Generating DAOs and beans

TDBM generates PHP files from your database model.

Each time your database model is modified, you have to regenerate those files.

The way you generate DAOs and beans depends on the framework you use.

Generating DAOs and beans in Laravel
Generating DAOs and beans in Lumen


Generating DAOs and beans in Silex
Generating DAOs and beans in Mouf


Generating DAOs and beans in a manual install (no framework)


TDBM has a feature allowing you to access the database directly through the TDBMService, without generating DAOs or beans. This is mostly for testing purpose and is not recommended. Should you need it, you can check the tests/TDBMServiceTest.php file for usage samples.

The DAOs, beans, resultIterators structure

For each table in your database, TDBM will generate a DAO, a bean and a resultIterator. The DAO is the object you will use to query the database and will return a bean or a resultIterator. Each row of the database will be mapped to a bean object.

DAOs, beans and resultIterators are divided in 2 parts. Let's assume you have a "users" table. TDBM will generate those classes for you:

  • AbstractUserDao: the base class that contains methods to access the "users" table. It is generated by TDBM and you should never modify this class.
  • UserDao: this class extends AbstractUserDao. If you have some custom requests, you should perform them in this class. You can edit it as TDBM will never overwrite it.
  • AbstractUser: the bean mapping the columns of the "users" table. This class contains getters and setters for each and every column of the "users" table. It is generated by TDBM and you should never modify this class.
  • User: this class extends AbstractUser. If you have some custom getters and setters, you should implement them in this class. You can edit it as TDBM will never overwrite it.
  • AbstractUserResultIterator: the resultIterator representing a query on the "users" table. This class contains methods to specify you query. It is generated by TDBM and you should never modify this class.
  • UserResultIterator: this class extends AbstractUserResultIterator. If you have some custom function to narrow down your queries you should implement them in this class. You can edit it as TDBM will never overwrite it.

Let's now have a closer look at the methods that are available in the "UserDao" class:

  • public function save(User $obj) : saves a User object in database
  • public function findAll() : returns all users records as an array of User objects.
  • public function getById($id, bool $lazyLoading = false) : Get a User specified by its ID (its primary key)
  • public function delete($obj, $cascade=false) : Deletes the User passed in parameter. If $cascade is set to true, it will delete all objects linked to $obj.

The last 2 functions are protected. It means they are designed to be used in the UserDao class.

  • protected function find($filter=null, $parameters = [], $orderbyBag=null) : returns a list of users based on a filter bag (see the TDBM_Service documentation to learn more about filter bags). You can also provide an order, and an offset / limit range.
  • protected function findOne($filter=null, $parameters = []) : this has exactly the same purpose as find except it returns only 1 bean object instead of a list of bean objects.

Found a typo? Something is wrong in this documentation? Just fork and edit it!