W3cubDocs

/CakePHP 4.4

Class HtmlHelper

Html Helper class for easy use of HTML widgets.

HtmlHelper encloses all methods needed while working with HTML pages.

Namespace: Cake\View\Helper
Link: https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html

Property Summary

  • $Url public @property
    Cake\View\Helper\UrlHelper
  • $_View protected
    Cake\View\View

    The View instance this helper is attached to

  • $_config protected
    array<string, mixed>

    Runtime config

  • $_configInitialized protected
    bool

    Whether the config property has already been configured with defaults

  • $_defaultConfig protected
    array<string, mixed>

    Default config for this class

  • $_helperMap protected
    array<string, array>

    A helper lookup table used to lazy load helper objects.

  • $_includedAssets protected
    array<string, array>

    Names of script & css files that have been included once

  • $_scriptBlockOptions protected
    array<string, mixed>

    Options for the currently opened script block buffer if any.

  • $_templater protected
    Cake\View\StringTemplate|null

    StringTemplate instance.

  • $helpers protected
    array

    List of helpers used by this helper

Method Summary

  • __call() public

    Provide non fatal errors on missing method calls.

  • __construct() public

    Default Constructor

  • __debugInfo() public

    Returns an array that can be used to describe the internal state of this object.

  • __get() public

    Lazy loads helpers.

  • _configDelete() protected

    Deletes a single config key.

  • _configRead() protected

    Reads a config key.

  • _configWrite() protected

    Writes a config key.

  • _confirm() protected

    Returns a string to be used as onclick handler for confirm dialogs.

  • _nestedListItem() protected

    Internal function to build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.

  • _renderCells() protected

    Renders cells for a row of a table.

  • addClass() public

    Adds the given class to the element options

  • charset() public

    Returns a charset META-tag.

  • configShallow() public

    Merge provided config with existing config. Unlike config() which does a recursive merge for nested keys, this method does a simple merge.

  • css() public

    Creates a link element for CSS stylesheets.

  • div() public

    Returns a formatted DIV tag for HTML FORMs.

  • formatTemplate() public

    Formats a template string with $data

  • getConfig() public

    Returns the config.

  • getConfigOrFail() public

    Returns the config for this specific key.

  • getTemplates() public

    Gets templates to use or a specific template.

  • getView() public

    Get the view instance this helper is bound to.

  • image() public

    Creates a formatted IMG element.

  • implementedEvents() public

    Event listeners.

  • initialize() public

    Constructor hook method.

  • link() public

    Creates an HTML link.

  • linkFromPath() public

    Creates an HTML link from route path string.

  • media() public

    Returns an audio/video element

  • meta() public

    Creates a link to an external resource and handles basic meta tags

  • nestedList() public

    Build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.

  • para() public

    Returns a formatted P tag.

  • script() public

    Returns one or many <script> tags depending on the number of scripts given.

  • scriptBlock() public

    Wrap $script in a script tag.

  • scriptEnd() public

    End a Buffered section of JavaScript capturing. Generates a script tag inline or appends to specified view block depending on the settings used when the scriptBlock was started

  • scriptStart() public

    Begin a script block that captures output until HtmlHelper::scriptEnd() is called. This capturing block will capture all output between the methods and create a scriptBlock from it.

  • setConfig() public

    Sets the config.

  • setTemplates() public

    Sets templates to use.

  • style() public

    Builds CSS style data from an array of CSS properties

  • tableCell() public

    Renders a single table cell (A TD with attributes).

  • tableCells() public

    Returns a formatted string of table rows (TR's with TD's in them).

  • tableHeaders() public

    Returns a row of formatted and named TABLE headers.

  • tableRow() public

    Renders a single table row (A TR with attributes).

  • tag() public

    Returns a formatted block tag, i.e DIV, SPAN, P.

  • templater() public

    Returns the templater instance.

Method Detail

__call() public 

__call(string $method, array $params): mixed|void

Provide non fatal errors on missing method calls.

Parameters

string $method

Method to invoke

array $params

Array of params for the method.

Returns

mixed|void

__construct() public 

__construct(Cake\View\View $view, array<string, mixed> $config = [])

Default Constructor

Parameters

Cake\View\View $view

The View this helper is being attached to.

array<string, mixed> $config optional

Configuration settings for the helper.

__debugInfo() public 

__debugInfo(): array<string, mixed>

Returns an array that can be used to describe the internal state of this object.

Returns

array<string, mixed>

__get() public 

__get(string $name): Cake\View\Helper|null|void

Lazy loads helpers.

Parameters

string $name

Name of the property being accessed.

