# Class yii\base\Controller

Inheritance | yii\base\Controller » yii\base\Component » yii\base\BaseObject
Implements | yii\base\Configurable, yii\base\ViewContextInterface
Subclasses | yii\apidoc\commands\ApiController, yii\apidoc\commands\GuideController, yii\apidoc\components\BaseController, yii\console\Controller, yii\console\controllers\AssetController, yii\console\controllers\BaseMigrateController, yii\console\controllers\CacheController, yii\console\controllers\FixtureController, yii\console\controllers\HelpController, yii\console\controllers\MessageController, yii\console\controllers\MigrateController, yii\console\controllers\ServeController, yii\debug\controllers\DefaultController, yii\debug\controllers\UserController, yii\faker\FixtureController, yii\gii\console\GenerateController, yii\gii\controllers\DefaultController, yii\mongodb\console\controllers\MigrateController, yii\rest\ActiveController, yii\rest\Controller, yii\shell\ShellController, yii\web\Controller
Available since version | 2.0
Source Code | https://github.com/yiisoft/yii2/blob/master/framework/base/Controller.php

Controller is the base class for classes containing controller logic.

For more details and usage information on Controller, see the guide article on controllers.

## Public Properties

Hide inherited properties

Property | Type | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | --- | ---
$action | yii\base\Action|null | The action that is currently being executed. | yii\base\Controller
$behaviors | yii\base\Behavior[] | List of behaviors attached to this component. This property is read-only. | yii\base\Component
$defaultAction | string | The ID of the action that is used when the action ID is not specified in the request. | yii\base\Controller
$id | string | The ID of this controller. | yii\base\Controller
$layout | null|string|false | The name of the layout to be applied to this controller's views. | yii\base\Controller
$module | yii\base\Module | The module that this controller belongs to. | yii\base\Controller
$modules | yii\base\Module[] | All ancestor modules that this controller is located within. This property is read-only. | yii\base\Controller
$request | yii\base\Request|array|string | The request. | yii\base\Controller
$response | yii\base\Response|array|string | The response. | yii\base\Controller
$route | string | The route (module ID, controller ID and action ID) of the current request. This property is read-only. | yii\base\Controller
$uniqueId | string | The controller ID that is prefixed with the module ID (if any). This property is read-only. | yii\base\Controller
$view | yii\base\View|yii\web\View | The view object that can be used to render views or view files. | yii\base\Controller
$viewPath | string | The directory containing the view files for this controller. | yii\base\Controller

## Public Methods

Hide inherited methods

Method | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | ---
__call() | Calls the named method which is not a class method. | yii\base\Component
__clone() | This method is called after the object is created by cloning an existing one. | yii\base\Component
__construct() |  | yii\base\Controller
__get() | Returns the value of a component property. | yii\base\Component
__isset() | Checks if a property is set, i.e. defined and not null. | yii\base\Component
__set() | Sets the value of a component property. | yii\base\Component
__unset() | Sets a component property to be null. | yii\base\Component
actions() | Declares external actions for the controller. | yii\base\Controller
afterAction() | This method is invoked right after an action is executed. | yii\base\Controller
attachBehavior() | Attaches a behavior to this component. | yii\base\Component
attachBehaviors() | Attaches a list of behaviors to the component. | yii\base\Component
beforeAction() | This method is invoked right before an action is executed. | yii\base\Controller
behaviors() | Returns a list of behaviors that this component should behave as. | yii\base\Component
bindActionParams() | Binds the parameters to the action. | yii\base\Controller
canGetProperty() | Returns a value indicating whether a property can be read. | yii\base\Component
canSetProperty() | Returns a value indicating whether a property can be set. | yii\base\Component
className() | Returns the fully qualified name of this class. | yii\base\BaseObject
createAction() | Creates an action based on the given action ID. | yii\base\Controller
detachBehavior() | Detaches a behavior from the component. | yii\base\Component
detachBehaviors() | Detaches all behaviors from the component. | yii\base\Component
ensureBehaviors() | Makes sure that the behaviors declared in behaviors() are attached to this component. | yii\base\Component
findLayoutFile() | Finds the applicable layout file. | yii\base\Controller
getBehavior() | Returns the named behavior object. | yii\base\Component
getBehaviors() | Returns all behaviors attached to this component. | yii\base\Component
getModules() | Returns all ancestor modules of this controller. | yii\base\Controller
getRoute() | Returns the route of the current request. | yii\base\Controller
getUniqueId() | Returns the unique ID of the controller. | yii\base\Controller
getView() | Returns the view object that can be used to render views or view files. | yii\base\Controller
getViewPath() | Returns the directory containing view files for this controller. | yii\base\Controller
hasEventHandlers() | Returns a value indicating whether there is any handler attached to the named event. | yii\base\Component
hasMethod() | Returns a value indicating whether a method is defined. | yii\base\Component
hasProperty() | Returns a value indicating whether a property is defined for this component. | yii\base\Component
init() | Initializes the object. | yii\base\Controller
off() | Detaches an existing event handler from this component. | yii\base\Component
on() | Attaches an event handler to an event. | yii\base\Component
render() | Renders a view and applies layout if available. | yii\base\Controller
renderContent() | Renders a static string by applying a layout. | yii\base\Controller
renderFile() | Renders a view file. | yii\base\Controller
renderPartial() | Renders a view without applying layout. | yii\base\Controller
run() | Runs a request specified in terms of a route. | yii\base\Controller
runAction() | Runs an action within this controller with the specified action ID and parameters. | yii\base\Controller
setView() | Sets the view object to be used by this controller. | yii\base\Controller
setViewPath() | Sets the directory that contains the view files. | yii\base\Controller
trigger() | Triggers an event. | yii\base\Component

