Getting Started: Models¶

What does a model do?¶

A model depicts all interactions with your data structure. This is usually either the database or a file. The model can be used to retrieve data as well as set it.

How to use it¶

If you have already created a model, you can simply use $req->getModel("Modelname") in a controller action to call the model.
Otherwise, if you are within a model and need to call another model, you can use $this->getModel("Modelname").

Built-In Functionality¶

Every model inherits many useful methods from the z_model class. You can simply use the already existing methods and build on them.

Example Model¶

<?php

    class EmployeeModel extends z_model {

        public function getAll(): array {
            $sql = "SELECT *
                    FROM `employee`";
            return $this->exec($sql)->resultToArray();
        }

        public function getById($employeeId): array {
            $sql = "SELECT *
                    FROM `employee`
                    WHERE `id` = ?";
            return $this->exec($sql, "i", $employeeId)->resultToLine();
        }

    }
?>

The method exec is probably the most important one for your model. It incorporates all the steps for a prepared statement in one simple line. The first parameter is the sql command as a variable or string literal. The second parameter is a string literal of all the variable types. Each char represents one variable. All parameters afterwards are expected to be variables and replace the question marks within the sql command.

Prepared types¶

Example Database Request¶

$sql = "SELECT * 
        FROM `employee` 
        WHERE `first_name` = ?
        AND `age` = ?";
$this->exec($sql, "si", "Klaus", 30);

Execute Features¶

Tips¶