Returns

Cake\View\Helper|null|void

_configDelete() protected 

_configDelete(string $key): void

Deletes a single config key.

Parameters

string $key

Key to delete.

Returns

void

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\CakeException
if attempting to clobber existing config

_configRead() protected 

_configRead(string|null $key): mixed

Reads a config key.

Parameters

string|null $key

Key to read.

Returns

mixed

_configWrite() protected 

_configWrite(array<string, mixed>|string $key, mixed $value, string|bool $merge = false): void

Writes a config key.

Parameters

array<string, mixed>|string $key

Key to write to.

mixed $value

Value to write.

string|bool $merge optional

True to merge recursively, 'shallow' for simple merge, false to overwrite, defaults to false.

Returns

void

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\CakeException
if attempting to clobber existing config

_confirm() protected 

_confirm(string $okCode, string $cancelCode): string

Returns a string to be used as onclick handler for confirm dialogs.

Parameters

string $okCode

Code to be executed after user chose 'OK'

string $cancelCode

Code to be executed after user chose 'Cancel'

Returns

string

_nestedListItem() protected 

_nestedListItem(array $items, array<string, mixed> $options, array<string, mixed> $itemOptions): string

Internal function to build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.

Parameters

array $items

Set of elements to list.

array<string, mixed> $options

Additional HTML attributes of the list (ol/ul) tag.

array<string, mixed> $itemOptions

Options and additional HTML attributes of the list item (LI) tag.

Returns

string

See Also

\Cake\View\Helper\HtmlHelper::nestedList()

_renderCells() protected 

_renderCells(array $line, bool $useCount = false): array<string>

Renders cells for a row of a table.

This is a helper method for tableCells(). Overload this method as you need to change the behavior of the cell rendering.

Parameters

array $line

Line data to render.

bool $useCount optional

Renders the count into the row. Default is false.

Returns

array<string>

addClass() public 

addClass(array<string, mixed> $options, string $class, string $key = 'class'): array<string, mixed>

Adds the given class to the element options

Parameters

array<string, mixed> $options

Array options/attributes to add a class to

string $class

The class name being added.

string $key optional

the key to use for class. Defaults to 'class'.

Returns

array<string, mixed>

charset() public 

charset(string|null $charset = null): string

Returns a charset META-tag.

Parameters

string|null $charset optional

The character set to be used in the meta tag. If empty, The App.encoding value will be used. Example: "utf-8".

Returns

string

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-charset-tags

configShallow() public 

configShallow(array<string, mixed>|string $key, mixed|null $value = null): $this

Merge provided config with existing config. Unlike config() which does a recursive merge for nested keys, this method does a simple merge.

Setting a specific value:

$this->configShallow('key', $value);

Setting a nested value:

$this->configShallow('some.nested.key', $value);

Updating multiple config settings at the same time:

$this->configShallow(['one' => 'value', 'another' => 'value']);

Parameters

array<string, mixed>|string $key

The key to set, or a complete array of configs.

mixed|null $value optional

The value to set.

Returns

$this

css() public 

css(array<string>|string $path, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string|null

Creates a link element for CSS stylesheets.

Usage

Include one CSS file:

echo $this->Html->css('styles.css');

Include multiple CSS files:

echo $this->Html->css(['one.css', 'two.css']);

Add the stylesheet to view block "css":

$this->Html->css('styles.css', ['block' => true]);

Add the stylesheet to a custom block:

$this->Html->css('styles.css', ['block' => 'layoutCss']);

Options

  • block Set to true to append output to view block "css" or provide custom block name.
  • once Whether the css file should be checked for uniqueness. If true css files will only be included once, use false to allow the same css to be included more than once per request.
  • plugin False value will prevent parsing path as a plugin
  • rel Defaults to 'stylesheet'. If equal to 'import' the stylesheet will be imported.
  • fullBase If true the URL will get a full address for the css file.

All other options will be treated as HTML attributes. If the request contains a cspStyleNonce attribute, that value will be applied as the nonce attribute on the generated HTML.

Parameters

array<string>|string $path

The name of a CSS style sheet or an array containing names of CSS stylesheets. If $path is prefixed with '/', the path will be relative to the webroot of your application. Otherwise, the path will be relative to your CSS path, usually webroot/css.

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Array of options and HTML arguments.

Returns

string|null

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#linking-to-css-files

div() public 

div(string|null $class = null, string|null $text = null, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Returns a formatted DIV tag for HTML FORMs.

Options

  • escape Whether the contents should be html_entity escaped.

