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CodeIgniter 2 Cookbook

Chapter 1. CodeIgniter Basics

In this chapter, we will cover:

Downloading and installing CodeIgniter
Basic configuration options
Managing CodeIgniter on different environments
Managing database settings in different environments
Securing system files
Removing index.php from the address bar using .htaccess
Installing and using Sparks

Basic configuration options

Configuring CodeIgniter is a lot easier than many other web frameworks available and does not require you to resort to using the command line. All you need to quickly get up and running is access to several files in the application/config/ folder. These are a few of the suggested settings which will get your CodeIgniter installation ready without too much fuss.

How to do it...

Open the file in your localhost of development environment: /path/to/codeigniter/application/config/config.php and find the following lines:

$config["base_url"]:

The value should be the full web address (the address that is written in your browser address bar) to the CodeIgniter installation. So if you are working in your localhost, the value should be: http://localhost/path/to/codeigniter/.

Tip

Remember to begin with a http:// and always put the trailing / slash.

If you've amended your host's file to use a domain name rather than localhost, then be sure to replace localhost with that domain name:

$config["encryption_key"]

If you wish to use either the Session or Encryption classes in your application, the encryption key must be set. The encryption key is simply a string of characters used by CodeIgniter to encrypt various types of communication:

$config["global_xss_filtering"]

The preceding code line specifies whether cross-site script filtering should be applied to the Get, Post, or Cookie variables. For the sake of security, this should be set to TRUE, especially in a live environment:

$config["csrf_protection"]

The preceding code line specifies whether a cookie token is set, which if TRUE will be checked every time a form is submitted from the client side. In a live environment, it should be set to TRUE:

$config["log_threshold"]

The preceding code line specifies whether you want to write to logs, and if so, the type of information you wish to write to those logs. For example:

0: No errors are written to logs as logging is deactivated
1: Error messages only (this will include PHP errors also)
2: Debugging messages only
3: Informational messages only
4: All types of messages

The following code line is the path to the folder in which you wish to save log files:

$config["log_path"] = "/path/to/log/file"

How it works...

CodeIgniter will now respond and function according to the settings provided.

Managing CodeIgniter on different environments

In some cases, it may be useful to adapt your configuration files so that they can function on several servers or environments without having to edit or maintain each time they are moved. For example, the configuration settings you may have on your localhost are very likely to be different than those on a live or production server. Setting the configuration files correctly will save you a lot of time rather than manually switching between the two.

How to do it...

Open the /path/to/codeigniter/application/config/config.php file and replace the $config["base_url"] line with the following:

switch($_SERVER["SERVER_NAME"]) {
    case "localhost":
        $config["base_url"] = "http://localhost/path/to/codeigniter/";
        break;
    case "mydomain.com":
        $config["base_url"] = "http://www.mydomain.com/";
        break;
}

How it works...

This is simply a case/switch statement with a SERVER_NAME check. The base_url value is set according to the server that the CodeIgniter application or project is running on.

Managing database settings on different environments

If you plan to use a database for your CodeIgniter application, then you'll need to maintain the correct connection settings. CodeIgniter keeps these settings in the database.php config file.

How to do it...

Open the /path/to/codeigniter/application/config/database.php file. Chances are that the only values that need to change are the standard hostname, username, password of your database server, and the database name.

Find the line that defines $active_group, which specifies the specific database settings to use for a particular hosting environment. You can switch between settings by a case/switch test similar to that used previously, for example, the following code tests for a particular server and loads the appropriate settings:

switch($_SERVER["SERVER_NAME"]) {
    case "localhost":
        $active_group = "testing";
        break;
    case "mydomain.com":
        $active_group = "default"
    break;
}

$db["default"]["hostname"] = "localhost";
$db["default"]["username"] = "root";
$db["default"]["password"] = "";
$db["default"]["database"] = "database_name";
$db["default"]["dbdriver"] = "mysql";
$db["default"]["dbprefix"] = "";
$db["default"]["pconnect"] = TRUE;
$db["default"]["db_debug"] = FALSE;
$db["default"]["cache_on"] = FALSE;
$db["default"]["cachedir"] = "";
$db["default"]["char_set"] = "utf8";
$db["default"]["dbcollat"] = "utf8_general_ci";
$db["default"]["swap_pre"] = "";
$db["default"]["autoinit"] = TRUE;
$db["default"]["stricton"] = FALSE;

