General principles of models

Model in MV framework is PHP class and SQL table managed by this class.

Main rules of Model:

1. The name of PHP class should start with the name of the model, for example: "pages.model.php", "gallery.model.php".
2. The files of model classes should be located in "/models/" folder in the root of project.
3. The PHP class of model should be inherited from "Model" class.
4. The model class should have a property called "$name", which is the text name of model.
5. The model class should have a property called "$model_elements", which is an array of the fields for this model, the same as fields of table in a database.
6. Data types are the components which model fields from "$model_elements" property are based on.
7. SQL table of the Model should have the same name as a model's class name but in lower registry, such as "pages", "gallery".
8. The field names of the table are to be the same as model fields in "$model_elements" array (the field name in SQL table is 3rd element of an array).
9. The SQL table should have an integer field called "id", which should be a primary key and has an "auto increment" attribute.
10. To activate the model you should specify it in "config/models.php" file, where the model name should be added into "$mvActiveModels" array, after that the model becomes available both in admin interface and front-end part of the website.

Sample 1 Text blocks

"Blocks" PHP class located in "models/blocks.model.php" file.

<?
class Blocks extends Model
{
    protected $name = "Text blocks";

    protected $model_elements = array(
        array("Activation", "bool", "active"),
        array("Name", "char", "name"),
        array("Content", "text", "content")
    );
}
?>

SQL table in database with the same name "blocks" (MySQL).

CREATE TABLE `blocks` (
  `id` int(11) NOT NULL AUTO_INCREMENT,
  `active` tinyint(4),
  `name` varchar(200),
  `content` text,
   PRIMARY KEY (`id`),
)  ENGINE=MyISAM DEFAULT CHARSET=utf8;

After the installation of MV there are 3 pre-installed models:

1. Pages (menu pages)
2. Blocks (text blocks, fragments)
3. SEO (data for seo optimization)

The database already contains all the required tables for these models. "Pages" table has a few record for a welcome page and some inside pages.

Unlike "Pages" and "Blocks", "SEO" model is a Simple Model, which contains data in a key-value pairs. Read more about this type of models in Simple Models section.

Sample 2 News

<?
class News extends Model 
{
    protected $name = "News";

    protected $model_elements = array(
        array("Active", "bool", "active"),
        array("Name", "char", "name", array("required" => true)),
        array("Section", "enum", "type", array("values_list" => array("politic" => "Politics",
                                                                      "economy" => "Economics",
                                                                      "sport" => "Sport",
                                                                      "culture" => "Culture"))),
        array("Date", "date", "date"),
        array("Text", "text", "content", array("rich_text" => true)),
        array("Comments", "many_to_one", "comments", array("related_model" => "News_Comments", 
                                                           "name_field" => "author"))
    );                    
}
?>

CREATE TABLE "news" (
  "id" INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL, 
  "name" VARCHAR, 
  "type" VARCHAR, 
  "date" VARCHAR, 
  "active" INTEGER, 
  "content" TEXT);

Sample 3 News comments

<?
class News_Comments extends Model
{
    protected $name = "News comments";

    protected $model_elements = array(
        array("Author", "enum", "author", array("foreign_key" => "Authors", 
                                                "name_field" => "email")),
        array("Date", "date_time", "date"),
        array("News", "enum", "news_id", array("foreign_key" => "News")),        
        array("Text", "text", "content")
    );

    protected $name_field = "author";
}
?>

CREATE TABLE "news_comments" (
  "id" INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL,
  "author" INTEGER,
  "date" VARCHAR,
  "news_id" INTEGER,  
  "content" TEXT);

Sample 4 Comments authors

<?
class Authors extends Model
{
    protected $name = "Comments authors";

    protected $model_elements = array(
        array("Name", "char", "name", array("required" => true)),
        array("Email", "email", "email", array("required" => true, "unique" => true)),
        array("Password", "password", "password"),
        array("Comments", "many_to_one", "comments", array("related_model" => "News_Comments",
                                                           "name_field" => "date")),
        array("Photos", "multi_images", "pictures"),
        array("About", "text", "about")
    );
}
?>

CREATE TABLE "authors" (
  "id" INTEGER PRIMARY KEY AUTOINCREMENT NOT NULL,
  "name" VARCHAR,
  "email" VARCHAR, 
  "password" VARCHAR,
  "pictures" TEXT,
  "about" TEXT)