Parameters

string|null $class optional

CSS class name of the div element.

string|null $text optional

String content that will appear inside the div element. If null, only a start tag will be printed

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Additional HTML attributes of the DIV tag

Returns

string

formatTemplate() public 

formatTemplate(string $name, array<string, mixed> $data): string

Formats a template string with $data

Parameters

string $name

The template name.

array<string, mixed> $data

The data to insert.

Returns

string

getConfig() public 

getConfig(string|null $key = null, mixed $default = null): mixed

Returns the config.

Usage

Reading the whole config:

$this->getConfig();

Reading a specific value:

$this->getConfig('key');

Reading a nested value:

$this->getConfig('some.nested.key');

Reading with default value:

$this->getConfig('some-key', 'default-value');

Parameters

string|null $key optional

The key to get or null for the whole config.

mixed $default optional

The return value when the key does not exist.

Returns

mixed

getConfigOrFail() public 

getConfigOrFail(string $key): mixed

Returns the config for this specific key.

The config value for this key must exist, it can never be null.

Parameters

string $key

The key to get.

Returns

mixed

Throws

InvalidArgumentException

getTemplates() public 

getTemplates(string|null $template = null): array|string

Gets templates to use or a specific template.

Parameters

string|null $template optional

String for reading a specific template, null for all.

Returns

array|string

getView() public 

getView(): Cake\View\View

Get the view instance this helper is bound to.

Returns

Cake\View\View

image() public 

image(array|string $path, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Creates a formatted IMG element.

This method will set an empty alt attribute if one is not supplied.

Usage:

Create a regular image:

echo $this->Html->image('cake_icon.png', ['alt' => 'CakePHP']);

Create an image link:

echo $this->Html->image('cake_icon.png', ['alt' => 'CakePHP', 'url' => 'https://cakephp.org']);

Options:

  • url If provided an image link will be generated and the link will point at $options['url'].
  • fullBase If true the src attribute will get a full address for the image file.
  • plugin False value will prevent parsing path as a plugin

Parameters

array|string $path

Path to the image file, relative to the webroot/img/ directory.

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Array of HTML attributes. See above for special options.

Returns

string

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#linking-to-images

implementedEvents() public 

implementedEvents(): array<string, mixed>

Event listeners.

By defining one of the callback methods a helper is assumed to be interested in the related event.

Override this method if you need to add non-conventional event listeners. Or if you want helpers to listen to non-standard events.

Returns

array<string, mixed>

initialize() public 

initialize(array<string, mixed> $config): void

Constructor hook method.

Implement this method to avoid having to overwrite the constructor and call parent.

Parameters

array<string, mixed> $config

The configuration settings provided to this helper.

Returns

void

link() public 

link(array|string $title, array|string|null $url = null, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Creates an HTML link.

If $url starts with "http://" this is treated as an external link. Else, it is treated as a path to controller/action and parsed with the UrlHelper::build() method.

If the $url is empty, $title is used instead.

Options

  • escape Set to false to disable escaping of title and attributes.
  • escapeTitle Set to false to disable escaping of title. Takes precedence over value of escape)
  • confirm JavaScript confirmation message.

Parameters

array|string $title

The content to be wrapped by <a> tags. Can be an array if $url is null. If $url is null, $title will be used as both the URL and title.

array|string|null $url optional

Cake-relative URL or array of URL parameters, or external URL (starts with http://)

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Array of options and HTML attributes.

Returns

string

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-links

linkFromPath() public 

linkFromPath(string $title, string $path, array $params = [], array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Creates an HTML link from route path string.

Options

  • escape Set to false to disable escaping of title and attributes.
  • escapeTitle Set to false to disable escaping of title. Takes precedence over value of escape)
  • confirm JavaScript confirmation message.

Parameters

string $title

The content to be wrapped by <a> tags.

string $path

Cake-relative route path.

array $params optional

An array specifying any additional parameters. Can be also any special parameters supported by Router::url().

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Array of options and HTML attributes.

Returns

string

See Also

\Cake\Routing\Router::pathUrl()

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-links

media() public 

media(array|string $path, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Returns an audio/video element

Usage

Using an audio file:

echo $this->Html->media('audio.mp3', ['fullBase' => true]);

Outputs:

<video src="http://www.somehost.com/files/audio.mp3">Fallback text</video>

Using a video file:

echo $this->Html->media('video.mp4', ['text' => 'Fallback text']);

Outputs:

<video src="/files/video.mp4">Fallback text</video>

Using multiple video files:

echo $this->Html->media(
     ['video.mp4', ['src' => 'video.ogv', 'type' => "video/ogg; codecs='theora, vorbis'"]],
     ['tag' => 'video', 'autoplay']
);

Outputs:

<video autoplay="autoplay">
     <source src="/files/video.mp4" type="video/mp4"/>
     <source src="/files/video.ogv" type="video/ogv; codecs='theora, vorbis'"/>
</video>

Options

  • tag Type of media element to generate, either "audio" or "video". If tag is not provided it's guessed based on file's mime type.
  • text Text to include inside the audio/video tag
  • pathPrefix Path prefix to use for relative URLs, defaults to 'files/'
  • fullBase If provided the src attribute will get a full address including domain name

Parameters

array|string $path

Path to the video file, relative to the webroot/{$options['pathPrefix']} directory. Or an array where each item itself can be a path string or an associate array containing keys src and type

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Array of HTML attributes, and special options above.

