@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ Now let's break down the second line (`RewriteRule ^people$ controllers/people.p
Create a `controllers` directory to hold our controller files. Within that directory, create a `people.php` file. This will handle all routes that pertain to people models.
In this file put the following PHP code:
In this file put the following PHP code (**NOTE:** I've ommitted `<?php` and `?>` for ease of reading. Don't forget to add each to **every** file you create from here on out):
```php
if($_REQUEST['action'] === 'index'){
@ -73,7 +73,7 @@ class Person {
This defines the `Person` class as having three possible properties (id, name, age) which can be edited after the object has been created.
Now, we're going to create a "factory" which will be responsible for generating objects from the database. At the moment, we're just going to have to create some dummy data:
Now, we're going to create a "factory" which will be responsible for generating objects from the database. At the moment, we're just going to have to create some dummy data. Add the following to the bottom of `models/person.php`:
```php
class People {
@ -177,3 +177,132 @@ INSERT INTO users ( name, age ) VALUES ( 'Matt', 38 );
INSERT INTO users ( name, age ) VALUES ( 'Sally', 54 );
INSERT INTO users ( name, age ) VALUES ( 'Zanthar', 4892 );
```
## Connect the People model to Postgres
Currently, our `People` model's `find` function randomly generates three `Person` objects when invoked. Let's have it connect to `postgres` so that it can use the rows we inserted into the `people` table to create the `Person` objects. At the top of `models/person.php` add the following:
Now that we're connected to Postgres, we can have PHP query the database. In `models/person.php`, let's alter our `find` function:
```php
class People {
static function find(){
//create an empty array
$people = array();
//query the database
$results = pg_query("SELECT * FROM people");
return $people;
}
}
```
Our `$results` variable is a result set. It's basically like a PHP version of the rows retrieved from Postgres. Now we'll use the `pg_fetch_object` function to remove the first row from the `$results` dataset and turn it into an object:
```php
$results = pg_query("SELECT * FROM people");
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results); //remove a row from the results and turn it into an object
```
To see what our `$row_object` looks like, let's add the following:
```php
$results = pg_query("SELECT * FROM people");
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results);
var_dump($row_object); //print values of the object
die(); //halt execution
```
Now we can see the various values that are available to us for the row that was returned.
- `var_dump` will take any object and print its values
- `die` will halt execution from continuing so that you can read what was printed
If we keep removing rows from `$results`, we'll eventually run out of rows. When this happens, `pg_fetch_object` returns `false`
```php
$results = pg_query("SELECT * FROM people");
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results);
var_dump($row_object);
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results);
var_dump($row_object);
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results);
var_dump($row_object);
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results);
var_dump($row_object);
die();
```
Let's change this so it does this with a `while` loop. This way, no matter how many rows are in the results, all will be printed:
```php
class People {
static function find(){
//create an empty array
$people = array();
//query the database
$results = pg_query("SELECT * FROM people");
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results)
while($row_object){
var_dump($row_object);
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results);
}
die();
return $people;
}
}
```
Now, as long as `$results` has rows, `while($row_object)` will run its code. As soon as all the rows have been removed, `$row_object` will be `false` and the `while` loop will exit.
Now that we can see the various rows in our `$results` as objects, we can use this info to create `Person` objects which we'll push onto our `$people` array.
```php
class People {
static function find(){
//create an empty array
$people = array();
//query the database
$results = pg_query("SELECT * FROM people");
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results)
while($row_object){
$new_person = new Person( //create a new person
$row_object->id,
$row_object->name,
$row_object->age,
);
$people[] = $new_person; //push new person object onto $people array
$row_object = pg_fetch_object($results);
}
return $people;
}
}
```
One thing you might notice is that the `id` and `age` values for each person are strings. Let's change those into integers:
