Pagination¶

Basic Usage¶

To paginate a query we first need to load the PaginatorComponent:

class ArticlesController extends AppController
{
    public function initialize(): void
    {
        parent::initialize();
        $this->loadComponent('Paginator');
    }
}

Once loaded we can paginate an ORM table class or Query object:

public function index()
{
    // Paginate the ORM table.
    $this->set('articles', $this->paginate($this->Articles));

    // Paginate a partially completed query
    $query = $this->Articles->find('published');
    $this->set('articles', $this->paginate($query));
}

Advanced Usage¶

PaginatorComponent supports more complex use cases by configuring the $paginate controller property or as the $settings argument to paginate(). These conditions serve as the basis for you pagination queries. They are augmented by the sort, direction, limit, and page parameters passed in from the URL:

class ArticlesController extends AppController
{
    public $paginate = [
        'limit' => 25,
        'order' => [
            'Articles.title' => 'asc'
        ]
    ];
}

While you can include any of the options supported by find() such as fields in your pagination settings. It is cleaner and simpler to bundle your pagination options into a Custom Finder Methods. You can use your finder in pagination by using the finder option:

class ArticlesController extends AppController
{
    public $paginate = [
        'finder' => 'published',
    ];
}

If your finder method requires additional options you can pass those as values for the finder:

class ArticlesController extends AppController
{
    // find articles by tag
    public function tags()
    {
        $tags = $this->request->getParam('pass');

        $customFinderOptions = [
            'tags' => $tags
        ];
        // We're using the $settings argument to paginate() here.
        // But the same structure could be used in $this->paginate
        //
        // Our custom finder is called findTagged inside ArticlesTable.php
        // which is why we're using `tagged` as the key.
        // Our finder should look like:
        // public function findTagged(Query $query, array $options) {
        $settings = [
            'finder' => [
                'tagged' => $customFinderOptions
            ]
        ];
        $articles = $this->paginate($this->Articles, $settings);
        $this->set(compact('articles', 'tags'));
    }
}

In addition to defining general pagination values, you can define more than one set of pagination defaults in the controller. The name of each model can be used as a key in the $paginate property:

class ArticlesController extends AppController
{
    public $paginate = [
        'Articles' => [],
        'Authors' => [],
    ];
}

The values of the Articles and Authors keys could contain all the properties that a basic $paginate array would.

Once you have used paginate() to create results. The controller’s request will be updated with paging parameters. You can access the pagination metadata at $this->request->getAttribute('paging').

Simple Pagination¶

By default pagination uses a count() query to calculate the size of the result set so that page number links can be rendered. On very large datasets this count query can be very expensive. In situations where you only want to show ‘Next’ and ‘Previous’ links you can use the ‘simple’ paginator which does not do a count query:

public function initialize(): void
{
    parent::initialize();

    // Load the paginator component with the simple paginator strategy.
    $this->loadComponent('Paginator', [
        'className' => 'Simple',
    ]);
}

When using the SimplePaginator you will not be able to generate page numbers, counter data, links to the last page, or total record count controls.

Using the PaginatorComponent Directly¶

If you need to paginate data from another component you may want to use the PaginatorComponent directly. It features a similar API to the controller method:

$articles = $this->Paginator->paginate($articleTable->find(), $config);

// Or
$articles = $this->Paginator->paginate($articleTable, $config);

The first parameter should be the query object from a find on table object you wish to paginate results from. Optionally, you can pass the table object and let the query be constructed for you. The second parameter should be the array of settings to use for pagination. This array should have the same structure as the $paginate property on a controller. When paginating a Query object, the finder option will be ignored. It is assumed that you are passing in the query you want paginated.

Paginating Multiple Queries¶

You can paginate multiple models in a single controller action, using the scope option both in the controller’s $paginate property and in the call to the paginate() method:

// Paginate property
public $paginate = [
    'Articles' => ['scope' => 'article'],
    'Tags' => ['scope' => 'tag']
];

// In a controller action
$articles = $this->paginate($this->Articles, ['scope' => 'article']);
$tags = $this->paginate($this->Tags, ['scope' => 'tag']);
$this->set(compact('articles', 'tags'));

The scope option will result in PaginatorComponent looking in scoped query string parameters. For example, the following URL could be used to paginate both tags and articles at the same time:

/dashboard?article[page]=1&tag[page]=3

See the Paginating Multiple Results section for how to generate scoped HTML elements and URLs for pagination.

// In a controller action
$this->paginate = [
    'ArticlesTable' => [
        'scope' => 'published_articles',
        'limit' => 10,
        'order' => [
            'id' => 'desc',
        ],
    ],
    'UnpublishedArticlesTable' => [
        'scope' => 'unpublished_articles',
        'limit' => 10,
        'order' => [
            'id' => 'desc',
        ],
    ],
];

$publishedArticles = $this->paginate(
    $this->Articles->find('all', [
        'scope' => 'published_articles'
    ])->where(['published' => true])
);

// Load an additional table object to allow differentiating in pagination component
$unpublishedArticlesTable = $this->fetchTable('UnpublishedArticles', [
    'className' => 'App\Model\Table\ArticlesTable',
    'table' => 'articles',
    'entityClass' => 'App\Model\Entity\Article',
]);

$unpublishedArticles = $this->paginate(
    $unpublishedArticlesTable->find('all', [
        'scope' => 'unpublished_articles'
    ])->where(['published' => false])
);

Control which Fields Used for Ordering¶

By default sorting can be done on any non-virtual column a table has. This is sometimes undesirable as it allows users to sort on un-indexed columns that can be expensive to order by. You can set the allowed list of fields that can be sorted using the sortableFields option. This option is required when you want to sort on any associated data, or computed fields that may be part of your pagination query:

public $paginate = [
    'sortableFields' => [
        'id', 'title', 'Users.username', 'created'
    ]
];

Any requests that attempt to sort on fields not in the allowed list will be ignored.

Limit the Maximum Number of Rows per Page¶

The number of results that are fetched per page is exposed to the user as the limit parameter. It is generally undesirable to allow users to fetch all rows in a paginated set. The maxLimit option asserts that no one can set this limit too high from the outside. By default CakePHP limits the maximum number of rows that can be fetched to 100. If this default is not appropriate for your application, you can adjust it as part of the pagination options, for example reducing it to 10:

public $paginate = [
    // Other keys here.
    'maxLimit' => 10
];

If the request’s limit param is greater than this value, it will be reduced to the maxLimit value.

Joining Additional Associations¶

Additional associations can be loaded to the paginated table by using the contain parameter:

public function index()
{
    $this->paginate = [
        'contain' => ['Authors', 'Comments']
    ];

    $this->set('articles', $this->paginate($this->Articles));
}

Out of Range Page Requests¶

The PaginatorComponent will throw a NotFoundException when trying to access a non-existent page, i.e. page number requested is greater than total page count.

So you could either let the normal error page be rendered or use a try catch block and take appropriate action when a NotFoundException is caught:

use Cake\Http\Exception\NotFoundException;

public function index()
{
    try {
        $this->paginate();
    } catch (NotFoundException $e) {
        // Do something here like redirecting to first or last page.
        // $this->request->getAttribute('paging') will give you required info.
    }
}

Pagination in the View¶

Check the PaginatorHelper documentation for how to create links for pagination navigation.