CakePHP 2.1.0 just landed
Checkout the new version on the popular PHP framework. Cool surprises included!
The CakePHP core team is very excited to announce the immediate availability of CakePHP 2.1.0 stable. As noted in the previous releases, this version is fully backwards compatible with 2.0.6, making it a breeze to update your apps to start taking advantage of the many improvements that made into this release. We are not going to release any new versions for the 2.0.x branch, and any future bug fix will be done into the 2.1 branch.
In total, there were over 90 commits and a few minor enhancements added to this final release, since our last candidate. A complete list of the changes can be viewed in the changelogs page [2]. This is a quick list of version 2.1 highlights.
Content Type Views
Two new view classes have been added to CakePHP. The new JsonView and XmlView allow you to more easily generate XML and JSON views.
Extending views
The View class has a new method allowing you to wrap or ‘extend’ a view/element/layout with another file.
Plugin.view
All layout/view/element names can now use Plugin.view to indicate that a plugin view should be used. The plugin option for View::element() is deprecated.
Improved errors
The debug() function output is now cleaner and more readable. We have also added interactive stack traces to exception pages.
General purpose event system
A new, generic event system has been built and it replaces the way callbacks are dispatched. You can dispatch your own events and attach callbacks to them at will.
Testing
Fixtures can be created in datasources other than $test.
A new TestShell has been added. It reduces the typing required to run unit tests, and offers a file path based UI:
::
Console/cake test app/Model/Post.php Console/cake test app/Controller/PostsController.php
Callback priorities
Callbacks for Helpers, Behaviors, and Components now support priorities, this helps more easily control the order in which callbacks are fired.
ThemeView is now deprecated
We’ve merged all the ThemeView functionality into the View class. Easier theme support!
Improved HTTP caching
Added several new methods in CakeResponse class to fine-tune options for HTTP caching. RequestHandlerComponent will now stop the view rendering process if it detects the client has a cached version of the resource.
Most helpers converted to utility libs
We have now refactored some helpers into libraries like CakeTime and CakeNumber. Importing one of those libs is as easy as App::uses(‘String’, ‘Utility’) and use it as follows String::truncate($text);
Deep saving
saveAll and friends ( saveMany, saveAssociated, validateAssociated …) now accept a new deep option param. For instance you can save the Author, Posts and related comments in just one call. You can also set the fieldList option to these methods, to provide a set of fields that are allowed to be saved.
New ACL engine
In addition to the good old database ACL engine, we have added a new one based on configuration files. This is a great alternative to the database solution for those who want to get a speedy permissions checking system when not requiring a database to dynamically manage permissions.
HtmlHelper::media()
The HtmlHelper gained a new media() method to generate HTML5 compatible audio and video tags with support for multiple alternate sources.
Other improvements and changes
- Updated minimum PHP version requirement to 5.2.8 due to PHP bugs #44251 and #45748
- Paginator helper now accepts an option to set the default class for the “current” page link
- Extending non-existing views will throw an exception
- Extending views using an absolute path (relative to the View folder) is now possible
- Most view files in the cake core such as home.ctp and the default layout were moved into the app folder.
- Query params are now shown in database log when using prepared statements
- Transaction commands (BEGIN, COMMIT, ROLLBACK) are now shown in database log
- Added Set::nest() and Set::get(). The former is used to created a nested array out of a plain one using an array key as reference. Set::get() is used to access any array value using dot notation.
- Added Router::defaultRouteClass() to get/set the default Route class. This makes it easy to set a global default, useful for slug routes or i18n.
- I18n::translate() now accepts a new $language param. It also now exposes methods to read .po files, useful for custom translation interfaces.`
- Authenticate objects can now receive a ‘recursive’ option to limit data returned in queries used for finding users.
- <!–nocache–> tags now work inside elements correctly.
- FormHelper now omits disabled fields from the secured fields hash. This makes working with SecurityComponent and disabled inputs easier.
- The between option when used in conjunction with radio inputs, now behaves differently. The between value is now placed between the legend and first input elements.
- The hiddenField option with checkbox inputs can now be set to a specific value such as ‘N’ rather than just 0.
- The for attribute for date + time inputs now reflects the first generated input. This may result in the for attribute changing for generated datetime inputs.
- When using Media view setting the extension variable is now optional. If not provided its extracted from the id (aka filename)
One of the cool suprises we were saving for you, is the addition of a new site to the CakePHP domain. The new plugins repository site [4] aims to be the single reference and search start point for any extensions, plugins and applications done using CakePHP. Check it out at https://plugins.cakephp.org
Additionally we have done a major facelift to the CakePHP homepage [4] and the online manual [5], which among other cool things, have a fluid layout that will adapt to smaller screen sizes such as your mobiles phones or tablets. We are still working hard to get the rest of the sites done to match our new look.
For those wanting to ease deployment process of your cakephp applications, we have created our new PEAR channel [6] for the framework. This will help you keep up-to-date with new security fixes and latest enhancements. Just go to the website and follow the instructions!
As always, thanks to the friendly CakePHP community for the patches, documentation changes and new tickets. Without you there would be no CakePHP!
- Download a packaged release [1]
- View the changelog [2]