Undefined index: action in /cake/dispatcher.php line 144

$aInfo = $this->requestAction('/tours/GetAgentInfo/' . $property["Listing"]["agent"] . '/' . $property["Listing"]["listingoffice"]);
?>

The problem turned out to be that one of the values in $property["Listing"] was returning a value which included a space. Something like this: “396 “. Since the requestAction method uses a URL to get it’s parameters, it was bombing when the URL looked like this: ‘/tours/GetAgentInfo/396 /94′. I used the php trim() function to remove spaces, and presto… problem solved!

$aInfo = $this->requestAction('/tours/GetAgentInfo/' . trim($property["Listing"]["agent"]) . '/' . trim($property["Listing"]["listingoffice"]));
?>

Parameters

selectTag ($fieldName, $optionElements, $selected=null, $selectAttr=array(), $optionAttr=null, $showEmpty=true, $return=false)

$fieldName will typically be the name of your model in the singular slash (‘/’) the primary key: 'Post/post_id'.

$optionElements is an array of ‘value’ =>’text’ pairs. The generateList method is very useful for creating this array.

$selected defaults to null and can be used to set the selected option.

$selectAttr is an array. It is used to define HTML attributes for the opening select element: array('onclick' => 'myfunction();', 'class' => 'cssclassname')

$optionAttr serves the same purpose that $selectAttr does, except it applies to the option elements.

$showEmpty is used to set whether or not the list has an empty option at the top. The default is true. If changed to false, the first option element will be the first value/text pair in your $optionElements array.

$return default is false and it defines whether or not this method should return a value. I don’t know of any reason why this would ever be set to true. If someone knows of a scenario where this is useful, please share!

Application

Like other HtmlHelpers, the selectTag can be used in a View within the CakePHP MVC framework including Layouts and Helpers. Typically you would load some data to an array in a 'value' =>'text' pair arrangement before calling the selectTag method (example 1). However, the array can be built “on the fly” as well (example 2).

Example 1


<?php $agentArray = $this->requestAction('/agents/select'); ?>
<?=$html->selectTag('Agent/agent_id', $agentArray, null, array(), null, true, false);?>


Example 2


<?=$html->selectTag('Listing/price',
array(
'0' => 'no min',
'50000' => '50,000',
'100000' => '100,000',
'125000' => '125,000',
'150000' => '150,000',
'175000' => '175,000',
'200000' => '200,000'), '0', array(), null, false, false); ?>


This is by no means comprehensive, but hopefully useful. The CakePHP Google Group and CakePHP IRC Channel are super when trying to wrap you head around something new.

Let’s assume we have two tables, colors and products. Our model states that products hasAndBelongsToMany colors. Also, colors hasAndBelongsToMany products.

Add the following code to app_controller.php:

function getSelectedItems($data)
{
$return = array();
foreach ($data as $row)
{
$return[$row['id']] = $row['name'];
}
return $return;
}


Our edit function in the products_controller.php will look something like this:

function admin_edit($id = null)
{
if (empty($this->data))
{
$this->set('colors', $this->requestAction('/colors/select'));
// get data for colors DropDownList
$this->Product->id = $id;
$this->data = $this->Product->read();
$this->set('selected_colors', $this->getSelectedItems($this->data['Color']));
}
else
{
if ($this->Product->save($this->data))
{
$this->flash("Your product has been updated.", '/admin/products');
}
else
{
$this->flash("Unable to update your product.", '/admin/products');
}
}
}


And finally, the code for the multi-select:

selectTag("Color/Color", $colors, $selected_colors, array('multiple' => 'multiple'))?>


If the associations are set up correctly, Cake will automagically save the updated colors when $this->Product->save($this->data) is called in the products controller. I hope this is helpful to someone, I spent a lot of time digging it up!

Download: IronPython 1.0 Beta 8

I’m don’t know Python. However, the more I hear I about it, the more I think I may need to look into it. Python developers seem to be very passionate their chosen language. I mean, I like php…and I like C#…but when it’s all said and done, they’re just a means to an end. They help me accomplish a task in the most painfree way I know of. Perhaps if I knew Python it would be even less painful…maybe even feel good!

At any rate, if Python is as cool as advertised..IronPython has got great. But, can it compete with the likes of the recently very popular open source Python framework Django? It is Microsoft…and they seem to have a knack for competition. Even their bombs have a way of taking over the world and making lots of money.

more information: IronPython Project Homepage; IronPython 1.0 Beta 9 is now available.

Pre-requisite: CakePHP

First, download Shuro’s component, sd_auth. Copy and paste the code into a file called sd_auth.php and put it inside app/controllers/components.

Now, create app_controller.php in app/ and paste the code below:

class AppController extends Controller
{
var $components = array('SdAuth');
function adminAuth()
{
// Auth Check.
if($this->SdAuth->isloggedin() == FALSE)
{
$this->layout = "admin_login";
} else {
$this->layout = "admin";
}
}
}

Next, uncomment the following line in app/config/core.php:

define('CAKE_ADMIN', 'admin');

Now, if you pre-pend a function in any of your controllers with “admin_” (eg: admin_add) it will now be accessed via the path /admin/add. Insert the authentication call at the beginning of each one of those functions:

function admin_add()
{
$this->adminAuth();
}

…and that method will be authenticated before continuing! Thanks for the tip Shunro.