Smart Caching in CakePHP
CakePHP's view caching can dramatically reduce the load on your server
and decrease page load time. I have several requirements that has kept
me from using Cake's caching - until now.
First, I have several pages that takes several seconds to build on a
four core server and eight gigs of RAM. These pages could be cached but
only a certain group of users should see them. CakePHP's caching has
precluded access checking.
Second, I use Smarty as my page template language whenever
possible for its MVC cleanliness. Smarty pages could not be cached by
Cake as it really is outside the scope of the core.
These files are usable by all users, not just Smarty users. The
names came from my Smarty use but I also have thtml/ctp files that have
to be maintained and the caching was built with them in mind as well.
To
use <cake:nocache> tags in Smarty files, you are limited to the
same limited set of operations as Cake's ctp files. For most things
Smarty files are cleaner and smaller but not when you are trying to
show a dynamic field on a cached page. Here is a sample of showing a
user's login name in a Smarty file.
< cake:nocache> {{php}} $user=$this->_tpl_vars['session']->read('User'); if ($user) e('hello, '.$user['login_name']);{{/php}}< /cake:nocache> Luckily, this is all I ever do on a cached page. If you find yourself
doing much more then you probably don't want caching at the view level
but should consider data caching instead.
The following code is a
view Helper that should be used in place of Cake's when you need these
features. You can use it even if you are not using Smarty but want the
ability to do some simple access checking. The cached file will call
your controller's beforeFilter() method before running your page. If
your beforeFilter() returns false then the page will not render. It should run your code as though it was not cached. I perform a redirect in my beforeFilter() to wherever the user really belongs.
SmartyCacheHelper
The helper should be in your app/views/helpers directory. smarty_cache.phpSmartyView
The view should be in your app/views directory. This view is okay forCake's ctp and thtml users but is meant for Smarty's tpl users. If your
using Smarty then this is the view class you want! smarty.php
