Introduction to Table Class

The Zend_Db_Table class is an object-oriented interface to database tables. It provides methods for many common operations on tables. The base class is extensible, so you can add custom logic.

Defining a Table Class

For each table in your database that you want to access, define a class that extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract.

My feeling on this, is that it’s a little bit “overkill”, at least for a website with a DB that handles hundreds of tables. I feel some tables will always be used in some kind of logical grouping into some class.  In those cases you will not want to create systematically all those class… Unless you have a lot more time available than I do

Defining the Table Name and Schema

Declare the database table for which this class is defined, using the protected variable $_name. This is a string, and must contain the name of the table spelled as it appears in the database.

Example : Declaring a table class with explicit table name

class Bugs extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract

{

 protected $_name = 'bugs';

}

If you don’t specify the table name, it defaults to the name of the class. If you rely on this default, the class name must match the spelling of the table name as it appears in the database. My suggestion : don’t do that!

Defining the Table Primary Key

Every table must have a primary key. You can declare the column for the primary key using the protected variable $_primary. This is either a string that names the single column for the primary key, or else it is an array of column names if your primary key is a compound key.

Example of specifying the primary key

class Bugs extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract

{

 protected $_name = 'bugs';

 protected $_primary = 'bug_id';

}

If you don’t specify the primary key, Zend_Db_Table_Abstract tries to discover the primary key based on
the information provided by the describeTable() method.

Setting a Default Database Adapter

The second way to provide a database adapter to a Table class is by declaring an object of type Zend_Db_Adapter_Abstract to be a default database adapter for all subsequent instances of Tables in your application. You can do this with the static method Zend_Db_Table_Abstract::setDefaultAdapter(). The argument is an object of type Zend_Db_Adapter_Abstract.

Example of constructing a Table using a the Default Adapter

$db = Zend_Db::factory('PDO_MYSQL', $options);

Zend_Db_Table_Abstract::setDefaultAdapter($db);

// Later...

$table = new Bugs();

It can be convenient to create the database adapter object in a central place of your application, such as the bootstrap, and then store it as the default adapter. This gives you a means to ensure that the adapter instance is the same throughout your application. However, setting a default adapter is limited to a single adapter instance.

Storing a Database Adapter in the Registry

The third way to provide a database adapter to a Table class is by passing a string in the options array, also identified by the ‘db’ key. The string is used as a key to the static Zend_Registry instance, where the entry at that key is an object of type Zend_Db_Adapter_Abstract.

Example of constructing a Table using a Registry key

$db = Zend_Db::factory('PDO_MYSQL', $options);

Zend_Registry::set('my_db', $db);

// Later...

$table = new Bugs(array('db' => 'my_db'));

Like setting the default adapter, this gives you the means to ensure that the same adapter instance is used throughout your application. Using the registry is more flexible, because you can store more than one adapter instance. A given adapter instance is specific to a certain RDBMS brand and database instance. If your application needs access to multiple databases or even multiple database brands, then you need to use multiple adapters.

Inserting Rows to a Table

You can use the Table object to insert rows into the database table on which the Table object is based. Use the insert() method of your Table object. The argument is an associative array, mapping column names to values.

Example of inserting to a Table

$table = new Bugs();

$data = array(

 'created_on'      => '2007-03-22',

 'bug_description' => 'Something wrong',

 'bug_status'      => 'NEW'

);

$table->insert($data);

Updating Rows in a Table

You can update rows in a database table using the update method of a Table class. This method takes two arguments: an associative array of columns to change and new values to assign to these columns; and an SQL expression that is used in a WHERE clause, as criteria for the rows to change in the UPDATE operation.

Example of updating rows in a Table

$table = new Bugs();

$data = array(

 'updated_on'      => '2007-03-23',

 'bug_status'      => 'FIXED'

);

$where = $table->getAdapter()->quoteInto('bug_id = ?', 1234);

$table->update($data, $where);

Since the table update() method proxies to the database adapter update() method, the second argument can be an array of SQL expressions. The expressions are combined as Boolean terms using an AND operator.

Note
The values and identifiers in the SQL expression are not quoted for you. If you have values or identifiers that require quoting, you are responsible for doing this. Use the quote(), quoteInto(), and quoteIdentifier() methods of the database adapter.

Deleting Rows from a Table

You can delete rows from a database table using the delete() method. This method takes one argument, which is an SQL expression that is used in a WHERE clause, as criteria for the rows to delete.

Example of deleting rows from a Table

$table = new Bugs();

$where = $table->getAdapter()->quoteInto('bug_id = ?', 1235);

$table->delete($where);

The second argument can be an array of SQL expressions. The expressions are combined as Boolean terms
using an AND operator. Since the table delete() method proxies to the database adapter delete() method, the second argument can be an array of SQL expressions. The expressions are combined as Boolean terms using an AND operator.

Finding Rows by Primary Key

You can query the database table for rows matching specific values in the primary key, using the find() method. The first argument of this method is either a single value or an array of values to match against the primary key of the table.

