Best method of including views within views in CodeIgniter
I'm starting a large codeigniter project and would like to try to create some reusable 'mini' views for snippets of content like loops of data which may be displayed on different pages/controllers.
Is it better to call the views from within the main controller's view? If so, how? Or should I call the 'mini view' from the controller and thus pass the view's code to the main view?
Answer
Views within other views are called Nested views. There are two ways of including nested views in CodeIgniter:
1. Load a nested view inside the controller
Load the view in advance and pass to the other view. First put this in the controller:
<?php
// the "TRUE" argument tells it to return the content, rather than display it immediately
$data['menu'] = $this->load->view('menu', NULL, TRUE);
$this->load->view ('home', $data);
?>
Then put <?=$menu?> in your view at the point you want the menu to appear.
2. Load a view "from within" a view
First put this in the controller:
<?php
$this->load->view('home');
?>
Then put this in the /application/views/home.php view:
<?php $this->view('menu'); ?>
<p>Other home content...</p>
About best method, I prefer the 1st method over 2nd one, because by using 1st method I don't have to mix up code, it is not like include php. Although indirectly both are same, the 1st method is clearer & cleaner than 2nd one!