CakePHP: Avoid code duplication in controller actions

Question

I just started creating a simple web application with cakePHP and was wondering if I could avoid code duplication in my actions. I have got two models and the corresponding controllers both contain the same actions (index, view, add, edit, delete) with marginally different code, e.g.:

Transaction controller

public function add() {
    if ($this->request->is('post')) {
        $this->Transaction->create();
        if ($this->Transaction->save($this->request->data)) {
            $this->Session->setFlash(__('The transaction has been saved.'));
            return $this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
        } else {
            $this->Session->setFlash(__('The transaction could not be saved. Please, try again.'));
        }
    }
}

The second controller would have the same add() action, only for a different model (i.e. replace transaction by e.g. trades).

So is there a way to avoid this kind of code duplication?

Dave · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-09 23:38:36Z

2

Components are for this specific purpose.

According to the CakePHP book:

Components are packages of logic that are shared between controllers. If you find yourself wanting to copy and paste things between controllers, you might consider wrapping some functionality in a component.

More Details: "Creating a Component"

Other:

You might also look at the CRUD Plugin by Friends Of Cake.

answered Jan 9, 2014 at 23:38

Dave

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Comments

Kai · Accepted Answer · 2014-01-09 22:35:43Z

There's probably multiple ways of avoiding duplication. One I can think of at the moment is to write a controller that your controllers inherit from, something like:

class BaseController extends AppController {
    protected $modelName = '';

    /*Make sure all methods in this model are protected, so users
    can't navigate to them */
    protected function add() {
         if($this->request->is('post')) {
             $this->{$this->$modelName}->create();

        //etc....
    }
}

class TransactionController extends BaseController {
    public function __construct ( $request = null , $response = null ) {
          $this->modelName = 'Transaction';
          parent::__construct($request, $response);
    }

    public function add() {
          parent::add();
    }
}

I generally don't do this kind of thing though. You could end up decreasing readability for not much payoff, or you may find that your controllers will start diverging as you get deeper into development.

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