Importing & Exporting

Import Export behavior is a controller modifier that provides features for importing and exporting data. The behavior provides two pages called Import and Export. The Import page allows a user to upload a CSV file and match the columns to the database. The Export page is the opposite and allows a user to download columns from the database as a CSV file. The behavior provides the controller actions import() and export().

The behavior configuration is defined in two parts, each part depends on a special model class along with a list and form field definition file. To use the importing and exporting behavior you should add it to the $implement property of the controller class. Also, the $importExportConfig class property should be defined and its value should refer to the YAML file used for configuring the behavior options.

namespace Acme\Shop\Controllers;

class Products extends Controller
{
    public $implement = [
        'Backend.Behaviors.ImportExportController',
    ];

    public $importExportConfig = 'config_import_export.yaml';

    // [...]
}

# Configuring the behavior

The configuration file referred in the $importExportConfig property is defined in YAML format. The file should be placed into the controller's views directory. Below is an example of a configuration file:

# ===================================
#  Import/Export Behavior Config
# ===================================

import:
    title: Import subscribers
    modelClass: Acme\Campaign\Models\SubscriberImport
    list: $/acme/campaign/models/subscriber/columns.yaml

export:
    title: Export subscribers
    modelClass: Acme\Campaign\Models\SubscriberExport
    list: $/acme/campaign/models/subscriber/columns.yaml

The configuration options listed below are optional. Define them if you want the behavior to support the Import or Export, or both.

# Import page

To support the Import page add the following configuration to the YAML file:

import:
    title: Import subscribers
    modelClass: Acme\Campaign\Models\SubscriberImport
    list: $/acme/campaign/models/subscriberimport/columns.yaml
    redirect: acme/campaign/subscribers

The following configuration options are supported for the Import page:

# Export page

To support the Export page add the following configuration to the YAML file:

export:
    title: Export subscribers
    modelClass: Acme\Campaign\Models\SubscriberExport
    list: $/acme/campaign/models/subscriberexport/columns.yaml
    redirect: acme/campaign/subscribers

The following configuration options are supported for the Export page:

# Format options

To override the default CSV format options add the following configuration to the YAML file:

defaultFormatOptions:
    delimiter: ';'
    enclosure: '"'
    escape: '\'
    encoding: 'utf-8'

The following configuration options (all optional) are supported for the format options:

# Import and export views

For each page feature Import and Export you should provide a view file with the corresponding name - import.htm and export.htm.

The import/export behavior adds two methods to the controller class: importRender and exportRender. These methods render the importing and exporting sections as per the YAML configuration file described above.

# Import view

The import.htm view represents the Import page that allows users to import data. A typical Import page contains breadcrumbs, the import section itself, and the submission buttons. The data-request attribute should refer to the onImport AJAX handler provided by the behavior. Below is a contents of the typical import.htm view file.

<?= Form::open(['class' => 'layout']) ?>

    <div class="layout-row">
        <?= $this->importRender() ?>
    </div>

    <div class="form-buttons">
        <button
            type="submit"
            data-control="popup"
            data-handler="onImportLoadForm"
            data-keyboard="false"
            class="btn btn-primary">
            Import records
        </button>
    </div>

<?= Form::close() ?>

# Export view

The export.htm view represents the Export page that allows users to export a file from the database. A typical Export page contains breadcrumbs, the export section itself, and the submission buttons. The data-request attribute should refer to the onExport AJAX handler provided by the behavior. Below is a contents of the typical export.htm form.

<?= Form::open(['class' => 'layout']) ?>

    <div class="layout-row">
        <?= $this->exportRender() ?>
    </div>

    <div class="form-buttons">
        <button
            type="submit"
            data-control="popup"
            data-handler="onExportLoadForm"
            data-keyboard="false"
            class="btn btn-primary">
            Export records
        </button>
    </div>

<?= Form::close() ?>

# Defining an import model

For importing data you should create a dedicated model for this process which extends the Backend\Models\ImportModel class. Here is an example class definition:

class SubscriberImport extends \Backend\Models\ImportModel
{
    /**
     * @var array The rules to be applied to the data.
     */
    public $rules = [];

    public function importData($results, $sessionKey = null)
    {
        foreach ($results as $row => $data) {

            try {
                $subscriber = new Subscriber;
                $subscriber->fill($data);
                $subscriber->save();

                $this->logCreated();
            }
            catch (\Exception $ex) {
                $this->logError($row, $ex->getMessage());
            }

        }
    }
}

The class must define a method called importData used for processing the imported data. The first parameter $results will contain an array containing the data to import. The second parameter $sessionKey will contain the session key used for the request.

# Defining an export model

For exporting data you should create a dedicated model which extends the Backend\Models\ExportModel class. Here is an example:

class SubscriberExport extends \Backend\Models\ExportModel
{
    public function exportData($columns, $sessionKey = null)
    {
        $subscribers = Subscriber::all();
        $subscribers->each(function($subscriber) use ($columns) {
            $subscriber->addVisible($columns);
        });
        return $subscribers->toArray();
    }
}

The class must define a method called exportData used for returning the export data. The first parameter $columns is an array of column names to export. The second parameter $sessionKey will contain the session key used for the request.

# Custom options

Both import and export forms support custom options that can be introduced using form fields, defined in the form option in the import or export configuration respectively. These values are then passed to the Import / Export model and are available during processing.

import:
    [...]
    form: $/acme/campaign/models/subscriberimport/fields.yaml

export:
    [...]
    form: $/acme/campaign/models/subscriberexport/fields.yaml

The form fields specified will appear on the import/export page. Here is an example fields.yaml file contents:

# ===================================
#  Form Field Definitions
# ===================================

fields:

    auto_create_lists:
        label: Automatically create lists
        type: checkbox
        default: true

The value of the form field above called auto_create_lists can be accessed using $this->auto_create_lists inside the importData method of the import model. If this were the export model, the value would be available inside the exportData method instead.

class SubscriberImport extends \Backend\Models\ImportModel
{
    public function importData($results, $sessionKey = null)
    {
        if ($this->auto_create_lists) {
            // Do something
        }

        [...]
    }
}

# Integration with list behavior

There is an alternative approach to exporting data that uses the list behavior to provide the export data. In order to use this feature you should have the Backend.Behaviors.ListController definition to the $implement field of the controller class. You do not need to use an export view and all the settings will be pulled from the list. Here is the only configuration needed:

export:
    useList: true

If you are using multiple list definitions, then you can supply the list definition:

export:
    useList: orders
    fileName: orders.csv

The useList option also supports extended configuration options.

export:
    useList:
        definition: orders
        raw: true

The following configuration options are supported: