Update Multiple Records using Multi-Actions in CakePHP

In this CakePHP tutorial I will explain how to update multiple records in a single action. This will typically be used as an extension to the index views in your application, allowing a user to select which rows they would like to update, and then performing an action.

The Multi-Action Function

The first thing we need to do is add a function to your controller to handle all of the multi-actions we will be creating. It will check to see if a multi-action is allowed, and will call that action. I have also included a function called multiFlash to handle multiple messages to display back to the user after a redirect. I prefer to use app_controller.php because then I do not need to put the code into every controller. app_controller.php

<?php
class AppController extends Controller {
	var $multiActions = array();

	function multi() {
		if (!isset($this->data['action']) || !count($this->data['action'])) {
			$this->_flash(__('Action was not defined in request.', true),'error');
			$this->redirect($this->referer(), null, true);
		}
		foreach ($this->data['action'] as $action=>$v){}
		if (!in_array($action,(array)$this->multiActions)) {
			$this->_flash(__(sprintf('Action %s is not allowed.',$action), true),'error');
			$this->redirect($this->referer(), null, true);
		}
		if (!method_exists($this,$action)) {
			$this->_flash(__(sprintf('Action %s is invalid.',$action), true),'error');
			$this->redirect($this->referer(), null, true);
		}
		$this->$action();
	}

	function admin_multi() {
		$this->multi();
	}

	function _flash($message,$type='message') {
		$messages = (array)$this->Session->read('Message.multiFlash');
		$messages[] = array('message'=>$message, 'layout'=>'default', 'params'=>array('class'=>$type));
		$this->Session->write('Message.multiFlash', $messages);
	}

?>

The Multi-Delete Function

This action will handle deleting all of the records that are selected. This code goes inside your controller to handle the deleting of the selected records. There is also an action included to list the data. controllers/posts_controller.php

<?php
class PostsController extends AppController {
	var $name = 'Posts';
	var $multiActions = array('admin_multi_delete');
	function admin_index() {
		$this->set('posts',$this->paginate());
	}
	function admin_multi_delete() {
		if (!isset($this->params['form']['record']) || !count($this->params['form']['record'])) {
			$this->_flash(__('No records selected.', true),'warning');
			$this->redirect($this->referer(), null, true);
		}
		$ids = array();
		foreach ($this->params['form']['record'] as $id=>$v) {
			if ($v == 1) {
				if ($this->Post->del($id)) {
					$this->_flash(__(sprintf('Deleted record %d.',$id),true),'success');
				}
				else {
					$this->_flash(__(sprintf('Could not delete record %d.',$id),true),'error');
				}
			}
		}
		$this->redirect($this->referer(), null, true);
	}
}
?>

Display The Messages

We want to display a message to the user for each row we handled. views/layouts/default.php

<div id="messages">
<?php
        if ($session->check('Message.flash')) $session->flash();
        if ($messages = $session->read('Message.multiFlash')) {
                foreach($messages as $k=>$v) $session->flash('multiFlash.'.$k);
        }
?>
</div>

Display The Records

In our index view we want to provide a checkbox for each row, and a submit button so the user can choose which action they would like to take. views/posts/index.ctp

<?php echo $form->create('Post',array('id'=>'PostListForm','url'=>array('controller'=>'posts','action'=>'multi')));?>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="listTable">
	<tr>
		<th><span class="select_all">a</span>|<span class="select_none">n</span></th>
		<th><?php echo $paginator->sort(__('ID',true),'id');?></th>
		<th><?php echo $paginator->sort(__('Name',true),'name');?></th>
		<th class="actions"><?php __('Actions');?></th>
	</tr>
	<?php
	$i = 0;
	foreach ($posts as $post):
		$class = ($i&1)?' class="altrow"':'';
	?>
		<tr<?php echo $class;?>>
			<td>
				<?php echo $form->input($post['Post']['id'],array(
					'type'=>'checkbox',
					'label'=>false,
					'name'=>'record['.$post['Post']['id'].']',
					'id'=>'listRecord_'.$post['Post']['id'],
				)); ?>
			</td>
			<td>
				<?php echo $post['Post']['id']; ?>
			</td>
			<td>
				<?php echo $post['Post']['name']; ?>
			</td>
			<td class="actions">
				<?php echo $html->link(__('View', true), array('action'=>'view', $post['Post']['id'])); ?>
				<?php echo $html->link(__('Edit', true), array('action'=>'edit', $post['Post']['id'])); ?>
				<?php echo $html->link(__('Delete', true), array('action'=>'delete', $post['Post']['id']), null, sprintf(__('Are you sure you want to delete # %s?', true), $post['Post']['id'])); ?>
			</td>
		</tr>
	<?php endforeach; ?>
</table>
<div class="multi_actions">
	<input type="submit" name="data[action][admin_multi_delete]" value="Delete" onclick="return confirm('<?php __('Are you sure you want to delete the selected records?'); ?>');"/>
</div>

<?php echo $form->end();?>
<?php echo $this->element('paging');?>

A Touch of JavaScript

Some JavaScript to hilight a hover and auto-select the checkboxes when the row is clicked. This requires jQuery.

$(document).ready(function() {

    // tr hover
	$('.listTable tr').hover(function(){
   		if (!$(this).is('.disabled')) {
			$(this).addClass('hover');
		}
	},function(){
		$(this).removeClass('hover');
	});

	// tr click
	$('.listTable td').click(function(){
   		if (!$(this).parents('tr').is('.disabled') && !$(this).is('.disabled') && !$(this).is('.actions')) {
			toggleTableRow($(this).parents('tr'));
		}
	});

	// select none
	$('.select_none').click(function(){
		$('.listTable tr').each(function(){
			toggleTableRow(this,'off');
		});
	});

	// select all
	$('.select_all').click(function(){
		$('.listTable tr').each(function(){
			toggleTableRow(this,'on');
		});
	});

	// init, all off
	$('.listTable tr').each(function(){
		toggleTableRow(this,'off');
	});

	// function to tolle a tr on/off
	function toggleTableRow(e,toggle){
		if (toggle=='off') {
			$(e).find('input').attr('checked',false);
			$(e).removeClass('selected');
		}
		else if (toggle=='on') {
			$(e).find('input').attr('checked',true);
			$(e).addClass('selected');
		}
		else if ($(e).is('.selected')) {
			$(e).find('input').attr('checked',false);
			$(e).removeClass('selected');
		}
		else {
			$(e).find('input').attr('checked',true);
			$(e).addClass('selected');
		}
	}

});

Tidy it up with some CSS

This will give the hover and selected rows a highlight colour.

.listTable tr.hover td {
	background:#FBFFDF;
}
.listTable tr.selected td {
	background:#FFFABF;
}
.select_all,
.select_none {
	cursor: pointer;
}
.multi_actions {
	font-size: 70%;
	border: 1px solid #C1DAD7;
	border-top: 0;
	margin: 0;
}
.multi_actions_text {
	font-size: 130%;
}

The Final Product

Here is some screenshots from an application using the multi-delete function.

Attachment	Size
updating-multiple-records-cakephp-using-multi-actions_1.jpg	25.27 KB
updating-multiple-records-cakephp-using-multi-actions_2.jpg	26.1 KB
updating-multiple-records-cakephp-using-multi-actions_3.jpg	22.79 KB