As the project grows I had to work on some more complex queries to provide users with better searching facilities.
In this case, you might use two options:
- Straightforward find() function from App::Model (where you’ll have to handle the outpu of data yourself, and trying to fit the search results in your websites layout)
- Use Pagination functionality (which is designed for handling big chunks of data for you)
A simple example: from a small search menu, I need to get the data about item’s price, its type etc, so at this point, find() solution would look like:
$condition = array('OR' => array( 'Item.type' => $this->data['Item']['type'], 'Item.qty' => $this->data['Item']['qty'], ), array('Item.price BETWEEN ? AND ?' => array($start_price,$end_price)) ); $this->('results', $this->Item->find('all', $condition));
Once you set results array in the view template, it will cause you few hours on how to rearrange data presentation, meanwhile you can use Pagination:
/* * I'm going to use the same $condition * the difference will be at the view level and the way of setting the data "results" */ $this->set('results', $this->paginate('Item', $condition);
And in the view you might add some code like:
<? echo $paginator->counter(array( 'format' => __('%page% of %pages%, showing %current% records out of %count% total, starting on record %start%, ending on %end%', true) )); foreach($results as $i => $item): /* * Items output */ endforeach; ?> <?php echo $paginator->prev('<< '.__('Previous Page', true), array(), null, array('class'=>'disabled'));?> | <?php echo $paginator->numbers();?> <?php echo $paginator->next(__('Next Page', true).' >>', array(), null, array('class'=>'disabled'));?>
Last lines of the code would manage the results listing for you, which has to be defined in your Controller:
var $paginate = array( 'Item' => array( 'limit' => 5, 'order'=> array('Item.added' => 'ASC') ) )
Done, now you can easily handle your search outputs. 
English
Russian