How do I initialize my custom joomla 2.5 model?

Question

Okay so I've been following the joomla 2.5 tutorial here and I've managed to make a non faulty initial component.

But I'm wondering how do I import extra classes into the framework?

I have a model class called auth.php

// No direct access to this file
defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');

// import Joomla modelitem library
jimport('joomla.application.component.modelitem');

/**
 * Auth Model
 */
class AutoBaseModelAuth extends JModelItem
{
    function detail()
    {   
        echo "this is test";
    }
}

Located in C:/xampp/htdocs/com_autobase/model/auth.php

_{(source: iforce.co.nz)}

And my view...

// No direct access to this file
defined('_JEXEC') or die('Restricted access');

// import Joomla view library
jimport('joomla.application.component.view');

/**
 * HTML View class for the AutoBase Component
*/
class AutoBaseViewAutoBase extends JView
{
    // Overwriting JView display method
    function display($tpl = null) 
    {       
        $db     =& JFactory::getDBO();
        //request the auth model
        $model  =& $this->getModel('auth');
        $items =& $model->detail();
    }
}

But I keep getting this error obliviously because it hasn't been imported yet... and I've been on about 5 different websites trying to find out how Joomla imports new models.

Notice: Undefined index: auth in C:\xampp\htdocs\libraries\joomla\application\component\view.php on line 413

So can someone please explain how models are initialized in joomla? and what I'm doing wrong.. thanks!

Answer 1

We usually have this static function in a helper that we include in all our components

public static function getModel($name, $component_name = null, $config = array()) {

    //Use default configured component unless other component name supplied
    if(!$component_name) {
        $component_name = self::$com_name;
    }

    jimport('joomla.application.component.model');
    $modelFile = JPATH_SITE . DS . 'components' . DS . $component_name . DS . 'models' . DS . $name.'.php';
    $adminModelFile = JPATH_ADMINISTRATOR . DS . 'components' . DS . $component_name . DS . 'models' . DS . $name.'.php';
    if (file_exists($modelFile)) {
        require_once($modelFile);
    } elseif (file_exists($adminModelFile)) {
        require_once($adminModelFile);
    } else {
        JModel::addIncludePath(JPATH_SITE . DS . 'components' . DS . $component_name . DS . 'models');
    }

    //Get the right model prefix, e.g. UserModel for com_user
    $model_name = str_replace('com_', '', $component_name);
    $model_name = ucfirst($model_name).'Model';

    $model = JModel::getInstance($name, $model_name, $config);

    return $model;
}

You can then get a model anywhere by going

$model = helper::getModel('Name', 'ComponentName');