CakePHP label convention

Question

When using $this->Form->input('fieldname'), CakePHP creates a label element that, by convention, uses the fieldname. I know I can specify another string to use for the label as an argument to the input method, but is there any way I can specify the label name in the model, so I don't have to repeat the label name in multiple ctp files (e.g. so I only have to change it in one place)?

Answer 1

So I created this and made a quick test which worked, however, can't guarantee it's bug free:

<?php
App::uses('FormHelper', 'View/Helper');
class MyFormHelper extends FormHelper {

    public function label($fieldName = null, $text = null, $options = array()) {
        if ($text === null) {
            $entity = $this->entity();
            $field = array_pop($entity);
            $model = $this->model();
            $object = $this->_models[$model];
            if (isset($object->labels[$field])) {
                $text = $object->labels[$field];
            }
        }
        return parent::label($fieldName, $text, $options);
    }

}

Drop that in app/View/Helper/MyFormHelper.php

Add it to the helper array and alias it if you want to.

Add a public $labels array to the model with field => label-text structure. Hope it works.