Joomla Component Global Models

Bryn Knatterud — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 03:29:35 +0000

One thing that I often find necessary when creating a custom component in Joomla is the need to have a “Global” model that I can use in some or all of my views. It took me awhile to find documentation on this and what I did find was outdated documentation, so I think it is worth providing some here…

I will use some simple code examples so you can get an idea of how it works.

Prerequisite knowledge

Basic understanding of Joomla component MVC

1. Create your global model

Create a file called “global.php” and place it in the “models” folder of you component.

Insert the following code…[global.php]


defined('_JEXEC') or die ('Resctricted access');
jimport('joomla.application.component.model');
JModel::addIncludePath(JPATH_COMPONENT.DS.'models');
class CustomComponentModelGlobal extends JModel
{
	var $data = null;
	function getData()
	{
		if(empty($this->data))
		{
			$this->data = "My Global Data";		
		}
		return $this->data;
	}
}

2. Modify Controller Code

We will modify the code of the display method in the controller to make our global model available in all of the views.

controller.php

function display()
{
	$view = JRequest::getVar('view');
	if(!$view){
		JRequest::setVar('view', 'default');
	}
 
	$model = $this->getModel('Global');
 
	$document =& JFactory::getDocument();
	$viewType	= $document->getType();
	$viewName	= $view;
	$view = & $this->getView( 
                             $viewName,
                             $viewType, 
                             '',
                             array( 'base_path'=>$this->_basePath));
	$view->setModel($model);
 
	parent::display();
}

3. Access the Global model in the view

view.html.php

function display($tpl=null)
{
	/*
	 * The model can now be accessed in the view
	 * in either way below
	 */
 
	$data =& $this->get('data', 'Global');
        $globalModel = $this->getModel('Global');
        $data =& $globalModel->getData();
 
        //assign the data to a ref for output in the html
        $this->assignRef('myGobalData', $data);
}

Acts Media » mvc

Joomla Component Global Models

Prerequisite knowledge

1. Create your global model

2. Modify Controller Code

3. Access the Global model in the view