Using afterSave for e-mail notification

An introduction to Cake callbacks

What you will learn

What callbacks are and how to execute them. How to use the afterSave callback to implement e-mail notification.

What you will need

A working Cake application, even just a scaffolded one. My scaffolding tutorial will get you started.

What are callbacks?

In Cake, a callback is a way of executing some code before or after firing a Model or Controller method. For example, you might use the Model's beforeSave callback to validate the fields on your form before saving to the database.

What callbacks can I use?

Cake has several Model callbacks for you to execute:

• beforeFind
• afterFind
• beforeSave
• afterSave
• beforeDelete
• afterDelete

and also some Controller callbacks:

• beforeFilter (before the Controller method is run)
• beforeRender (after the method has run but before rendering)
• afterFilter (after the method has run and rendered)

Note: in versions prior to 0.10.8.2047 RC5 the beforeSave callback executes before the $this->ValidateErrors() method. If this is a problem, move your validation into the beforeSave call.

1. Making a callback happen

You create callbacks in your application's Model or Controller files. In this example we are sending an e-mail from the Model whenever something is saved to the database.

<?php

// File: /app/models/bookmark.php

class Bookmark extends AppModel
{

	var $name = 'Bookmark';

	function afterSave()
	{
  		// mail me when a new bookmark is added
		mail('example@example.com', 'Bookmark saved to database');
		return true;
    
	}

}

?>

The return true; is required, although it's more useful on callbacks like beforeSave, where returning false will actually stop the save action.

2. That's it

Sit back and watch the e-mails roll in.

Comments and feedback

Please e-mail graham at grahambird dot co dot uk