$db["testing"]["hostname"] = "localhost";
$db["testing"]["username"] = "root";
$db["testing"]["password"] = "";
$db["testing"]["database"] = "database_name";
$db["testing"]["dbdriver"] = "mysql";
$db["testing"]["dbprefix"] = "";
$db["testing"]["pconnect"] = TRUE;
$db["testing"]["db_debug"] = TRUE;
$db["testing"]["cache_on"] = FALSE;
$db["testing"]["cachedir"] = "";
$db["testing"]["char_set"] = "utf8";
$db["testing"]["dbcollat"] = "utf8_general_ci";
$db["testing"]["swap_pre"] = "";
$db["testing"]["autoinit"] = TRUE;
$db["testing"]["stricton"] = FALSE;

$active_record – Specifies if you require active record support.  By default it is set to TRUE.

How it works...

All we're doing is defining the environment that the site is running on. In the preceding example, we specify two environments: either default or testing, and apply specific settings for them. So, let's look at some variable definitions.

Common values

The standard database access options are shown in the following table:

Option name	Valid options	Description
$db["default"]["hostname"]	Usually localhost	This is the server that the database sits on
$db["default"]["username"]		The database access username
$db["default"]["password"]		The password for the database
$db["default"]["database"]		The name of the database

Other values

The following table shows the options that normally remain unchanged from the default setting but are here just incase you wish to change them:

Option name	Valid options	Description
$db["default"]["dbdriver"]	mysql	This is the type of DBMS you're using—the recipes in this book use MySQL. The value must be all lowercase.
$db["default"]["dbprefix"]	Default: mysql, but may also be postgre, odbc, and so on	Sometimes you may wish to add a prefix to a database table name, for example, a blogging application might prefix its tables with the word "blog" so the posts table would become blog_posts.
$db["default"]["pconnect"]	TRUE/FALSE	Specifies whether you wish to maintain a persistent connection to the database.
$db["default"]["db_debug"]	TRUE/FALSE	Specifies whether you wish to display database errors on the screen. It is blank by default, but for security purposes should be set to `FALSE` on a live environment and `TRUE` while in development.
$db["default"]["cache_on"]	TRUE/FALSE	Specifies whether you want database query caching enabled.
$db["default"]["cachedir"]		Specifies the absolute file path to your database query cache.
$db["default"]["char_set"]	utf8	Specifies the character set that CodeIgniter will use with the database.
$db["default"]["dbcollat"]	utf8_general_ci	Specifies the character collation that CodeIgniter will use with the database.
$db["default"]["port"]	3306	Default MySQL port. This option is not included by default, and if you wish to use a specific port for your database connection, you'll need to manually write in this line and set the value.

We will look at accessing data from a database in more detail in Chapter 6, Working with Databases.

Securing the system files

On live environments, it is strongly recommended that you move your system folder out of the web root to prevent malicious access.

How to do it...

Move the system folder either by the command line or using your computer's GUI to a folder outside the publicly accessible web folder. The method to do this will be different depending on which system you are using, but I'm sure you know how to move a folder, so we will not discuss that here.
After you have moved the system folder, you will need to update the $system_path variable in the path/to/codeigniter/index.php file. Look for and find the following line:
```
$system_path = "path/to/system/folder";
```
Amend the line to reflect the new location of the system folder. So if, for example, you moved the system folder up one level out of the web root, you should write the following line:
```
$system_path = "../system";
```

How it works...

By moving the system folder out of the web root, you are protecting it against access via the Internet (as much as possible). The system folder is much more unlikely to be accessed in a location outside of the web root than inside.

Removing index.php from the address bar using .htaccess

It is possible to remove the index.php file from the web browser address bar when CodeIgniter is running.

How to do it...

Create or open a .htaccess file. If a .htaccess file does not already exist, you can create one as follows:

Linux/Mac

Open a terminal window and type: touch/path/to/CodeIgniter/.htaccess.

Windows

Create a text file in your CodeIgniter root, naming it file.htaccess.
Press Windows + R to open the run dialogue.

Enter the following command and click on OK:

ren "C:\path\to\CodeIgniter\file.htaccess" .htaccess

Once your .htaccess file is opened, write the following lines at the top of the file:

<IfModule mod_rewrite.c>
RewriteEngine on
RewriteCond $1 !^(index\.php|images|robots\.txt)
RewriteRule ^(.*)$ index.php/$1 [L]
</IfModule>

How it works...

This rule in the .htaccess file will remove the index.php file from the browser's address bar. CodeIgniter's index.php file is still called but it is not shown to the user in the address bar of the browser.

Installing and using Sparks

It has been the case for a long time now that to find and use extensions, libraries, and other useful snippets of code for CodeIgniter, you have to search the Internet and download code from various places such as blogs, code repositories, and so on. Useful installations for CodeIgniter were spread across the Internet and as such, may have been hard to locate. Sparks acts as a single point of reference for extensions for CodeIgniter. It's simple to install and use, and contains thousands of useful add-ons for CodeIgniter.

How to do it...

If you are using a MAC or Linux, then the command line interface is open to you.

Using the terminal application on your system, navigate to the root of your CodeIgniter application and enter the following line:

php -r "$(curl -fsSL http://getsparks.org/go-sparks)"

If your installation was successful, you should see something similar to:

user@server:/path/to/codeigniter$ php -r "$(curl -fsSL http://getsparks.org/go-sparks)"
Pulling down spark manager from http://getsparks.org/static/install/spark-manager-0.0.9.zip ...
Pulling down Loader class core extension from http://getsparks.org/static/install/MY_Loader.php.txt ...
Extracting zip package ...
Cleaning up ...
Spark Manager has been installed successfully!
Try: `php tools/spark help`

If you are using Windows, then you will need to download Sparks and unpack it manually. To do that, perform the following instructions or check out the instructions on the GetSparks website for the latest version:

Create a folder named tools in the top level (root) of your CodeIgniter directory.
Visit the following URL: http://getsparks.org/install.
Go to the Normal Installation section and download the Sparks package.
Unpack the download into the tools folder you created in step 1.
Download the Loader class extension from: http://getsparks.org/static/install/MY_Loader.php.txt.
Rename the MY_Loader.php.txt file to MY_Loader.php and move it to the application/core/MY_Loader.php directory in your CodeIgniter instance.
Now that Sparks is installed in your CodeIgniter instance, you can begin to install extensions and packages.
To install a package from Sparks, type the following in the command line:
```
php tools/spark install [Package Version] Spark Name
```
Here, Package Version is the specific version of the Spark you wish to install. You are not required to state the version, and by leaving it out, Sparks will download the latest version by default. Spark Name is the name of the Spark you wish to install, so for example, to install the example-spark (Version 1.0.0) that comes with the default installation, type in the command line:
```
php tools/spark install -v1.0.0 example-spark
```
If the installation was successful, you should see something similar to:
```
user@server:/path/to/codeigniter$ php tools/spark install -v1.0.0 example-spark 
[ SPARK ] Retrieving spark detail from getsparks.org
[ SPARK ] From Downtown! Retrieving spark from Mercurial repository at https://url/of/the/spark/repo
[ SPARK ] Spark installed to ./sparks/example-spark/1.0.0 - You're on fire!
```

How it works...

You should now be ready to begin making use of your Spark. Be sure to read the Readme file or documentation that is included with your Spark for its correct usage.

Key benefits

Customizable code that can be used in your own applications right away

Recipes that will help you solve your Codeigniter issues efficiently and effectively

Each recipe comes with a full code example, and where necessary, the Model and View files are included too

