Create a Post Model

The Model class is the bread and butter of CakePHP applications. By creating a CakePHP model that will interact with our database, we'll have the foundation in place needed to do our view, add, edit, and delete operations later.

CakePHP's model class files go in /app/models, and the file we'll be creating will be saved to /app/models/post.php. The completed file should look like this:

Plain Text View

1. 
   
2. class Post extends AppModel {
3. var $name = 'Post';
4. }
5. ?>

Naming convention is very important in CakePHP. By naming our model Post, CakePHP can automatically infer that this model will be used in the PostsController, and will be tied to a database table called posts.

CakePHP will dynamically create a model object for you, if it cannot find a corresponding file in /app/models. This also means, that if you accidentally name your file wrong (i.e. Post.php or posts.php) CakePHP will not recognize any of your settings and will use the defaults instead.

The $name variable is always a good idea to add, and is used to overcome some class name oddness in PHP4.

For more on models, such as table prefixes, callbacks, and validation, check out the Models chapter of the Manual.