Can I pass arguments into a model function?

Question

Is it even possible to do something like this in codeigniter?Is it considered a good practice in general?

Answer 1

Yes it is possible.

I do it all of the time, if the data is not from post I can send it to the model.

$this->load->model('some_model');
$this->some_model->some_function($var);

What data do you want to send to the model? This will help in deciding whether it is bad practice.

Answer 2

Ofcourse it is possible! Like Kieran showed, you can just write functions in your model class that accepts parameters.

Just keep in mind that your controller should first parse/validate these parameters, no extra validation should be included in your model. Your model should be strictly used to write to and read from the DB.

So, as a good practice, you should only pass arguments that contain actual data to be stored or used in your queries.

I usually write different functions for different WHERE cases. For example:

select($id){}
select_by_name($name){}
...

This keeps your model comprehensible. The only exception I make is in the case of limiting your result. In all my models, I have on function to select all records, with an option to pass two more variables for pagination purposes:

select_all($start=null,$limit=null){
    $qry = "SELECT * FROM ...";
    if($start != null) $qry .= " LIMIT ?,?";
    return $this->db->query($qry,func_get_args());
}