Description

As a developer, there are going to be times when you'll need a quick and easy solution to a coding problem. CodeIgniter is a powerful open source PHP framework which allows you to build simple yet powerful full-feature web applications. CodeIgniter 2 Cookbook will give you quick access to practical recipes and useful code snippets which you can add directly into your CodeIgniter application to get the job done. It contains over 80 ready-to-use recipes that you can quickly refer to within your CodeIgniter application or project.This book is your complete guide to creating fully functioning PHP web applications, full of easy-to-follow recipes that will aid you in any aspect of developing with CodeIgniter. CodeIgniter 2 Cookbook takes you from the basics of CodeIgniter, through e-commerce features for your applications, and ends by helping you ensure that your environment is secure for your users and SEO friendly to draw in customers. Starting with installation and setup, CodeIgniter 2 Cookbook provides quick solutions to programming problems that you can directly include in your own projects. You will be moving through databases, EU Cookie Law, caching, and everything else in-between with useful, ready-to-go recipes. You will look at image manipulation using the Image Manipulation library, user management (building a simple CRUD interface), switching languages on the fly according to the user preference, caching content to reduce server load, and much more.

What you will learn

Build simple yet powerful PHP and CodeIgniter applications

Create e-commerce features to add to your application

Manipulate images ‚Äì crop, rotate, and add watermarks

Secure your user environment

Provide a forgot password functionality to users

Optimize your SEO and search capabilities

Manage money flow in your application

Work with the EU Cookie Law (confirming Cookies from the user)

Use database migrations to roll back changes and advance to newer database versions

What do you get with eBook?

Instant access to your Digital eBook purchase

Download this book in EPUB and PDF formats

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Amazon verified reviews

Hugo Leon Mar 04, 2015

Excellent book. I started a project with my new team based on this platform, never worked with CI before and it took me less than 2 weeks to begin working with them in production. And only had two chapters read!.

Amazon Verified review

NazHus Mar 23, 2014

Covers the fundamentals of the MVC framework, good set of recipes that targets competent developers. However i wouldn't suggest this book for beginners starting out with CodeIgniter.

Mikel Viera Apr 03, 2014

There are very few bugs in the code. Outstanding Users Guide you can download which lists every function with a code example."CodeIgniter 2 Cookbook" is a detailed overview of CodeIgniter. The topics in a different, perhaps, more understandable format. This is a reading book. You're not meant to sit at your computer, and input the code with this book.Starting with installation and setup, quick solutions to programming problems. Databases, EU Cookie Law, caching, and everything else in-between with useful, ready-to-go recipes. Also Image manipulation using the Image Manipulation library, user management (building a simple CRUD interface), switching languages on the fly according to the user preference, caching content to reduce server load, and much more. Very useful!!! I will rate this book 4 stars, because it is very readable, and there is value to be gained from the read. It's an excellent detailed overview. There are pearls and tidbits that you pick up in the book that make it worthwhile. You get a good overall feel of CodeIgniter from the book. It's also nice to read a computer book without necessarily running to the computer every two pages. You don't need your computer to benefit from this book, unlike the "Professional CodeIgniter" book .

JamesR Mar 23, 2014

I recommend this book to anyone who is planning on using CodeIgniter to build web apps. The sections on the first steps towards scaling your app, and extending CodeIgniter itself make this book stand out from the crowd. Today's Web 2.0 is demanding more with less. CodeIgniter, an up-and-coming PHP-based Web application development framework that leaves a little footprint, rises to the challenge.This is a must have book for reference - covers everything in detail.

Kender Feb 01, 2014

This book covers the basics, and provides detailed code to do most necessary functions for a basic website, but be warned it is not for the PHP nor HTML beginner and the HTML is not up to current standards (I understand that some nuances need to be skipped for brevity and to keep to the main point of the book, but no mention of the need to edit for proper "semantic" HTML).If you know the basics already though, and are looking to get into a framework like CodeIgniter, then this is a very good book to learn how the MVC framework is written, and how to write code for use in an MVC framework (and it provides user and shopping cart functions within the book, so bonus there).So, while I do believe the book is very useful to learn the MVC framework, CI specifically, I recommend you be more thoughtful in the output that you generate when writing your own. Also, with CodeIngiter looking for new ownership, and its future up in the air with the framework (who knows what the new ownership may do), you may be more better suited to look into another framework, such as Laravel ([...]).

CodeIgniter 2 Cookbook: As a PHP developer, you may have wondered how much difference the Codeigniter framework might make when creating web applications. Now you can find out with a host of customizable recipes ready to insert into your own work.

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