Which is the best way to display 'flash messages' in kohana v3?

Question

I would like to know the best way to display flash messages in Kohana v3?

Some tutorials or examples would be helpful.

Medullary

Retaged this question as it is not related with flash (as in adobe's flash tech), but with phh flash data (as in browser session data) – Androus

Flash messages definition: Flash messages are messages displayed in response to user interaction with a site. Typically these are displayed as success or failure messages after performing an action which submits a form, or in response to an attempt to access a resource for which the user does not have permission. – Smallish

Answer 1

Do you mean like Kohana 2.x's flash session variables?

The latest Kohana supports get_once() which is pretty similar to the old flash session variables.

$session = Session::instance();

$session->set('test', 'Hello, World!');

// The session variable is returned and removed.
$test = $session->get_once('test');

Spunk

That's exactly what I meant, the equivalent of $this->Session->setFlash() in cakephp. Thanks! – Medullary

Answer 2

I think the get_once is a great function, but what if you want to keep the data actually separate from the regular data, here's a basic class that overloads "Session" so that you can use "codeigniter" style flashdata calls with any data-store.

<?php defined('SYSPATH') or die('No direct script access.');
abstract class Session extends Kohana_Session {

/**
 * This calls the parent Kohana_Session constructor and processes 
 * new flashdata to flashdata, and flashdata to old flashdata
 *
 * @param   array   configuration
 * @param   string  session id
 * @return  void
 * @uses    Kohana_Session::__construct
 */
public function __construct(array $config = NULL, $id = NULL)
{
    parent::__construct($config,$id);

    if(array_key_exists('___of',$this->_data)){
        //Remove old Flash data
        unset($this->_data['___of']);
    }

    if(array_key_exists('___flash',$this->_data)){
        //Move current last requests flash data to old flash data
        $this->_data['___of'] = $this->_data['___flash'];
        unset($this->_data['___flash']);
    }

    if(array_key_exists('___nf',$this->_data)){
        //Move Last Requests added data to the flash data
        $this->_data['___flash'] = $this->_data['___nf'];
        unset($this->_data['___nf']);
    }
}

/**
 * keeps a variable set in the sessions flashdata array.
 *
 *     $session->set_flashdata('foo', 'bar');
 *
 * @param   string   variable name
 * @param   ...
 * @return  $this
 */
public function keep_flashdata($k)
{
    $args = func_get_args();

    if(array_key_exists('___of',$this->_data)){
        foreach($args as $key){
            if(array_key_exists($key,$this->_data['___of'])){
                //So we were going to trash it...
                $this->set_flashdata($k,$this->_data['___of'][$key],true);
            }
        }
    }

    $this->_data['___nf'][$key] = $value;

    return $this;
}

/**
 * Set a variable in the sessions flashdata array.
 *
 *     $session->set_flashdata('foo', 'bar');
 *
 * @param   string   variable name
 * @param   mixed    value
 * @return  $this
 */
public function set_flashdata($key, $value, $current=false)
{
    if(!array_key_exists('___nf',$this->_data)){
        $this->_data['___nf'] = array();
    }

    $this->_data['___nf'][$key] = $value;

    if($current){
        if(!array_key_exists('___flash',$this->_data)){
            $this->_data['___flash'] = array();
        }
        $this->_data['flash'][$key] = $value;
    }

    return $this;
}

/**
 * Set a variable by reference in the sessions flashdata array.
 *
 *     $session->bind_flashdata('foo', $foo);
 *
 * @param   string  variable name
 * @param   mixed   referenced value
 * @return  $this
 */
public function bind_flashdata($key, & $value)
{
    if(!array_key_exists('___nf',$this->_data)){
        $this->_data['___nf'] = array();
    }

    $this->_data['___nf'][$key] =& $value;

    return $this;
}

/**
 * Removes a variable in the session array.
 *
 *     $session->delete_flashdata('foo');
 *
 * @param   string  variable name
 * @param   ...
 * @return  $this
 */
public function delete_flashdata($key)
{
    $args = func_get_args();

    if(array_key_exists('___nf',$this->_data)){
        foreach ($args as $key)
        {
            if(array_key_exists($key,$this->_data['___nf'])){
                unset($this->_data['___nf'][$key]);
            }
        }
    }
    return $this;
}

/**
 * Get a variable from the sessions flashdata array.
 *
 *     $foo = $session->get_flashdata('foo');
 *
 * @param   string   variable name
 * @param   mixed    default value to return
 * @return  mixed
 */
public function get_flashdata($key, $default = NULL)
{
    if(array_key_exists('___flash',$this->_data) && array_key_exists($key,$this->_data['___flash'])){
        return $this->_data['___flash'][$key];
    } else if(array_key_exists('___nf',$this->_data) && array_key_exists($key,$this->_data['___nf'])){
        return $this->_data['___nf'][$key];
    }

    return $default;
}

/**
 * Get and delete a variable from the session array.
 *
 *     $bar = $session->get_once('bar');
 *
 * @param   string  variable name
 * @param   mixed   default value to return
 * @return  mixed
 */
public function get_flashdata_once($key, $default = NULL)
{
    $value = $this->get_flashdata($key, $default);

    if(array_key_exists($key, $this->_data['___flash'])){
        unset($this->_data['___flash'][$key]);
    }

    if(array_key_exists($key, $this->_data['___nf'])){
        unset($this->_data['___nf'][$key]);
    }

    return $value;
}
}
?>

I realize there was an answer to this, and like i stated before, the get_once method is great and all, but i enjoy auto garbage collection much more.

If you have any improvements on this code, let me know, its been great to me so far.

Thinnish

Answer 3

Have a look at this module, it might be what you are looking for https://github.com/daveWid/message

Retharethink

Answer 4

I've written a really simple class for this once. Check it out below. Usage examples below

class Notice {
    private static $session;
    private static $initialized = false;

    // current notices
    private static $notices = array();

    function __construct() {
    }

    static function init() {
        self::$session = Session::instance();
        self::$notices['current'] = json_decode(self::$session->get_once('flash'));
        if(!is_array(self::$notices['current'])) self::$notices['current'] = array();
        self::$initialized = true;
    }

    static function add($notice, $key=null) {
        if(!self::$initialized) self::init();
        if(!is_null($key)) {
            self::$notices['new'][$key] = $notice;
        } else {
            self::$notices['new'][] = $notice;
        }
        self::$session->set('flash', json_encode(self::$notices['new']));
        return true;
    }

    static function get($item = null) {
        if(!self::$initialized) self::init();
        if($item == null) {
            return self::$notices['current'];
        }
        if(!array_key_exists($item, self::$notices['current']))
                return null;
        return self::$notices['current'][$item];
    }
}

Examples (provided this class is saved as APPPATH . 'classes/notice.php'):

Notice::add('Something great has happened!');
Notice::add('Exciting! I\'ve got something to tell you!', 'message');

echo Notice::get('message'); // "Exciting! I've got ..."
foreach(Notice::get() as $message) {
   echo $i++ . $message .'<br />';
}

EDIT: funny... for some reason this question popped up somewhere, didn't notice it was a really old one... sorry for that!

Instate

Answer 5

I am using https://github.com/synapsestudios/kohana-notices in my project and I am very happy with it.

Stowers