CakePHP: Trouble rendering the same element twice in the same view - cakephp

Question

I'm creating a website using CakePHP. On my main page I want to display the six latest videos and the six most popular videos. I've made an element named 'itemList' that I pass a type parameter and an array with items.
I use the following code for the latest videos:
$this->element('itemList', array('type' => "video", 'items' => $latestVideos));
echo $this->fetch('itemList');
And the following code for the popular videos:
$this->element('itemList', array('type' => "video", 'items' => $popularVideos));
echo $this->fetch('itemList');
The latest videos get displayed just the way they should, but the popular videos first show the latest videos (for the second time) and the popular videos afterwards.
Does anyone know how I can "clear" or "unset" the first itemList element, to start off with an empty one when it gets used for the second time?
<?php
/* The following parameters are set when this element is called upon:
* $type: article, video
* $items: the list with items to be displayed
*/
$this->start('itemList');
echo $this->Html->script('equalColumns');
$itemCount = 0;
$mainType = $type;
$listType = null;
// If the article list is called, use wider columns css (.articleList)
if ($type == "article") {
$listType = " articleList";
}
?>
<ul class="otherArticles<?php print($listType); ?>">
<?php
foreach ($items as $item) {
$duration = null;
$coverImage = null;
$coverImageOffset = array("x" => 0, "y" => 0);
/* If a list of tags is submitted, check for every item if the item is an article or a
* video
*/
if ($mainType == "tag") {
if ($item["TagRelationship"]["article_id"] != null) {
$newItem["Article"]["id"] = $item["TagRelationship"]["article_id"];
$newItem["Article"]["slug"] = $item["Article"]["slug"];
$newItem["Article"]["title"] = $item["Article"]["title"];
$newItem["Article"]["created"] = $item["Article"]["created"];
$newItem["User"] = $item["Article"]["User"];
$newItem["Album"]["Photo"] = $item["Article"]["Album"]["Photo"];
$item = $newItem;
$type = "article";
} elseif ($item["TagRelationship"]["video_id"] != null) {
$type = "video";
}
}
// If a list with videos is supplied, format the duration
if ($type == "video") {
// Set the coverImage
$coverImage = $this->CoverImage->getYouTubeCover($item["Video"]["youtubeId"]);
// If a video lasts shorter than an hour, only show minutes/seconds
if ($item[ucfirst($type)]["duration"] < 3600) {
$duration = gmdate("i:s", $item[ucfirst($type)]["duration"]);
}
// Otherwise show hours as well
else {
$duration = gmdate("H:i:s", $item[ucfirst($type)]["duration"]);
}
} elseif ($type == "article") {
$coverImage = $this->CoverImage->getArticleCover($item["Article"]["id"], $item["Album"]["Photo"]);
$coverImageOffset = $this->CoverImage->getArticleCoverOffset($item["Article"]["id"], $item["Album"]["Photo"]);
}
?>
<li>
<a href="/<?php print($type); ?>s/<?php print($item[ucfirst($type)]["id"]); ?>/<?php print($item[ucfirst($type)]["slug"]); ?>">
<p class="addedDate">Added:
<?php
print($this->Time->timeAgoInWords($item[ucfirst($type)]["created"], array(
'accuracy' => array('minute' => 'minute', 'hour' => 'hour', 'week' => 'week', 'day' => 'day', 'month' => 'month', 'year' => 'year'),
'end' => 'never')));
if ($type == "article") {
?>
by <?php print($item["User"]["username"]); ?>
<?php
}
?>
</p>
<ul class="itemDetails">
<li class="thumb" style="background-image: url(<?php print($coverImage); ?>); background-position: <?php print($coverImageOffset["x"]); ?>% <?php print($coverImageOffset["y"]); ?>%">
<?php
if ($mainType == "tag") {
?>
<p class="label"><?php print(ucfirst($type)); ?></p>
<?php
}
if ($type == "video") {
?>
<p class="duration"><?php print($duration); ?></p>
<?php
}
?>
</li>
<li>
<p><?php print($item[ucfirst($type)]["title"]); ?></p>
</li>
</ul>
</a>
</li>
<?php
}
?>
</ul>
<?php
$this->end();
?>

Answer 1

More than likely you are not unsetting the variables you set in the last element, they are remembered throughout the view. Try unsetting items after the first call -
$this->element('itemList', array('type' => "video", 'items' => $latestVideos));
echo $this->fetch('itemList');
unset($items);
Like the comment said though if this doesn't work we would need to see your element itself to diagnose the problem. If you go into your element itself at the end of everything being processed, unset the array housing all the items you are displaying. This should do the trick.

Answer 2

After some more research I came across the following in the CakePHP Cookbook:
// Clear the previous content from the sidebar block.
$this->assign('sidebar', '');
Sure enough this did the trick.
Thanks for your help though guys!