## Protected Methods

Hide inherited methods

Method | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | ---
bindInjectedParams() | Fills parameters based on types and names in action method signature. | yii\base\Controller

## Events

Hide inherited events

Event | Type | Description | Defined By
--- | --- | --- | ---
EVENT_AFTER_ACTION | yii\base\ActionEvent | An event raised right after executing a controller action. | yii\base\Controller
EVENT_BEFORE_ACTION | yii\base\ActionEvent | An event raised right before executing a controller action. | yii\base\Controller

## Property Details

$action public property

The action that is currently being executed. This property will be set by run() when it is called by yii\base\Application to run an action.

public yii\base\Action|null $action = null
$defaultAction public property

The ID of the action that is used when the action ID is not specified in the request. Defaults to 'index'.

public string $defaultAction = 'index'
$id public property

The ID of this controller.

public string $id = null
$layout public property

The name of the layout to be applied to this controller's views. This property mainly affects the behavior of render(). Defaults to null, meaning the actual layout value should inherit that from $module's layout value. If false, no layout will be applied.

public null|string|false $layout = null
$module public property

The module that this controller belongs to.

public yii\base\Module $module = null
$modules public property

All ancestor modules that this controller is located within. This property is read-only.

public yii\base\Module[] $modules = null
$request public property (available since version 2.0.36)

The request.

public yii\base\Request|array|string $request = 'request'
$response public property (available since version 2.0.36)

The response.

public yii\base\Response|array|string $response = 'response'
$route public property

The route (module ID, controller ID and action ID) of the current request. This property is read-only.

public string $route = null
$uniqueId public property

The controller ID that is prefixed with the module ID (if any). This property is read-only.

public string $uniqueId = null
$view public property

The view object that can be used to render views or view files.

public yii\base\View|yii\web\View $view = null
$viewPath public property

The directory containing the view files for this controller.

public string $viewPath = null

## Method Details

__construct() public method

public void __construct ( $id, $module, $config = [] )
$id | string | The ID of this controller.
$module | yii\base\Module | The module that this controller belongs to.
$config | array | Name-value pairs that will be used to initialize the object properties.

actions() public method

Declares external actions for the controller.

This method is meant to be overwritten to declare external actions for the controller. It should return an array, with array keys being action IDs, and array values the corresponding action class names or action configuration arrays. For example,

    return [
        'action1' => 'app\components\Action1',
        'action2' => [
            'class' => 'app\components\Action2',
            'property1' => 'value1',
            'property2' => 'value2',
        ],
    ];

Yii::createObject() will be used later to create the requested action using the configuration provided here.

public array actions ( )

afterAction() public method

This method is invoked right after an action is executed.

The method will trigger the EVENT_AFTER_ACTION event. The return value of the method will be used as the action return value.

If you override this method, your code should look like the following:

    public function afterAction($action, $result)
    {
        $result = parent::afterAction($action, $result);
        // your custom code here
        return $result;
    }

public mixed afterAction ( $action, $result )
$action | yii\base\Action | The action just executed.
$result | mixed | The action return result.
return | mixed | The processed action result.

beforeAction() public method

This method is invoked right before an action is executed.

The method will trigger the EVENT_BEFORE_ACTION event. The return value of the method will determine whether the action should continue to run.

In case the action should not run, the request should be handled inside of the `beforeAction` code by either providing the necessary output or redirecting the request. Otherwise the response will be empty.

If you override this method, your code should look like the following:

    public function beforeAction($action)
    {
        // your custom code here, if you want the code to run before action filters,
        // which are triggered on the [[EVENT_BEFORE_ACTION]] event, e.g. PageCache or AccessControl

        if (!parent::beforeAction($action)) {
            return false;
        }

        // other custom code here

        return true; // or false to not run the action
    }

public boolean beforeAction ( $action )
$action | yii\base\Action | The action to be executed.
return | boolean | Whether the action should continue to run.

bindActionParams() public method

Binds the parameters to the action.

