How to Create a Blog With the Recess PHP Framework, Part 2 - New Media Campaigns

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Line 1: We can access this action with a GET request to

[BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/write

Line 3: We provide a new empty Post to our view template

Let!s create the template for this controller action. Create [BLOG_ROOT]views/home

/write.html.php . Open this file in a text editor and insert the following markup:

View the PostsController::write() action in a web browser at

[BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/write/ . You should see an error. This is

expected, because we have not yet created the PostsController::create() action

which must exist since we reference this action with the Url helper in the

PostsController::write() template. Let!s do that now.

Create the PostsController::create() action using this code:

/** !Route GET, posts/write */

publicfunction write(){

$this->post = newPost();

}

Write Post


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Line 1: We can access this action with a POST request to

[BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts

Line 3: We instantiate a new post with data passed from our form

Line 5: We attempt to save the new post to the database

Line 6: If post saves, redirect to the PostsController::listPosts() action

Line 8: If post does not save, render the PostsController::write() template

There are several new features introduced in this action. First, we utilize the

$this->request object. Every Recess controller provides easy access to the

current request via $this->request . If you print_r($this->request); in a

controller, you can see all of the information available. In the

PostsController::create() action, we access a POST variable from

$this->request->post , an array of all POST variables in the current request.

Similarly, you could also access GET or PUT variables with

$this->request->get['variable_name'] or

$this->request->put['variable_name'] , respectively.

We also use a controller helper method called $this->urlTo('action_name'); .

This helper method returns the full URL to a controller action, useful for redirects,

etc, within a controller. Why not just hard-code a URL? Because routing information

may change even if the controller actions do not (keep in mind this is a modular blog

application that may be shared among Recess installations). This controller helper

method allows us to maintain redirects while respecting controller action and route

/** !Route POST, posts */

publicfunction create(){

$post = newPost($this->request->post['post']);

if( $post->save() ){

return$this->redirect($this->urlTo('listPosts'));

} else{

return$this->ok('write');

}

}

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decoupling.

Before you try to create a new post, there is one small caveat. Currently, Recess

requires you to create a template for everycontroller action, even if a template is

not needed. So, go ahead and create an empty file at [BLOG_ROOT]views/home

/create.html.php . The Recess developers are aware of this issue and will remedy

this in a future update. Also, Recess does not yet have a Flash messaging feature

similar to Rails or CakePHP. If you need to display a message to users, you will

need to set a controller instance variable ( $this->flash ) before rendering a

template; you can then check if this variable exists in the template and render a

message if necessary.

Now you can create a new post at [BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/write . When

you submit the form, you should be redirected to the listing page and see your new

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post in the list.

Editing posts

We also need two controller actions to edit a post; the PostsController::edit()

action will display an HTML form populated with the current post!s details; the

PostsController::update() action will update a post in the database with details

passed from the HTML form.

First, create the PostsController::edit() action with this code:


[BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/1/edit

Line 2: We pass the dynamic route $id parameter into the action

Line 3: We instantiate a Post with the specified ID

Line 5: We check to see if the Post with the specified ID exists

Line 6: If post exists, we pass the Post to the template

Line 8: If post does not exist, we redirect to the listing view

Let!s now create the template for this action. Create [BLOG_ROOT]views/home

/edit.html.php and insert the following markup:

/** !Route GET, posts/$id/edit */

publicfunction edit($id){

$post = newPost($id);

if( $post->exists() ){

$this->post = $post->find()->first();

} else{


}

}

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This markup is very similar to the write HTML form, but there are subtle differences.

First, the form action is different, pointing to the PostsController::update() action

instead of the PostsController::write() action. Second, although the form!s

method is technically POST, we override this method using a hidden field with

name _METHOD (the leading underscore and capitalization are important) and

value PUT (capitalization is important). When Recess receives this POST request,

it will treat it like a PUT request. We will cover this concept more in a later tutorial

about RESTful routing in Recess.

We can now view this action in web browser at [BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts

/1/edit ; however, we receive an error. Because we reference the

PostsController::update() action with the Url view helper, we must first create

the PostsController::update() action. Let!

s do that now.

Create the PostsController::update() action with this code:

Update Post


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Line 1: We can access this action with a PUT request to

[BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/1


Line 3: We instantiate a post with the specified ID

Line 5: We check to see if the post with the specified ID exists

Line 6: If post exists, we copy the new form data into the post

Line 7: We attempt to save the post

Line 10: We redirect back to the post!s edit form

Line 12: If post does not exist, we redirect to the listing view

As I explained above, Recess currently requires a template for every controller

action, even if a template is not needed. Create an empty template file at

[BLOG_ROOT]views/home/update.html.php .

$this->post =

$post->find()->first()->copy($this->request->put['post']);

if( $this->post->save() ){

//set a success message if necessary

}

return$this->redirect($this->urlTo('edit',$id));

} else{


}

}

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Now you can view [BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/1/edit in a web browser. You

should see an HTML form populated with the specified post!s details. If you edit the

details and click the "Update Post!button, you will see the same edit form with the

new details.

Deleting posts

We only need one additional action to delete posts. Create the

PostsController::delete() action with this code:

/**

* !Route DELETE, posts/$id

* !Route GET, posts/$id/delete

*/

publicfunction delete($id){

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Line 2: We can access this action with a DELETE request to

[BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/1


[BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/1/delete


Line 6: We instantiate a post with the specified ID

Line 8: We delete the post if it exists

Line 9: We redirect back to the listing view

The only new feature with this action is that we use multiple routes. I have added the

GET route only for convenience. Although this action does not require a template,

Recess requires a blank template at [BLOG_ROOT]views/home/delete.html.php to

avoid an error.

Finally, let!s add Edit and Delete links to the PostsController::listPosts()

template for convenience. Update [BLOG_ROOT]views/home/listPosts.html.php to

read:

$post = newPost($id);

if( $post->exists() ) $post->delete();


}

Posts


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Now when you view [BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts in a web browser, you can

click Edit or Delete beside each post to edit or remove the post.

In summary

This article demonstrates how to create CRUD (create, update, and delete) actions

in the posts controller. You can now view [BLOG_URL]index.php/blog/posts/ in a

web browser to view posts, create posts, edit posts, and delete posts. The next


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article in this series will explore model relationships by adding comments and tags to

our blog posts. Stay tuned!

Download the final project

This file contains the Recess Framework and all controllers, models, and views for

this tutorial.

Download(ZIP, 342 KB)

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Comments

khurram

Hi,

I am getting this error while submitting new post.

SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1364 Field 'id' doesn't have a default value

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Regards,

02.08.2011

Tom

I must say those 3 posts on how to create a blog with recess are really helpfull.

I get an error though when trying to redirect after editing a post, and i can't

figure out what it is.

- The error is :"Unable to provide desired content-type. Does the view

"home/update" exist?"

- From the file : [BLOG_URL]\recess\recess\framework\DefaultPolicy.class.php

- My question is what is this var for : "$response->meta->viewsPrefix" ? and

how does it work?

04.08.2013

kiran

Hi,

First time @ recess, @ The time of Adding and updating data following eror

occured

Fatal error: Exception thrown without a stack frame in Unknown on line 0

04.23.2013

Oladipo Olasemo

How do I post data to recess with JSON???

04.12.2014

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How to Create a Blog With the Recess PHP Framework, Part 2 - New Media Campaigns