Example of finding rows by primary key values

$table = new Bugs();
// Find a single row
// Returns a Rowset
$rows = $table->find(1234);
// Find multiple rows
// Also returns a Rowset
$rows = $table->find(array(1234, 5678));

Next : the Select API

Spreadsheets importation, online managing, multi-user sharing and easy publication around the web, the feature list is pretty impressive!

You can sign up for free for a limited time as a beta tester right here »

Have you tried it? I’d like to have your opinion about it and any idea how it could be used at ByTheOwner, thanks!

Build an online rss reader in 5 minutes :

This morning, I had the chance to assist to Francisco Tolmasky’s (280 North) workshop called “How to build advanced web apps with Cappuccino and Objective-J”. It was an absolutely great demo and I’m actually very excited about using this framework for incoming projects at ByTheOwner. However, it was pretty technical, so I’ll have to play with the code and the demos in the following days to capture and be able to communicate what I’ve learned here. So, i’ll try to keep the blog updated with my upcoming experimentations.

« Cappuccino is an open source framework that makes it easy to build desktop-caliber applications that run in a web browser. »

This would be the “one sentence definition” for this framework according to the 280north website and I think it’s perfectly good. However, you need to understand what would be a “desktop-caliber application”. We’re talking about web apps like google maps, google docs, 280slides.com, etc… Web apps that you actually work and do something with. If you have a content oriented website (the Times for example) then Cappuccino isn’t a framework you should use to create your website, it’s simply not made/designed for that.

Here are finally a couple of highlights and notes about the framework I took during the workshop. I also include a video of a previous conference I found the 280north’s blog.

Very Quick Highlights about using Cappuccino and Objective-J

• You’ll never have to worry about layout cross-browser inconsistencies
• Built in support for the basic “OS” fonctions like undo, redo, save, open, new, autosave, etc… All things that people are not used to find in webapps nowadays and that makes it so much more usable and “wow-able”
• Uses a strict javascript superset that gives you compatibility with any regular javascript
• The visual controllers give you an incredible control over the way elements need to behave when the window is changing size
• A whole bunch of advanced form elements are available for you with almost no work at all (very cool color well for example…)
• The form elements can be skinned and will look very nice in all browser
• nib2cib provides an interface builder (wysiwyg style) application to help you design your cappuccino web app
• and many many many more…

Visit cappuccino.org for more information, demos and tutorials »

Time to get some sleep before FOWA’s day #2…

Frédérick Dubois
ByTheOwner.com / DuProprio.com

Last year, we often had the impression to keep running without getting anywhere and getting anything done. We were always working on a thousand things at the same time and were having a lot of difficulty keeping the focus to get features out. The team is getting bigger and we didn’t quite succeed to manage it perfectly.

I won’t be part of the first Scrum project since I have to play the firefighter part. I’ll be trying to clear the bugs and emergencies so the other developpers can have an 100% focus on their 3 weeks project but still, I can’t wait to see if it will all work out as expected.

If you’d like to learn more about Scrum and Agile development :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scrum_(development)

Quick overview in 5 minutes »

Full explanations, if you have the time to read »

or, this related video :

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-7230144396191025011

This is a big update and we’re very proud of it. It brings on some cool new features and a much clearer nav panel. We worked hard to make sure that every tool was available at the right spot since the older version was getting kind of messy…

What’s new?

• New very cool dashboard
• Organized navbar
• Buyers’s feedback section
• Your use of the tool meter
• Organize your pictures update
• Plus tons of contextual tips and advices

We really do hope you enjoy those changes and are able to start using the new section quite swiftly… Don’t hesitate to let us know if you encounter any problems!

Thanks a lot!

PS : Special thanks to Frank, Patrice P-L and Gui for todays rush!

Frédérick Dubois, Programmeur
DuProprio.com / ByTheOwner.com

It reveals some very interesting (even fascinating) facts about technology’s evolution in the past years :

Developed for a BleuBlancRouge ad campaign targetting the Montreal QC market, this new feature will be available to all Canadian customers in the search results. They will be able to calculate the distance between different addresses and the homes available on ByTheOwner.com

Why such a tool? Isn’t it interesting, and even essential, to know the distance between your future home and your office? Your child’s daycare? Mom’s home? That sure is a big factor that you need to consider. Even more with the gas prices these days!

Built using the Google Maps geocoding technology, this tool was developed pretty quickly during last weeks, so if you encounter any problems, or have suggestions, we’d like to know! Leave us comments using the box below so we can make this feature something you’ll enjoy using in your search!

Thanks!

Frédérick Dubois, Programmer
ByTheOwner.com / DuProprio.com

We’re constantly looking for ways to improve AdSense by developing and supporting features which drive the best monetization results for our publishers. Sometimes, this requires retiring existing features so we can focus our efforts on the ones that will be most effective in the long term. For this reason, we will be retiring the AdSense Referrals program during the last week of August.

Even though it’s sad news for many people, I really do understand the “focus” problem they had. We have to deal with this reality everyday and it causes many headaches…

Bye bye referrals! Now let’s hope the adsense team will be able to use all this extra focus to offer us an even better service!