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admin05186612006-10-28 03:28:01 +000036<td><h1>Code Igniter User Guide Version 1.5.0</h1></td>
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48<a href="http://www.codeigniter.com/">Code Igniter Home</a> &nbsp;&#8250;&nbsp;
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50Loader Class
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64<h1>Loader Class</h1>
65
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000066<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 +000067<a href="../general/helpers.html">Helpers</a>, <a href="../general/plugins.html">Plugins</a>, or your own files.</p>
68
69<p class="important"><strong>Note:</strong> This class is initialized automatically by the system so there is no need to do it manually.</p>
70
71<p>The following functions are available in this class:</p>
72
73
74
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000075<h2>$this->load->library('<var>class_name</var>')</h2>
76
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000077<p>This function is used to load core classes. Where <var>class_name</var> is the name of the class you want to load.
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000078Note: We use the terms "class" and "library" interchangeably.</p>
79
80<p>For example, if you would like to send email with Code Igniter, the first step is to load the email class within your controller:</p>
81
82<code>$this->load->library('email');</code>
83
84<p>Once loaded, the library will be ready for use, using <kbd>$this->email-></kbd><samp><em>some_function</em>()</samp>.
85
admine7e1dcd2006-10-21 18:04:01 +000086Each library is described in detail in its own page, so please read the information regarding each one you would like to use.</p>
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000087
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +000088<p>Parameters can be passed to the library via an array in the second parameter.
admincf493902006-10-10 07:12:31 +000089
90
91
admine7e1dcd2006-10-21 18:04:01 +000092<p>If you would like your libraries assigned to a different variable name then the default you can specify the name in the second parameter:</p>
admin2f0bac82006-10-09 17:36:45 +000093
94<code>
95$this->load->library('email', 'E'); // Assigns the email object to "E"<br />
96<br />
97<kbd>$this->E-></kbd><samp><em>some_function</em>()</samp>
98</code>
99
100
101
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000102<h2>$this->load->view('<var>file_name</var>', <samp>$data</samp>, <kbd>true/false</kbd>)</h2>
103
104<p>This function is used to load your View files. If you haven't read the <a href="../general/views.html">Views</a> section of the
105user guide it is recommended that you do since it shows you how this function is typically used.</p>
106
107<p>The first parameter is required. It is the name of the view file you would like to load.</p>
108
109<p>The second <strong>optional</strong> parameter can take
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000110an associative array or an object as input, which it runs through the PHP <a href="http://www.php.net/extract">extract</a> function to
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000111convert to variables that can be used in your view files. Again, read the <a href="../general/views.html">Views</a> page to learn
112how this might be useful.</p>
113
114<p>The third <strong>optional</strong> parameter lets you change the behavior of the function so that it returns data as a string
115rather than sending it to your browser. This can be useful if you want to process the data in some way. If you
116set the parameter to <kbd>true</kbd> (boolean) it will return data. The default behavior is <kbd>false</kbd>, which sends it
117to your browser. Remember to assign it to a variable if you wan the data returned:</p>
118
119<code>$string = $this->load->view('<var>myfile</var>', '', <kbd>true</kbd>);</code>
120
121
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000122<h2>$this->load->database('<var>options</var>', <kbd>true/false</kbd>)</h2>
123
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000124<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 +0000125<a href="./database/index.html">database</a> section for more info.</p>
126
127
128<h2>$this->load->scaffolding('<var>table_name</var>')</h2>
129
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000130<p>This function lets you enable scaffolding. Please see the
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000131<a href="../general/scaffolding.html">scaffolding</a> section for more info.</p>
132
133
134
135<h2>$this->load->vars(<samp>$array</samp>)</h2>
136
137<p>This function takes an associative array as input and generates variables using the PHP <a href="http://www.php.net/extract">extract</a> function.
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000138This function produces the same result as using the second parameter of the <dfn>$this->load->view()</dfn> function above. The reason you might
139want to use this function independently is if you would like to set some global variables in the constructor of your controller
140and 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 +0000141and merged into one array for conversion to variables.
142</p>
143
144
145<h2>$this->load->helper('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
146<p>This function loads helper files, where <var>file_name</var> is the name of the file, without the <kbd>_helper.php</kbd> extension.</p>
147
148
149<h2>$this->load->plugin('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
150<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>
151
152<h2>$this->load->file('<var>filepath/filename</var>', <kbd>true/false</kbd>)</h2>
admine334c472006-10-21 19:44:22 +0000153<p>This is a generic file loading function. Supply the filepath and name in the first parameter and it will open and read the file.
adminb0dd10f2006-08-25 17:25:49 +0000154By default the data is sent to your browser, just like a View file, but if you set the second parameter to <kbd>true</kbd> (boolean)
155it will instead return the data as a string.</p>
156
157
158<h2>$this->load->lang('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
159<p>This function is an alias of the <a href="language.html">language loading function</a>: $this->lang->load()</p>
160
161<h2>$this->load->config('<var>file_name</var>')</h2>
162<p>This function is an alias of the <a href="config.html">config file loading function</a>: $this->config->load()</p>
163
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