Finders

Finders in PHP ActiveRecord Introduction Finders in PHP ActiveRecord are methods that allow you to retrieve records from a database table based on specific criteria. Finders simplify the process of querying the database by providing a more intuitive and object-oriented approach to building queries.

Basic Finder Methods

PHP ActiveRecord provides a variety of basic finder methods to retrieve records from the database. These methods can be chained together for more complex queries.

1. find() The find() method retrieves one or more records by its primary key(s).

   // Retrieve a user by ID
   $user = User::find(1);
   
   if ($user) {
   echo $user->first_name;
   } else {
   echo "User not found";
   }
   
   // Retrieve using an array of IDs
   $users = User::find(1, 2, 3);
   

2. all() The all() method retrieves all records from the table.

   // Retrieve all users
   $users = User::all();
   
   foreach ($users as $user) {
     echo $user->first_name . '<br>';
   }
   

3. where() The where() method is used to filter records based on specific conditions.

   // Find users with a specific email domain
   $users = User::where('email', 'LIKE', '%example.com')->to_a();
   

   // Find the first user with a specific condition
   $user = User::where('first_name', 'John')->first();
   

4. order_by() The order_by() method allows you to specify the sorting order of the retrieved records.

   // Retrieve users sorted by last name in ascending order
   $users = User::order_by('last_name')->to_a();
   
   // Retrieve users sorted by last name in descending order
   $users = User::order_by_desc('last_name')->to_a();
   

Chaining Finder Methods

You can chain multiple finder methods together to create more complex queries. For example:

// Retrieve all active users with a specific role, sorted by registration date
$activeUsers = User::where('active', true)
  ->where('role', 'admin')
  ->order_by('created_at')
  ->to_a();