Cakephp2.3 html->url in custom function - cakephp

Question

I am using Cakephp2.0 i created a custom function
<?php echo GenerateNavHTML($navarray); ?>
<?php
function GenerateNavHTML($nav)
{
if(!empty($nav)) {
if(isset($nav[0]['parent'])) {
$parentid=$nav[0]['parent'];
}else{
$parentid=1;
}
if($parentid==0) {
$html = '<ul style="display: block;" class="nav">';
}else {
$html='<ul>';
}
foreach($nav as $page) {
$html.='<li>';
$html .= '"'.$this->Html->url('Logout',array('controller'=>'users','action'=>'logout')).'"';
$html .= '</li>';
}
$html.='</ul>';
return $html;
}
}
?>
and it give
Fatal error: Cannot redeclare GenerateNavHTML()
But there is no redeclaration of function.
if i write
<?php
function GenerateNavHTML($nav)
{
if(!empty($nav)) {
if(isset($nav[0]['parent'])) {
$parentid=$nav[0]['parent'];
}else{
$parentid=1;
}
if($parentid==0) {
$html = '<ul style="display: block;" class="nav">';
}else {
$html='<ul>';
}
foreach($nav as $page) {
$html.='<li>';
$html .= '';
$html .= '</li>';
}
$html.='</ul>';
return $html;
}
}
?>
and it is working fine
i want to use cakephp syntax
Thanks

Answer 1

In MVC, this code should be part of a Helper, not just a standalone 'function'.
Creating your own Helper
This may sound hard, but it really isn't. It has many advantages as well; by moving your code to a Helper, it's easier to re-use and maintain.
For example;
Create a 'Navigation' helper (of course, give it a logical name);
app/View/Helper/NavigationHelper.php
class NavigationHelper extends AppHelper
{
/**
* Other helpers used by *this* helper
*
* #var array
*/
public $helpers = array(
'Html',
);
/**
* NOTE: In general, convention is to have
* functions/methods start with a lowercase
* only *Classes* should start with a capital
*
* #param array $nav
*
* #return string
*/
public function generateNavHTML($nav)
{
$html = '';
if (!empty($nav)) {
if (isset($nav[0]['parent'])) {
$parentid = $nav[0]['parent'];
} else {
$parentid = 1;
}
if ($parentid == 0) {
$html = '<ul style="display: block;" class="nav">';
} else {
$html = '<ul>';
}
foreach ($nav as $page) {
$html .= '<li>';
$html .= '"' . $this->Html->url('Logout', array('controller' => 'users', 'action' => 'logout')) . '"';
$html .= '</li>';
}
$html .= '</ul>';
}
// NOTE: moved this 'outside' of the 'if()'
// your function should always return something
return $html;
}
/**
* You can add other methods as well
* For example, a 'Convenience' method to create a link to the Homepage
*
* Simply use it like this:
* <code>
* echo $this->Navigation->logoutLink();
* </code>
*/
public function logoutLink()
{
return $this->Html->link(__('Log out'), array(
'controller' => 'users',
'action' => 'logout',
'confirm' => __('Are you sure you want to log out')
));
} }
Once you created that file, you can use it in any view or element;
echo $this->Navigation->generateNavHTML($navarray);
You don't even have to add it to the 'Helpers' array of your controller, because CakePHP 2.3 uses 'autoloading' to do that for you
If you need other functionality (related to 'Navigation'), you can just add a 'method' to the Helper, I added a 'logoutLink()' method just to illustrate this
For more information, read this chapter Creating Helpers

Answer 2

Try this:
<?php echo $this->GenerateNavHTML($navarray); ?>
And declare the function before all for secure