Tutorial: How to install the CakePHP-Menu

[Dreamwatcher]

The readme is too old to use them for installing this CakePHP-Menu. After hours of reading threads in the internet and reading the classes to install this Plugin correctly, i got it to work.

For beginners it is hard to understand what things are to do... Here a little tutorial:

1. Download the newest package: https://github.com/bmcclure/CakePHP-Menu-Plugin/archive/cake-2.0.zip ATTENTION: Not the old one which was linked in the readme!
2. Copy the whole folder "CakePHP-Menu-Plugin-cake-2.0" to your plugin directory (by default e.g. app/Plugin)
3. Rename the plugin folder to "Menu"
4. if you dont load all your plugins at once, you must load it in your bootstrap. write the following in your bootstrap (app/Config/bootstrap.php by default)

CakePlugin::load('Menu', array('bootstrap' => true));

1. go to your AppController (by default app/Controller/AppController.php) and extend your components-variable or init the components variable:

public $components = array('Menu.MenuBuilder');

So my components-array is now:

public $components = array('DebugKit.Toolbar', 'Session', 'Menu.MenuBuilder');

1. create a new function in your AppController for creating the menu array (like this array in the readme. this works) and add the view-helper at the beginning:

private function build_menu()
    {
        $this->helpers[] = 'Menu.MenuRenderer'; //Add the MenuHelper
                //Create the menu-Array
        $menus = array(
            array(
                'title' => 'User',
                'url' => array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'index'),
                'children' => array(
                    array(
                        'title' => 'User overview',
                        'url' => array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'index'),
                    ),
                    array(
                        'title' => 'New User',
                        'url' => array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'add'),
                    ),
                ),
            ),
            array(
                'title' => 'Roles',
                'url' => array('controller' => 'roles', 'action' => 'index'),
                'children' => array(
                    array(
                        'title' => 'Role overview',
                        'url' => array('controller' => 'roles', 'action' => 'index'),
                    ),
                    array(
                        'title' => 'New Role',
                        'url' => array('controller' => 'roles', 'action' => 'add'),
                    ),
                    array(
                        'title' => 'Show Role-Restrictions',
                        'url' => array('controller' => 'role_access_restrictions', 'action' => 'index'),
                    ),
                    array(
                        'title' => 'New Role-Restrictions',
                        'url' => array('controller' => 'role_access_restrictions', 'action' => 'add'),
                    ),

                ),
            ),
    );
    $this->MenuBuilder->setMenu('main-menu',$menus); //Now you set the name here! not in the array
    // For default settings name must be menus
//ATTENTION: default is now "menus", not "menu"
    $this->set('menus',$this->MenuBuilder->getMenu('main-menu')); //To have the menu in your View
    }

Use your new function in beforeFilter:

    public function beforeFilter()
    {
        $this->build_menu();
    }

1. Render the menu in your view (e.g. default.ctp)

<?php echo $this->MenuRenderer->render('main-menu'); ?>

Ready! now your menu were built ;-)

[th-gauweiler]

Thanks a lot!

[giraam]

Thanks for this man! I generated my menu array from the database, followed the tutorial step by step and the line

$this->MenuBuilder->setMenu('main-menu', $menus);

threw the error

Fatal error: Class 'MenuLib\Menu' not found in C:\xampp\htdocs\CakeProyect\app\Plugin\Menu\Controller\Component\MenuBuilderComponent.php on line 77

The only difference between the example menu array and mine is the property permissions I'm using CakePHP 2.4

I will greatly appreciate any help!

[Dreamwatcher]

It looks like you dont have the file "/app/Plugin/Menu/Lib/MenuLib/Menu.php". Please look for the path and correct your installation. Can you post a sample array?

[giraam]

First, thanks for your quick response.

I checked the existence of the file and the file exists.

This is the array I generated:

array (
    array (
        'title' => 'Usuarios',
        'url' => array ( 'controller' => 'Usuarios', 'action' => 'index', ),
        'permissions' => array ( 'admin', 'ejecutivo de cuentas', ),
        'children' => array (
            array (
                'title' => 'Tipos de Usuario',
                'url' => array ( 'controller' => 'TiposUsuarios', 'action' => 'index', ),
                'permissions' => array ( 'admin', ),
                'children' => array (
                    array (
                        'title' => 'Modulos',
                        'url' => array ( 'controller' => 'Modulos', 'action' => 'index', ),
                        'permissions' => array ( 'admin', ),
                    ),
                ),
            ),
            array (
                'title' => 'Equipos',
                'url' => array ( 'controller' => 'Equipos', 'action' => 'index', ),
                'permissions' => array ( 'admin', ),
            ),
        ),
    ),
)

[bmcclure]

@giraam What version of PHP is running on your server?

This plugin would require at least PHP 5.3 I believe, in order to support the functionality of the class library and its namespaces.

[giraam]

@bmcclure I thought about the PHP version too since I have PHP 5.5 in my notebook so I tried with my office workstation where I use PHP 5.4 and I've had the exact same problem. I'll be honest, I have not delved much into the problem because I was in a hurry at the time but I'll be more than happy to test it again debugging the code. At first glance it should have worked.

[bmcclure]

Are you sure that you have put the following line in your Config/bootstrap.php file?

CakePlugin::load('Menu', array('bootstrap' => true));

If the plugin's bootstrap.php file isn't being loaded (via "'bootstrap' => true" above), these errors might result. That file registers an autoloader for the class library.

Even if you use CakePlugin::loadAll, you would still need to add an array key in there for Menu telling it to load it's bootstrap file.

[giraam]

@bmcclure not sure I did it. I will go back into my repository, test it again and I'll let you know.

[giraam]

@bmcclure indeed that was the problem!

"Even if you use CakePlugin::loadAll, you would still need to add an array key in there for Menu telling it to load it's bootstrap file."

I assumed wrong that CakePlugin::loadAll would do the trick. Thanks for your help and your time! It works as expected by adding that line.