Returns

string

meta() public 

meta(array<string, mixed>|string $type, array|string|null $content = null, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string|null

Creates a link to an external resource and handles basic meta tags

Create a meta tag that is output inline:

$this->Html->meta('icon', 'favicon.ico');

Append the meta tag to custom view block "meta":

$this->Html->meta('description', 'A great page', ['block' => true]);

Append the meta tag to custom view block:

$this->Html->meta('description', 'A great page', ['block' => 'metaTags']);

Create a custom meta tag:

$this->Html->meta(['property' => 'og:site_name', 'content' => 'CakePHP']);

Options

  • block - Set to true to append output to view block "meta" or provide custom block name.

Parameters

array<string, mixed>|string $type

The title of the external resource, Or an array of attributes for a custom meta tag.

array|string|null $content optional

The address of the external resource or string for content attribute

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Other attributes for the generated tag. If the type attribute is html, rss, atom, or icon, the mime-type is returned.

Returns

string|null

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-meta-tags

nestedList() public 

nestedList(array $list, array<string, mixed> $options = [], array<string, mixed> $itemOptions = []): string

Build a nested list (UL/OL) out of an associative array.

Options for $options:

  • tag - Type of list tag to use (ol/ul)

Options for $itemOptions:

  • even - Class to use for even rows.
  • odd - Class to use for odd rows.

Parameters

array $list

Set of elements to list

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Options and additional HTML attributes of the list (ol/ul) tag.

array<string, mixed> $itemOptions optional

Options and additional HTML attributes of the list item (LI) tag.

Returns

string

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-nested-lists

para() public 

para(string|null $class, string|null $text, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Returns a formatted P tag.

Options

  • escape Whether the contents should be html_entity escaped.

Parameters

string|null $class

CSS class name of the p element.

string|null $text

String content that will appear inside the p element.

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Additional HTML attributes of the P tag

Returns

string

script() public 

script(array<string>|string $url, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string|null

Returns one or many <script> tags depending on the number of scripts given.

If the filename is prefixed with "/", the path will be relative to the base path of your application. Otherwise, the path will be relative to your JavaScript path, usually webroot/js.

Usage

Include one script file:

echo $this->Html->script('styles.js');

Include multiple script files:

echo $this->Html->script(['one.js', 'two.js']);

Add the script file to a custom block:

$this->Html->script('styles.js', ['block' => 'bodyScript']);

Options

  • block Set to true to append output to view block "script" or provide custom block name.
  • once Whether the script should be checked for uniqueness. If true scripts will only be included once, use false to allow the same script to be included more than once per request.
  • plugin False value will prevent parsing path as a plugin
  • fullBase If true the url will get a full address for the script file.

All other options will be added as attributes to the generated script tag. If the current request has a cspScriptNonce attribute, that value will be inserted as a nonce attribute on the script tag.

Parameters

array<string>|string $url

String or array of javascript files to include

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Array of options, and html attributes see above.

Returns

string|null

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#linking-to-javascript-files

scriptBlock() public 

scriptBlock(string $script, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string|null

Wrap $script in a script tag.

Options

  • block Set to true to append output to view block "script" or provide custom block name.

Parameters

string $script

The script to wrap

array<string, mixed> $options optional

The options to use. Options not listed above will be treated as HTML attributes.

Returns

string|null

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-inline-javascript-blocks

scriptEnd() public 

scriptEnd(): string|null

End a Buffered section of JavaScript capturing. Generates a script tag inline or appends to specified view block depending on the settings used when the scriptBlock was started

Returns

string|null

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-inline-javascript-blocks

scriptStart() public 

scriptStart(array<string, mixed> $options = []): void

Begin a script block that captures output until HtmlHelper::scriptEnd() is called. This capturing block will capture all output between the methods and create a scriptBlock from it.

Options

  • block Set to true to append output to view block "script" or provide custom block name.

Parameters

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Options for the code block.

