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Here is a simple example of how to use Datasources and HttpSocket to implement a very basic Twitter source that allows querying the Twitter API as well as posting new status updates to a configured account.

This example will only work in PHP 5.2 and above, due to the use of json_decode for the parsing of JSON formatted data.

You would place the Twitter datasource in app/models/datasources/twitter_source.php:

<?php
/**
 * Twitter DataSource
 *
 * Used for reading and writing to Twitter, through models.
 *
 * PHP Version 5.x
 *
 * CakePHP(tm) : Rapid Development Framework (http://www.cakephp.org)
 * Copyright 2005-2009, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://www.cakefoundation.org)
 *
 * Licensed under The MIT License
 * Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice.
 *
 * @filesource
 * @copyright     Copyright 2009, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://www.cakefoundation.org)
 * @link          http://cakephp.org CakePHP(tm) Project
 * @license       http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php The MIT License
 */
App::import('Core', 'HttpSocket');
class TwitterSource extends DataSource {
	protected $_schema = array(
		'tweets' => array(
			'id' => array(
				'type' => 'integer',
				'null' => true,
				'key' => 'primary',
				'length' => 11,
			),
			'text' => array(
				'type' => 'string',
				'null' => true,
				'key' => 'primary',
				'length' => 140
			),
			'status' => array(
				'type' => 'string',
				'null' => true,
				'key' => 'primary',
				'length' => 140
			),
		)
	);
	public function __construct($config) {
		$auth = "{$config['login']}:{$config['password']}";
		$this->connection = new HttpSocket(
			"http://{$auth}@twitter.com/"
		);
		parent::__construct($config);
	}
	public function listSources() {
		return array('tweets');
	}
	public function read($model, $queryData = array()) {
		if (!isset($queryData['conditions']['username'])) {
			$queryData['conditions']['username'] = $this->config['login'];
		}
		$url = "/statuses/user_timeline/";
		$url .= "{$queryData['conditions']['username']}.json";
 
		$response = json_decode($this->connection->get($url), true);
		$results = array();
 
		foreach ($response as $record) {
			$record = array('Tweet' => $record);
			$record['User'] = $record['Tweet']['user'];
			unset($record['Tweet']['user']);
			$results[] = $record;
		}
		return $results;
	}
	public function create($model, $fields = array(), $values = array()) {
		$data = array_combine($fields, $values);
		$result = $this->connection->post('/statuses/update.json', $data);
		$result = json_decode($result, true);
		if (isset($result['id']) && is_numeric($result['id'])) {
			$model->setInsertId($result['id']);
			return true;
		}
		return false;
	}
	public function describe($model) {
		return $this->_schema['tweets'];
	}
}
?>

1. <?php
2. /**
3. * Twitter DataSource
4. *
5. * Used for reading and writing to Twitter, through models.
6. *
7. * PHP Version 5.x
8. *
9. * CakePHP(tm) : Rapid Development Framework (http://www.cakephp.org)
10. * Copyright 2005-2009, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://www.cakefoundation.org)
11. *
12. * Licensed under The MIT License
13. * Redistributions of files must retain the above copyright notice.
14. *
15. * @filesource
16. * @copyright Copyright 2009, Cake Software Foundation, Inc. (http://www.cakefoundation.org)
17. * @link http://cakephp.org CakePHP(tm) Project
18. * @license http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php The MIT License
19. */
20. App::import('Core', 'HttpSocket');
21. class TwitterSource extends DataSource {
22. protected $_schema = array(
23. 'tweets' => array(
24. 'id' => array(
25. 'type' => 'integer',
26. 'null' => true,
27. 'key' => 'primary',
28. 'length' => 11,
29. ),
30. 'text' => array(
31. 'type' => 'string',
32. 'null' => true,
33. 'key' => 'primary',
34. 'length' => 140
35. ),
36. 'status' => array(
37. 'type' => 'string',
38. 'null' => true,
39. 'key' => 'primary',
40. 'length' => 140
41. ),
42. )
43. );
44. public function __construct($config) {
45. $auth = "{$config['login']}:{$config['password']}";
46. $this->connection = new HttpSocket(
47. "http://{$auth}@twitter.com/"
48. );
49. parent::__construct($config);
50. }
51. public function listSources() {
52. return array('tweets');
53. }
54. public function read($model, $queryData = array()) {
55. if (!isset($queryData['conditions']['username'])) {
56. $queryData['conditions']['username'] = $this->config['login'];
57. }
58. $url = "/statuses/user_timeline/";
59. $url .= "{$queryData['conditions']['username']}.json";
61. $response = json_decode($this->connection->get($url), true);
62. $results = array();
64. foreach ($response as $record) {
65. $record = array('Tweet' => $record);
66. $record['User'] = $record['Tweet']['user'];
67. unset($record['Tweet']['user']);
68. $results[] = $record;
69. }
70. return $results;
71. }
72. public function create($model, $fields = array(), $values = array()) {
73. $data = array_combine($fields, $values);
74. $result = $this->connection->post('/statuses/update.json', $data);
75. $result = json_decode($result, true);
76. if (isset($result['id']) && is_numeric($result['id'])) {
77. $model->setInsertId($result['id']);
78. return true;
79. }
80. return false;
81. }
82. public function describe($model) {
83. return $this->_schema['tweets'];
84. }
85. }
86. ?>

Your model implementation could be as simple as:

<?php
class Tweet extends AppModel {
	public $useDbConfig = 'twitter';
}
?>

1. <?php
2. class Tweet extends AppModel {
3. public $useDbConfig = 'twitter';
4. }
5. ?>

If we had not defined our schema in the datasource itself, you would get an error message to that effect here.

And the configuration settings in your app/config/database.php would resemble something like this:

<?php
	var $twitter = array(
		'datasource' => 'twitter',
		'login' => 'username',
		'password' => 'password',
	);
?>

1. <?php
2. var $twitter = array(
3. 'datasource' => 'twitter',
4. 'login' => 'username',
5. 'password' => 'password',
6. );
7. ?>

Using the familiar model methods from a controller:

<?php
// Will use the username defined in the $twitter as shown above:
$tweets = $this->Tweet->find('all');

// Finds tweets by another username
$conditions= array('username' => 'caketest');
$otherTweets = $this->Tweet->find('all', compact('conditions'));
?>

1. <?php
2. // Will use the username defined in the $twitter as shown above:
3. $tweets = $this->Tweet->find('all');
4. // Finds tweets by another username
5. $conditions= array('username' => 'caketest');
6. $otherTweets = $this->Tweet->find('all', compact('conditions'));
7. ?>

Similarly, saving a new status update:

<?php
$this->Tweet->save(array('status' => 'This is an update'));
?>

1. <?php
2. $this->Tweet->save(array('status' => 'This is an update'));
3. ?>