Welcome to The Cookbook

Here are CakePHP's globally available functions. Many of them are convenience wrappers for long-named PHP functions, but some of them (like vendor() and uses()) can be used to include code or perform other useful functions. Chances are if you're constantly wanting a function to accomplish an oft-used task, it's here.

__(string $string_id, boolean $return = false)

This function handles localization in CakePHP applications. The $string_id identifies the ID for a translation, and the second parameter allows you to have the function automatically echo the string (the default behavior), or return it for further processing (pass a boolean true to enable this behavior).

Check out the Localization & Internationalization section for more information.

a(mixed $one, $two, $three...)

Returns an array of the parameters used to call the wrapping function.

print_r(a('foo', 'bar')); 

// output:
array(
   [0] => 'foo',
   [1] => 'bar'
)

1. print_r(a('foo', 'bar'));
2. // output:
3. array(
4. [0] => 'foo',
5. [1] => 'bar'
6. )

aa(array $one, $two, $three...)

Used to create associative arrays formed from the parameters used to call the wrapping function.

echo aa('a','b'); 

// output:
array(
    'a' => 'b'
)

1. echo aa('a','b');
2. // output:
3. array(
4. 'a' => 'b'
5. )

am(array $one, $two, $three...)

Merges all the arrays passed as parameters and returns the merged array.

convertSlash(string $string)

Converts forward slashes to underscores and removes the first and last underscores in a string. Returns the converted string.

countdim(array $array)

Returns the number of dimensions in the supplied array.

debug(mixed $var, boolean $showHtml = false)

If the application's DEBUG level is non-zero, $var is printed out. If $showHTML is true, the data is rendered to be browser-friendly.

e(mixed $data)

Convenience wrapper for echo().

env(string $key)

Gets an environment variable from available sources. Used as a backup if $_SERVER or $_ENV are disabled.

This function also emulates PHP_SELF and DOCUMENT_ROOT on unsupporting servers. In fact, it's a good idea to always use env() instead of $_SERVER or getenv() (especially if you plan to distribute the code), since it's a full emulation wrapper.

fileExistsInPath(string $file)

Checks to make sure that the supplied file is within the current PHP include_path. Returns a boolean result.

h(string $text, string $charset)

Convenience wrapper for htmlspecialchars().

ife($condition, $ifNotEmpty, $ifEmpty)

Used for ternary-like operations. If the $condition is non-empty, $ifNotEmpty is returned, else $ifEmpty is returned.

low(string $string)

Convenience wrapper for strtolower().

paths()

Get CakePHP basic paths as an indexed array. Resulting array will contain array of paths indexed by: Models, Behaviors, Controllers, Components, and Helpers.

pr(mixed $var)

Convenience wrapper for print_r(), with the addition of wrapping <pre> tags around the output.

r(string $search, string $replace, string $subject)

Convenience wrapper for str_replace().

stripslashes_deep(array $value)

Recursively strips slashes from the supplied $value. Returns the modified array.

up(string $string)

Convenience wrapper for strtoupper().

uses(string $lib1, $lib2, $lib3...)

Used to load CakePHP's core libraries (found in cake/libs/). Supply the name of the library's file name without the '.php' extension.