Gii is the extension, that provides a web-based code generator for generating models, forms, modules, CRUD, and so forth.
By default, the following generators are available −
- Model Generator − Generates an ActiveRecord class for the specified database table.
- CRUD Generator − Generates a controller and views that implement CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) operations for the specified model.
- Controller Generator − Generates a new controller class with one or several controller actions and their corresponding views.
- Form Generator − Generates a view script file that displays a form to collect input for the specified model class.
- Module Generator − Generates the skeleton code needed by an Yii module.
- Extension Generator − GenerateS the files needed by a Yii extension.
To open the gii generation tool, type http://localhost:8080/index.php?r=gii: in the address bar of the web browser.
Preparing the DB
Step 1 − Create a new database. Database can be prepared in the following two ways −
- In the terminal run mysql -u root –p
- Create a new database via CREATE DATABASE helloworld CHARACTER SET utf8 COLLATE utf8_general_ci;
Step 2 − Configure the database connection in the config/db.php file. The following configuration is for the system used currently.
<?php
return [
'class' => 'yii\db\Connection',
'dsn' => 'mysql:host=localhost;dbname=helloworld',
'username' => 'vladimir',
'password' => '12345',
'charset' => 'utf8',
];
?>
Step 3 − Inside the root folder run ./yii migrate/create test_table. This command will create a database migration for managing our DB. The migration file should appear in the migrations folder of the project root.
Step 4 − Modify the migration file (m160106_163154_test_table.php in this case) this way.
<?php
use yii\db\Schema;
use yii\db\Migration;
class m160106_163154_test_table extends Migration {
public function safeUp() {
$this->createTable("user", [
"id" => Schema::TYPE_PK,
"name" => Schema::TYPE_STRING,
"email" => Schema::TYPE_STRING,
]);
$this->batchInsert("user", ["name", "email"], [
["User1", "user1@gmail.com"],
["User2", "user2@gmail.com"],
["User3", "user3@gmail.com"],
["User4", "user4@gmail.com"],
["User5", "user5@gmail.com"],
["User6", "user6@gmail.com"],
["User7", "user7@gmail.com"],
["User8", "user8@gmail.com"],
["User9", "user9@gmail.com"],
["User10", "user10@gmail.com"],
["User11", "user11@gmail.com"],
]);
}
public function safeDown() {
$this->dropTable('user');
}
}
?>
The above migration creates a user table with these fields: id, name, and email. It also adds a few demo users.
Step 5 − Inside the project root run ./yii migrate to apply the migration to the database.
Step 6 − Now, we need to create a model for our user table. For the sake of simplicity, we are going to use the Gii code generation tool. Open up this url: http://localhost:8080/index.php?r=gii. Then, click the “Start” button under the “Model generator” header. Fill in the Table Name (“user”) and the Model Class (“MyUser”), click the “Preview” button and finally, click the “Generate” button.
