user_guide_src/source/libraries/caching.rst

##############
Caching Driver
##############

CodeIgniter features wrappers around some of the most popular forms of
fast and dynamic caching. All but file-based caching require specific
server requirements, and a Fatal Exception will be thrown if server
requirements are not met.

.. contents::
  :local:

.. raw:: html

  <div class="custom-index container"></div>

*************
Example Usage
*************

The following example will load the cache driver, specify `APC <#apc>`_
as the driver to use, and fall back to file-based caching if APC is not
available in the hosting environment.

::

	$this->load->driver('cache', array('adapter' => 'apc', 'backup' => 'file'));

	if ( ! $foo = $this->cache->get('foo'))
	{
		echo 'Saving to the cache!<br />';
		$foo = 'foobarbaz!';

		// Save into the cache for 5 minutes
		$this->cache->save('foo', $foo, 300);
	}

	echo $foo;

You can also prefix cache item names via the **key_prefix** setting, which is useful
to avoid collisions when you're running multiple applications on the same environment.

::

	$this->load->driver('cache',
		array('adapter' => 'apc', 'backup' => 'file', 'key_prefix' => 'my_')
	);

	$this->cache->get('foo'); // Will get the cache entry named 'my_foo'

***************
Class Reference
***************

.. class:: CI_Cache

	.. method:: is_supported ( $driver )

		:param string $driver: the name of the caching driver
		:returns: TRUE if supported, FALSE if not
		:rtype: Boolean

		This method is automatically called when accessing drivers via
		$this->cache->get(). However, if the individual drivers are used, make
		sure to call this method to ensure the driver is supported in the
		hosting environment.

		::

			if ($this->cache->apc->is_supported()
			{
				if ($data = $this->cache->apc->get('my_cache'))
				{
					// do things.
				}
			}


	.. method:: get ( $id )

		:param string $id: name of cached item
		:returns: The item if it exists, FALSE if it does not
		:rtype: Mixed

		This method will attempt to fetch an item from the cache store. If the
		item does not exist, the method will return FALSE.

		::

			$foo = $this->cache->get('my_cached_item');


	.. method:: save ( $id , $data [, $ttl = 60])

		:param string $id: name of the cached item
		:param mixed $data: the data to save
		:param int $ttl: Time To Live, in seconds (default 60)
		:returns: TRUE on success, FALSE on failure
		:rtype: Boolean

		This method will save an item to the cache store. If saving fails, the
		method will return FALSE.

		::

			$this->cache->save('cache_item_id', 'data_to_cache');


	.. method:: delete ( $id )

		:param string $id: name of cached item
		:returns: TRUE if deleted, FALSE if the deletion fails
		:rtype: Boolean

		This method will delete a specific item from the cache store. If item
		deletion fails, the method will return FALSE.

		::

			$this->cache->delete('cache_item_id');


	.. method:: clean ( )

		:returns: TRUE if deleted, FALSE if the deletion fails
		:rtype: Boolean

		This method will 'clean' the entire cache. If the deletion of the
		cache files fails, the method will return FALSE.

		::

			$this->cache->clean();


	.. method:: cache_info ( )

		:returns: information on the entire cache
		:rtype: Mixed

		This method will return information on the entire cache.

		::

			var_dump($this->cache->cache_info());

		.. note:: The information returned and the structure of the data is dependent
			on which adapter is being used.


	.. method:: get_metadata ( $id )

		:param string $id: name of cached item
		:returns: metadadta for the cached item
		:rtype: Mixed

		This method will return detailed information on a specific item in the
		cache.

		::

			var_dump($this->cache->get_metadata('my_cached_item'));

		.. note:: The information returned and the structure of the data is dependent
			on which adapter is being used.

*******
Drivers
*******

Alternative PHP Cache (APC) Caching
===================================

All of the methods listed above can be accessed without passing a
specific adapter to the driver loader as follows::

	$this->load->driver('cache');
	$this->cache->apc->save('foo', 'bar', 10);

For more information on APC, please see
`http://php.net/apc <http://php.net/apc>`_.

File-based Caching
==================

Unlike caching from the Output Class, the driver file-based caching
allows for pieces of view files to be cached. Use this with care, and
make sure to benchmark your application, as a point can come where disk
I/O will negate positive gains by caching.

All of the methods listed above can be accessed without passing a
specific adapter to the driver loader as follows::

	$this->load->driver('cache');
	$this->cache->file->save('foo', 'bar', 10);

Memcached Caching
=================

Multiple Memcached servers can be specified in the memcached.php
configuration file, located in the _application/config/* directory.

All of the methods listed above can be accessed without passing a
specific adapter to the driver loader as follows::

	$this->load->driver('cache');
	$this->cache->memcached->save('foo', 'bar', 10);

For more information on Memcached, please see
`http://php.net/memcached <http://php.net/memcached>`_.

WinCache Caching
================

Under Windows, you can also utilize the WinCache driver.

All of the methods listed above can be accessed without passing a
specific adapter to the driver loader as follows::

	$this->load->driver('cache');
	$this->cache->wincache->save('foo', 'bar', 10);

For more information on WinCache, please see
`http://php.net/wincache <http://php.net/wincache>`_.

Redis Caching
=============

All of the methods listed above can be accessed without passing a
specific adapter to the driver loader as follows::

	$this->load->driver('cache');
	$this->cache->redis->save('foo', 'bar', 10);

.. important:: Redis may require one or more of the following options:
	**host**, **post**, **timeout**, **password**.

The Redis PHP extension repository is located at
`https://github.com/nicolasff/phpredis <https://github.com/nicolasff/phpredis>`_.

Dummy Cache
===========

This is a caching backend that will always 'miss.' It stores no data,
but lets you keep your caching code in place in environments that don't
support your chosen cache.