?php echo $heading;?>&lt;/h1>
190&lt;/body>
191&lt;/html>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000192</textarea>
193
194<p>Then load the page at the URL you've been using and you should see the variables replaced.</p>
195
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000196<h2>Creating Loops</h2>
197
198<p>The data array you pass to your view files is not limited to simple variables. You can
199pass multi dimensional arrays, which can be looped to generate multiple rows. For example, if you
200pull data from your database it will typically be in the form of a multi-dimensional array.</p>
201
202<p>Here's a simple example. Add this to your controller:</p>
203
204<textarea class="textarea" style="width:100%" cols="50" rows="17">
Derek Allard78c3fa82008-01-21 15:11:13 +0000205&lt;?php
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000206class Blog extends Controller {
207
208 function index()
209 {
210 $data['todo_list'] = array('Clean House', 'Call Mom', 'Run Errands');
211
212 $data['title'] = "My Real Title";
213 $data['heading'] = "My Real Heading";
214
215 $this->load->view('blogview', $data);
216 }
217}
Derek Allard78c3fa82008-01-21 15:11:13 +0000218?&gt;
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000219</textarea>
220
221
222<p>Now open your view file and create a loop:</p>
223
224
225<textarea class="textarea" style="width:100%" cols="50" rows="24">
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +0000226&lt;html>
227&lt;head>
Derek Allard2005ffe2007-09-15 20:11:54 +0000228&lt;title>&lt;?php echo $title;?>&lt;/title>
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +0000229&lt;/head>
230&lt;body>
Derek Allard2005ffe2007-09-15 20:11:54 +0000231&lt;h1>&lt;?php echo $heading;?>&lt;/h1>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000232
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +0000233&lt;h3>My Todo List&lt;/h3>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000234
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +0000235&lt;ul>
236&lt;?php foreach($todo_list as $item):?>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000237
Derek Allard2005ffe2007-09-15 20:11:54 +0000238&lt;li>&lt;?php echo $item;?>&lt;/li>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000239
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +0000240&lt;?php endforeach;?>
241&lt;/ul>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000242
Derek Allardc6441282007-07-04 23:54:32 +0000243&lt;/body>
244&lt;/html>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000245</textarea>
Derek Allard78c3fa82008-01-21 15:11:13 +0000246<p><strong>Note:</strong> You'll notice that in the example above we are using PHP's alternative syntax. If you
247are not familiar with it you can read about it <a href="alternative_php.html">here</a>.</p>
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000248
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