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What is a Model in codeigniter?

Models are PHP classes that are designed to work with information in your database. For example, if you are using CodeIgniter to manage users in your application then you must have model class, which contains functions to insert, delete, update and retrieve your users’ data.

How to create a Model Class :-

Model classes are stored in application/models directory.

File name : Auth_model.php

<?php
Class Auth_model extends CI_Model {

Public function __construct() {
parent::__construct();
}
}
?>

Where Model_name is the name of the model class that you want to give. Each model class must inherit the CodeIgniter’s CI_Model class. The first letter of the model class must be in capital letter. The file name must match the class name. For example, if this is your class:

class User_model extends CI_Model {

public function __construct()
{
parent::__construct();
// Your own constructor code
}

}
Your file will be this:

application/models/User_model.php

Loading Model

Model can be called in controller. Following code can be used to load any model.

$this->load->model('model_name');
Where model_name is the name of the model to be loaded. After loading the model you can simply call its method as shown below.

$this->model_name->method();

If your model is located in a sub-directory, include the relative path from your models directory. For example, if you have a model located at application/models/blog/Queries.php you’ll load it using:

$this->load->model('blog/queries');

Auto-loading Models

If you find that you need a particular model globally throughout your application, you can tell CodeIgniter to auto-load it during system initialization. This is done by opening the application/config/autoload.php file and adding the model to the autoload array.

$autoload['model'] = array('Auth_model');
// $autoload['model'] = array('first_model', 'second_model');

how to connect to Database

When a model is loaded it does NOT connect automatically to your database.

There are two ways to connect to a database:

Automatically Connecting

Manually Connecting

Automatically Connecting

Manually Connecting

Automatically Connecting

Auto-connect feature will automatically load your database with every page load. To enable it, add 'database' in the array library in autoload.php file.

$autoload['libraries'] = array('database');

Manually Connecting

If you want database connectivity for only some of the pages, then we can go for manual connecting. We can connect to database manually by adding the following line in any class.

$this->load->database();

Example

class Blog_model extends CI_Model {

public $title;
public $content;
public $date;

public function get_last_ten_entries()
{
$query = $this->db->get('entries', 10);
return $query->result();
}

public function insert_entry()
{
$this->title = $_POST['title']; // please read the below note
$this->content = $_POST['content'];
$this->date = time();

$this->db->insert('entries', $this);
}

public function update_entry()
{
$this->title = $_POST['title'];
$this->content = $_POST['content'];
$this->date = time();

$this->db->update('entries', $this, array('id' => $_POST['id']));
}

}

How To use(Connect) Multiple Database In CodeIgniter

Generally, one database is used for a single web application. But sometimes we need to use two or more database in a single site.

CodeIgniter provides an easy way to connect and use multiple database on the same or different server.

Configuration of Multiple Database

Open the application/config/database.php

//Default database configuration
$db['default'] = array(
'dsn' => '',
'hostname' => 'localhost',
'username' => 'username',
'password' => 'password',
'database' => 'db_name',
'dbdriver' => 'mysqli',
'dbprefix' => '',
'pconnect' => FALSE,
'db_debug' => (ENVIRONMENT !== 'production'),
'cache_on' => FALSE,
'cachedir' => '',
'char_set' => 'utf8',
'dbcollat' => 'utf8_general_ci',
'swap_pre' => '',
'encrypt' => FALSE,
'compress' => FALSE,
'stricton' => FALSE,
'failover' => array(),
'save_queries' => TRUE
);

//Another database configuration
$db['another_db'] = array(
'dsn' => '',
'hostname' => 'localhost',
'username' => 'db_username2',
'password' => 'db_password2',
'database' => 'db_name2',
'dbdriver' => 'mysqli',
'dbprefix' => '',
'pconnect' => FALSE,
'db_debug' => (ENVIRONMENT !== 'production'),
'cache_on' => FALSE,
'cachedir' => '',
'char_set' => 'utf8',
'dbcollat' => 'utf8_general_ci',
'swap_pre' => '',
'encrypt' => FALSE,
'compress' => FALSE,
'stricton' => FALSE,
'failover' => array(),
'save_queries' => TRUE
);

You can Use Multiple Database In CodeIgniter

Now you can access multiple database connections by the database object.

File name : Auth_model.php

//Load another database $DB2 = $this->load->database('another_db', TRUE);

Set the second parameter to TRUE to get the database object.

//Default database query
$this->db->select('first_name, last_name');
$this->db->from('users');
$this->db->where('id', 99);
$query = $this->db->get();

//Another database query
$DB2->select('image');
$DB2->from('cdn_images');
$DB2->where('id', 25);
$query = $DB2->get();

Model

<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

class Main_model extends CI_Model {

function getRecords(){

// Load database
$db2 = $this->load->database('database2', TRUE);

// Select records from 1st database
$this->db->select('*');
$q = $this->db->get('users');
$result1 = $q->result_array();

// Select records from 2nd database
$db2->select('*');
$q = $db2->get('students');
$result2 = $q->result_array();

$response = array("response1"=>$result1,"response2"=>$result2);
return $response;
}

}

Itechtuto

Codeigniter Tutorials

What is a Model in codeigniter?

How to create a Model Class :-

File name : Auth_model.php

Loading Model

Auto-loading Models

how to connect to Database

Automatically Connecting

Manually Connecting

Automatically Connecting

Manually Connecting

Example

File name : Auth_model.php

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