Constants & Functions¶

Global Functions¶

Here are CakePHP’s globally available functions. Most of them are just convenience wrappers for other CakePHP functionality, such as debugging and translating content.

\_\_(string $string_id, [$formatArgs])

This function handles localization in CakePHP applications. The $string_id identifies the ID for a translation. You can supply additional arguments to replace placeholders in your string:

__('You have {0} unread messages', $number);

You can also provide a name-indexed array of replacements:

__('You have {unread} unread messages', ['unread' => $number]);

Note

Check out the Internationalization & Localization section for more information.

__d(string $domain, string $msg, mixed $args = null)¶

Allows you to override the current domain for a single message lookup.

Useful when internationalizing a plugin: echo __d('PluginName', 'This is my plugin');

__dn(string $domain, string $singular, string $plural, integer $count, mixed $args = null)¶

Allows you to override the current domain for a single plural message lookup. Returns correct plural form of message identified by $singular and $plural for count $count from domain $domain.

__dx(string $domain, string $context, string $msg, mixed $args = null)¶

Allows you to override the current domain for a single message lookup. It also allows you to specify a context.

The context is a unique identifier for the translations string that makes it unique within the same domain.

__dxn(string $domain, string $context, string $singular, string $plural, integer $count, mixed $args = null)¶

Allows you to override the current domain for a single plural message lookup. It also allows you to specify a context. Returns correct plural form of message identified by $singular and $plural for count $count from domain $domain. Some languages have more than one form for plural messages dependent on the count.

The context is a unique identifier for the translations string that makes it unique within the same domain.

__n(string $singular, string $plural, integer $count, mixed $args = null)¶

Returns correct plural form of message identified by $singular and $plural for count $count. Some languages have more than one form for plural messages dependent on the count.

__x(string $context, string $msg, mixed $args = null)¶

The context is a unique identifier for the translations string that makes it unique within the same domain.

__xn(string $context, string $singular, string $plural, integer $count, mixed $args = null)¶

Returns correct plural form of message identified by $singular and $plural for count $count from domain $domain. It also allows you to specify a context. Some languages have more than one form for plural messages dependent on the count.

The context is a unique identifier for the translations string that makes it unique within the same domain.

collection(mixed $items)¶

Convenience wrapper for instantiating a new Cake\Collection\Collection object, wrapping the passed argument. The $items parameter takes either a Traversable object or an array.

debug(mixed $var, boolean $showHtml = null, $showFrom = true)¶

Changed in version 3.3.0: Calling this method will return passed $var, so that you can, for instance, place it in return statements.

If the core $debug variable is true, $var is printed out. If $showHTML is true or left as null, the data is rendered to be browser-friendly. If $showFrom is not set to false, the debug output will start with the line from which it was called. Also see Debugging

dd(mixed $var, boolean $showHtml = null)¶

It behaves like debug(), but execution is also halted. If the core $debug variable is true, $var is printed. If $showHTML is true or left as null, the data is rendered to be browser-friendly. Also see Debugging

pr(mixed $var)¶

Changed in version 3.3.0: Calling this method will return passed $var, so that you can, for instance, place it in return statements.

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

pj(mixed $var)¶

Changed in version 3.3.0: Calling this method will return passed $var, so that you can, for instance, place it in return statements.

JSON pretty print convenience function, with the addition of wrapping <pre> tags around the output.

It is meant for debugging the JSON representation of objects and arrays.

env(string $key, string $default = null)¶

Changed in version 3.1.1: The $default parameter has been added.

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.

h(string $text, boolean $double = true, string $charset = null)¶

Convenience wrapper for htmlspecialchars().

pluginSplit(string $name, boolean $dotAppend = false, string $plugin = null)¶

Splits a dot syntax plugin name into its plugin and class name. If $name does not have a dot, then index 0 will be null.

Commonly used like list($plugin, $name) = pluginSplit('Users.User');

namespaceSplit(string $class)¶

Split the namespace from the classname.

Commonly used like list($namespace, $className) = namespaceSplit('Cake\Core\App');

Core Definition Constants¶

Most of the following constants refer to paths in your application.

constant APP¶

Absolute path to your application directory, including a trailing slash.

constant APP_DIR¶

Equals app or the name of your application directory.

constant CACHE¶

Path to the cache files directory. It can be shared between hosts in a multi-server setup.

constant CAKE¶

Path to the cake directory.

constant CAKE_CORE_INCLUDE_PATH¶

Path to the root lib directory.

constant CONFIG¶

Path to the config directory.

constant CORE_PATH¶

Path to the CakePHP directory with ending directory slash.

constant DS¶

Short for PHP’s DIRECTORY_SEPARATOR, which is / on Linux and \ on Windows.

constant LOGS¶

Path to the logs directory.

constant ROOT¶

Path to the root directory.

constant TESTS¶

Path to the tests directory.

constant TMP¶

Path to the temporary files directory.

WWW\_ROOT

Full path to the webroot.

Timing Definition Constants¶

constant TIME_START¶

Unix timestamp in microseconds as a float from when the application started.

constant SECOND¶

Equals 1

constant MINUTE¶

Equals 60

constant HOUR¶

Equals 3600

constant DAY¶

Equals 86400

constant WEEK¶

Equals 604800

constant MONTH¶

Equals 2592000

constant YEAR¶

Equals 31536000