multiple environments with codeigniter - codeigniter

I'm trying to understand the best course of action with using multiple environments, such as development, testing, production for my application with codeigniter.
As of right now I have one folder for my application. I'm seen places that talk about in the config file doing a folder for each of the environments and placing for example a copy of the database file in each of the environment folders.
Is this the best method of handling multiple environments? The reason I'm asking is because if I work on my dev subdomain I'd still have to reupload to the main root folder all the same files. Is this the best workflow?
So basically I have two sites.
dev.siteurl.com
siteurl.com
I'm trying to figure out the best option of handling this. Because I'm wondering if I'm going to just have to reupload all the files again to the main level so that it can handle the production server or is there an easier way.

Yes the way it works is under your /application/config folder you create an extra nested folder called development so that you have
/application/config/development/
Inside development you will place a copy of your database.php file and change your development database settings
/application/config/development/database.php
THEN you have to tell codeigniter which version you are on, so in your base root folder edit index.php:
/index.php
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'development');
When you want to use the /config/development/database.php you will change your environment to development, and when you want to use the production database you will change the environment to production
edit: also the CI TOC has a brief section explaining this: https://www.codeigniter.com/user_guide/general/environments.html

I'm defining envirement in index.php
do something like
if ($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME']=='siteurl.com')
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'production');
else if ($_SERVER['SERVER_NAME']=='test.siteurl.com')
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'testing');
else
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'development');
and use config sections according to ENVIRONMENT variable

I know this is an old thread, but I am working on a Codeigniter project now and was looking for a good way to maintain two environments without having to maintain two codebases at two different urls. In case anyone else is looking for a similar answer, here's a possible solution that allows you to maintain one codebase.
For my current project, I have siteurl.com and siteurl.com/sandbox.
siteurl.com/index.php
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'production');
$system_path = '../system';
$application_folder = '../application';
siteurl.com/sandbox/index.php
define('ENVIRONMENT', 'development');
$system_path = '../../system';
$application_folder = '../../application';

Related

How to run Multiple codeigniter application in single shared hosting server?

I am using shared hosing for Codeigniter application for deployment.
How can i run staging url on live server?
1) domain.com (Working)
2) domain.com/staging/ (Not working, showing 404 error)
I created staging folder under public_html directory, now put All CI code in staging folder, and tried to run the application with URL domain.com/staging/ but it redirect on domain.com/404
I expect to run domain.com for users and domain.com/staging for development. (Staging URL i will use for development and after that i will place the same code for live URL.)
This is most easily done by using a subdomain for the staging version, i.e. staging.doman.com. The folder where you put the CI files isn't super important as the subdomain will be set to use the directory you choose.
You will either need to have complete control over the server or have a service provider that allows you to set up subdomains.
- Expanded Answer -
If you cannot set up a subdomain then your next best option is to use the advice in the documentation on Managing you Applications. It isn't required to use the file structure shown there. In your case try the following.
Create a folder on the same level as application named staging.
Into that folder copy all the folders and files normally found in /application.
Add all application folders and files required by your site. The files in these folders are those that make up the application you are staging.
Make a copy of index.php (the file at the root of the public folder, i.e. domain.com/index.php) and name it staging.php. Both index.php and staging.php will be in the same folder.
Edit staging.php and change the value of $application_folder to be the absolute path to the staging folder. For example:
$application_folder = '/path/to/domain.com/public_folder/staging';
The path above is an example. You must replace it with the actual path in your server. If you have no idea what the full and absolute path is you can use
$application_folder = dirname(__FILE__).'/staging';
Browse to the URL domain.com/staging.php and you should get your default controller's output. To test that you are actually seeing the staging version of the page temporarily change something in the view file so there can be no doubt.
You will go to other controllers by using the URL domain.com/staging.php/other_controller.
Change the value of $config['index_page'] in /staging/config/config.php to staging.php, e.g.
$config['index_page'] = 'staging.php';
Without the above change redirect() and many other "helper" functions will not work correctly.
(Optional?) You can probably edit the main .htaccess and add rewrite rules for staging.php the same way it is done for index.php. But I will leave that as an exercise for you. (Or for another SO question.)
A final word. It might be necessary to make other configuration changes to accommodate the revised file structure. I tested the answer here but did not go beyond the most basic task of browsing to controllers. Most likely config values for sessions, cookies, and many others will need to be adjusted for the staged version to work correctly. Check out the documentation on Handling Multiple Environments for guidance on making this less painful.

How to add custom code to the 'system' folder of CodeIgniter?

I am looking into building my own CMS / extended framework on top of CodeIgniter, and I was wondering how to structure it to keep code out of the application folder. I noticed that in a typical CI set up, the file structure looks like this:
application/ //code for your application
system/ //CodeIgniter core
index.php
However, in PyroCMS, They have used the following structure:
application/ //code for your application
system/
--cms/ //PyroCMS core
--codeigniter/ //CodeIgniter core.
How do I accomplish a similar result?
To emulate that structure just edit the index.php constants:
APPPATH
BASEPATH
#WebweaverD has provide you a good solution to improve your application usgin HMVC. I will give you another.
How about something like this:
-system/ //CI core
-index.php //manage the front_end requests
-acp.php //manage the back_end requests
-apps/ //applications dir
--back_end/ //only "admin" controllers, libraries, config. No views here
--frond_end/ //only "user" controllers, libraries, config. No views here
--acp/ //views for back_end
--themes/ //views for front_end
All above can be implemented as you want only extending the necessary core files.
The short answer is that everything starts from index.php, this is where core/CodeIgniter.php is included and it is also where application and system paths are set (retrieving values from config).
I think that pyro cms actually sets /system/cms as the application folder, presumably they have written code which looks at the presented application folder for content and processes it.
Another approach is to use wiredesigns modular HMVC:
https://bitbucket.org/wiredesignz/codeigniter-modular-extensions-hmvc
This will allow you to separate your code out into modules. Just have a folder called cms containing all your cms modules and another folder to build your custom content on top.
You set the path to your modules folder in the config so if you wanted your cms code in the system folder you could set the path to your modules folder there and build on top using codeigniter in the standard way, perhaps adding a hook before or after your controller is loaded to call the cms core.
Mine is just a suggestion but you can easy fork pyrocms and build your own cms on it.
PyroCMS will deprecate codeigniter in the next version so you can keep their code and fix it where you need and modify it as you want

Creating an admin section controllers and views in Code Igniter 2.0

I have created my site with controllers such as about, products etc... which gives me example.com/about/ etc..
How would I create a admin section with the same controller name, like example.com/admin/about or example.com/admin/products ?
How do I organize my controllers?
2 more options to compliment WebweaverD answer.
Use Modular Separation
Create a second application folder and index file, that will be responsible for admin, connect them to the same system folder.
The second option is really easy to manage once you have set it up. There are variations but I find the structure below to be the most convenient.
mykewlwebsite.com
apps/
frontend/
app/ frontend codeigniter application folder
public/
index.php
assets/ frontend js, css, images
backend
app/ backend codeigniter application folder
public/
index.php
assets/ backend js, css, images
config/
database.php
constants.php
system/ codeigniter system folder
The database.php file contains the code from CodeIgniter's config/database.php and is shared for all applications of your project - simply remove all code and add require_once('../../../../config/database.php'); to the config/database.php
index.php files inside public folders have two important variables $system_path and $application_folder, change them to
$system_path = '../../../system/codeigniter';
$application_folder = '../app';
constants.php file can have some constants like the ENVIRONMENT constant from the index.php files and some other. Just require_once() it from the index.php files.
Though there are pros and cons.
PROS
For those of you, who are developing on localhost and deploying to servers via FTP or other systems can simply upload one folder - apps and overwrite the target folder without fear of overwriting database.php settings (I'm sure most of you have them different from the local ones).
Adding one more application is easy - just duplicate one of existing. You can add as many applications as you want - api, ajax, user cabinet, etc.
CONS
This structure is meant to be used if you have a domain as mykewlwebsite.com and have the ability to add sub-domains to it, so you just configure the home folders for each of them:
mykewlwebsite.com: path/to/mykewlwebsite.com/apps/frontend/public/
admin.mykewlwebsite.com: path/to/mykewlwebsite.com/apps/backend/public/
api.mykewlwebsite.com: path/to/mykewlwebsite.com/apps/api/public/
You have a few options here:
1) CREATE A SUBFOLDER - Put them in a folder called admin within the controllers directory (in application/contollers/admin/products.php)
A word of warning here is that you can only go one folder deep or codeigniter gets upset. Also, it will use first level controller/methods first so be careful of naming conflicts - e.g if you have an admin controller with a products method in it, that will get called before it looks in the admin directory for a products controller. (when going to example.com/admin/products)
2) USE THE ROUTES FILE - If it is just the urls you are worried about you could just call the controllers whatever you want and use the application/config/routes to redirect those paths to the controllers you want like this:
controller name: admin_products.php
routes file:
$route['admin/products'] = "admin_products";
3) USE A MASTER CONTROLLER FOR ALL - Final option would be to have a single admin controller and use named methods inside it, so for example you have admin.php controller with a products method within it this would then be called by admin/products uri (this will probably get messy though in a big application/site - not recommended)
Hope I have explained this OK for you, if you need any clarification please ask and I will try to elaborate.

CodeIgniter Production and Developpement server on the same domain. (no subdomain)

I googled this many times but now I have to ask it here.
I want to make a workflow for a website for Developpement/Production.
My constraint is that I use Facebook Connect (Facebook Graph now) so I need to have the dev and prod on the same domain and server. (to be able to log in and test the features)
I thought I will edit the CodeIgniter Index.php to redirect if I have a specific user agent (I can edit the one of my firefox)
You think it's a good Idea or you have a better one ?
And now comes the eternal question : how can I deploy this the easy way ?
should I use Capistrano or Phing ?
or simply a script with SVN ?
Please help me, I'm totally new to this Deployment thing. I used to work directly in production for my little websites or on other domains. but now it's not possible anymore.
For me, I'll have something like two application folders. One called "production", one called "development". Then in your index.php file, where you set your application folder, you can use php to determine which one to use for whatever reason. Just set your $application_folder variable to whichever one you need. (You could do this based on anything. A cookie, IP address or something.)

multiple applications with codeigniter from same framework directory?

could i use one codeigniter framework directory to create multiple applications?
cause it seems that i have to have separate codeigniter folder instances for different applications. i want to be able to adjust some code in one place (classes that are universal) and every application i created with codeigniter will be affected.
with yii you could do this.
you can do this folder structure:
system
website-1 (your application)
----application
----index.php
website-2 (your application)
----application
----index.php
website-3 (your application)
----application
----index.php
move the 'codeigniter application folder' from the system and put it in one of you application folders.
copy the index.php file and paste inside your application folder.
In the index.php file:
YOu should have the following:
$system_folder = "../system";
$application_folder = "application";
Both Colin and Thorpe are correct.
Out of the box, sharing is not perfect. If you want to share libraries you have to put them in the system/libraries folder which makes upgrading that little bit more difficult and models cannot be shared at all.
To created a "shared" directory for libraries and models then you can use this MY_Loader.
could i use one codeigniter framework
directory to create multiple
applications?
Yes, you can create multiple applications with one CodeIgniter instance

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