The Bakery Everything CakePHP

Pagination in Cake 1.2 is very simple to set up and use. There is not much to it. I'll just walk you through step by step getting a basic table with pagination going. From there its on you to explore the more advanced options that exist.

A Quick Walk Through

For this example we'll use a Customer Model. So we'll be displaying a list of customers and sorting them and paging through them.

You do not need to do anything special in your Model

Model Class:

Download code <?php 
class Customer extends AppModel {
  
    var $name = "Customer";
}
?>
In your controller just add the $paginate variable. It tells the system to start and page 1, and show 15 entries per page. You will call the paginate function from the controller to generate the data list.

Controller Class:

Download code <?php 
class CustomersController extends AppController {

    var $name = 'Customers';

    var $paginate = array('limit' => 15, 'page' => 1);

    function display() {
        $this->set('customers', $this->paginate('Customer'));
    }
}
?>
And lastly in your view you will wants to use the $paginator to display your data. You view will look something like this. This will be the file /views/customers/display.ctp.

View Template:

Download code Showing Page <?php echo $paginator->counter(); ?>
<table>
    <tr>
        <th><?php echo $paginator->sort('Customer Name', 'name');?></th>
        <th><?php echo $paginator->sort('Store Location', 'store');?></th>
    </tr>
<?php foreach($customers as $customer): ?>
    <tr>
        <td><?php echo $customer['Customer']['name']; ?></td>
        <td><?php echo $customer['Customer']['store']; ?></td>
    </tr>
<?php endforeach; ?>
</table>
<?php echo $paginator->prev(); ?>
<?php echo $paginator->numbers(); ?>
<?php echo $paginator->next(); ?>


Yes, it is that simple. You might say that was "Cake".

Further Reading

There are two parts to pagination with CakePHP. The paginate function within the controller and the $paginator helper within the view. All of the options for these can be found in the 1.2 API documentation.

The paginate function is used to define your data set. You can pass in parameters to screen out certain data, perhaps only display customers from a certain store. This function is assisted by the $paginate variable in the controller which has a few options such as rows per page and default sort order.

The paginator helper does a great job of supporting Ajax pagination. Information is available in the API, but more information should come in a later tutorial on advanced pagination abilities. For now, the only real good tip I have is that you have to always use arrays when passing in custom urls.

You paginator Ajax links might look like this:
Download code <?php echo 
$paginator->sort('Article Name', 'name', array('url'=>
            array('controller'=>'Articles', 'action'=>'index'),
            'update'=>'ArticleListTable')); ?> But like I said there is a lot to this. Ajax and Url handling will need a tutorial of its own.

Tips & Hints

To set a default sort order use the $paginate variable like this:
Download code // in your Controller
var $paginate = array('order'=>array('name' => 'desc'));
You can use images for your prev and next links. You have to use the escape option.
Download code <?php echo $paginator->link('<img src="myimage.jpg">', array('escape'=>false))?>
It is possible to have more than one paginator within a controller and view. You just have to specify the Model that you are going to use everywhere.
Download code // this goes in the Controller
var $paginate = array('Article' => array('limit'=>25), 'Customer'=>array('limit'=>10));

<!-- these will go in the view -->
<?php echo $paginator->sort('Article Sort', 'id', array('model'=>'Article')); ?>
<?php echo $paginator->sort('Customer Name', 'name', array('model'=>'Customer')); ?>

The counter function of the $paginator helper is very powerful, giving you access to all kinds of data that you might want to display. Thanks to Gwoo for this lovely little piece of code.
Download code <?php 
echo $paginator->counter(array(
        'format' => 'Page %page% of %pages%, showing %current% records out of %count% total, starting on record %start%, ending on %end%'
)); 
?>