Returns

void

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-inline-javascript-blocks

setConfig() public 

setConfig(array<string, mixed>|string $key, mixed|null $value = null, bool $merge = true): $this

Sets the config.

Usage

Setting a specific value:

$this->setConfig('key', $value);

Setting a nested value:

$this->setConfig('some.nested.key', $value);

Updating multiple config settings at the same time:

$this->setConfig(['one' => 'value', 'another' => 'value']);

Parameters

array<string, mixed>|string $key

The key to set, or a complete array of configs.

mixed|null $value optional

The value to set.

bool $merge optional

Whether to recursively merge or overwrite existing config, defaults to true.

Returns

$this

Throws

Cake\Core\Exception\CakeException
When trying to set a key that is invalid.

setTemplates() public 

setTemplates(array<string> $templates): $this

Sets templates to use.

Parameters

array<string> $templates

Templates to be added.

Returns

$this

style() public 

style(array<string, string> $data, bool $oneLine = true): string

Builds CSS style data from an array of CSS properties

Usage:

echo $this->Html->style(['margin' => '10px', 'padding' => '10px'], true);

// creates
'margin:10px;padding:10px;'

Parameters

array<string, string> $data

Style data array, keys will be used as property names, values as property values.

bool $oneLine optional

Whether the style block should be displayed on one line.

Returns

string

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-css-programatically

tableCell() public 

tableCell(string $content, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Renders a single table cell (A TD with attributes).

Parameters

string $content

The content of the cell.

array<string, mixed> $options optional

HTML attributes.

Returns

string

tableCells() public 

tableCells(array|string $data, array<string, mixed>|bool|null $oddTrOptions = null, array<string, mixed>|bool|null $evenTrOptions = null, bool $useCount = false, bool $continueOddEven = true): string

Returns a formatted string of table rows (TR's with TD's in them).

Parameters

array|string $data

Array of table data

array<string, mixed>|bool|null $oddTrOptions optional

HTML options for odd TR elements if true useCount is used

array<string, mixed>|bool|null $evenTrOptions optional

HTML options for even TR elements

bool $useCount optional

adds class "column-$i"

bool $continueOddEven optional

If false, will use a non-static $count variable, so that the odd/even count is reset to zero just for that call.

Returns

string

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-table-cells

tableHeaders() public 

tableHeaders(array $names, array<string, mixed>|null $trOptions = null, array<string, mixed>|null $thOptions = null): string

Returns a row of formatted and named TABLE headers.

Parameters

array $names

Array of tablenames. Each tablename can be string, or array with name and an array with a set of attributes to its specific tag

array<string, mixed>|null $trOptions optional

HTML options for TR elements.

array<string, mixed>|null $thOptions optional

HTML options for TH elements.

Returns

string

Links

https://book.cakephp.org/4/en/views/helpers/html.html#creating-table-headings

tableRow() public 

tableRow(string $content, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Renders a single table row (A TR with attributes).

Parameters

string $content

The content of the row.

array<string, mixed> $options optional

HTML attributes.

Returns

string

tag() public 

tag(string $name, string|null $text = null, array<string, mixed> $options = []): string

Returns a formatted block tag, i.e DIV, SPAN, P.

Options

  • escape Whether the contents should be html_entity escaped.

Parameters

string $name

Tag name.

string|null $text optional

String content that will appear inside the HTML element. If null, only a start tag will be printed

array<string, mixed> $options optional

Additional HTML attributes of the HTML tag, see above.

Returns

string

templater() public 

templater(): Cake\View\StringTemplate

Returns the templater instance.

Returns

Cake\View\StringTemplate

Property Detail

$Url public @property

Type

Cake\View\Helper\UrlHelper

$_View protected

The View instance this helper is attached to

Type

Cake\View\View

$_config protected

Runtime config

Type

array<string, mixed>

$_configInitialized protected

Whether the config property has already been configured with defaults

Type

bool

$_defaultConfig protected

Default config for this class

Type

array<string, mixed>

$_helperMap protected

A helper lookup table used to lazy load helper objects.

Type

array<string, array>

$_includedAssets protected

Names of script & css files that have been included once

Type

array<string, array>

$_scriptBlockOptions protected

Options for the currently opened script block buffer if any.

Type

array<string, mixed>

$_templater protected

StringTemplate instance.

Type

Cake\View\StringTemplate|null

$helpers protected

List of helpers used by this helper

Type

array

© 2005–present The Cake Software Foundation, Inc.
Licensed under the MIT License.
CakePHP is a registered trademark of Cake Software Foundation, Inc.
We are not endorsed by or affiliated with CakePHP.
https://api.cakephp.org/4.4/class-Cake.View.Helper.HtmlHelper.html