This method is invoked by yii\base\Action when it begins to run with the given parameters.

public array bindActionParams ( $action, $params )
$action | yii\base\Action | The action to be bound with parameters.
$params | array | The parameters to be bound to the action.
return | array | The valid parameters that the action can run with.

bindInjectedParams() protected method (available since version 2.0.36)

Fills parameters based on types and names in action method signature.

protected void bindInjectedParams ( ReflectionType $type, $name, &$args, &$requestedParams )
$type | ReflectionType | The reflected type of the action parameter.
$name | string | The name of the parameter.
$args |  |
$requestedParams |  |
throws | yii\base\ErrorException | when we cannot load a required service.
throws | yii\base\InvalidConfigException | Thrown when there is an error in the DI configuration.
throws | yii\di\NotInstantiableException | Thrown when a definition cannot be resolved to a concrete class (for example an interface type hint) without a proper definition in the container.

createAction() public method

Creates an action based on the given action ID.

The method first checks if the action ID has been declared in actions(). If so, it will use the configuration declared there to create the action object. If not, it will look for a controller method whose name is in the format of `actionXyz` where `xyz` is the action ID. If found, an yii\base\InlineAction representing that method will be created and returned.

public yii\base\Action|null createAction ( $id )
$id | string | The action ID.
return | yii\base\Action|null | The newly created action instance. Null if the ID doesn't resolve into any action.

findLayoutFile() public method

Finds the applicable layout file.

public string|boolean findLayoutFile ( $view )
$view | yii\base\View | The view object to render the layout file.
return | string|boolean | The layout file path, or false if layout is not needed. Please refer to render() on how to specify this parameter.
throws | yii\base\InvalidArgumentException | if an invalid path alias is used to specify the layout.

getModules() public method

Returns all ancestor modules of this controller.

The first module in the array is the outermost one (i.e., the application instance), while the last is the innermost one.

public yii\base\Module[] getModules ( )
return | yii\base\Module[] | All ancestor modules that this controller is located within.

getRoute() public method

Returns the route of the current request.

public string getRoute ( )
return | string | The route (module ID, controller ID and action ID) of the current request.

getUniqueId() public method

Returns the unique ID of the controller.

public string getUniqueId ( )
return | string | The controller ID that is prefixed with the module ID (if any).

getView() public method

Returns the view object that can be used to render views or view files.

The render(), renderPartial() and renderFile() methods will use this view object to implement the actual view rendering. If not set, it will default to the "view" application component.

public yii\base\View|yii\web\View getView ( )
return | yii\base\View|yii\web\View | The view object that can be used to render views or view files.

getViewPath() public method

Returns the directory containing view files for this controller.

The default implementation returns the directory named as controller $id under the $module's $viewPath directory.

public string getViewPath ( )
return | string | The directory containing the view files for this controller.

init() public method (available since version 2.0.36)

Initializes the object.

This method is invoked at the end of the constructor after the object is initialized with the given configuration.

public void init ( )

render() public method

Renders a view and applies layout if available.

The view to be rendered can be specified in one of the following formats:

- path alias (e.g. "@app/views/site/index");
- absolute path within application (e.g. "//site/index"): the view name starts with double slashes. The actual view file will be looked for under the view path of the application.
- absolute path within module (e.g. "/site/index"): the view name starts with a single slash. The actual view file will be looked for under the view path of $module.
- relative path (e.g. "index"): the actual view file will be looked for under $viewPath.

To determine which layout should be applied, the following two steps are conducted:

1. In the first step, it determines the layout name and the context module:

- If $layout is specified as a string, use it as the layout name and $module as the context module;
- If $layout is null, search through all ancestor modules of this controller and find the first module whose layout is not null. The layout and the corresponding module are used as the layout name and the context module, respectively. If such a module is not found or the corresponding layout is not a string, it will return false, meaning no applicable layout.

1. In the second step, it determines the actual layout file according to the previously found layout name and context module. The layout name can be:

- a path alias (e.g. "@app/views/layouts/main");
- an absolute path (e.g. "/main"): the layout name starts with a slash. The actual layout file will be looked for under the layout path of the application;
- a relative path (e.g. "main"): the actual layout file will be looked for under the layout path of the context module.

If the layout name does not contain a file extension, it will use the default one `.php`.

public string render ( $view, $params = [] )
$view | string | The view name.
$params | array | The parameters (name-value pairs) that should be made available in the view. These parameters will not be available in the layout.
return | string | The rendering result.
throws | yii\base\InvalidArgumentException | if the view file or the layout file does not exist.

renderContent() public method (available since version 2.0.1)

Renders a static string by applying a layout.

public string renderContent ( $content )
$content | string | The static string being rendered
return | string | The rendering result of the layout with the given static string as the `$content` variable. If the layout is disabled, the string will be returned back.

renderFile() public method

Renders a view file.

public string renderFile ( $file, $params = [] )
$file | string | The view file to be rendered. This can be either a file path or a path alias.
$params | array | The parameters (name-value pairs) that should be made available in the view.
return | string | The rendering result.
throws | yii\base\InvalidArgumentException | if the view file does not exist.

renderPartial() public method

Renders a view without applying layout.

This method differs from render() in that it does not apply any layout.

public string renderPartial ( $view, $params = [] )
$view | string | The view name. Please refer to render() on how to specify a view name.
$params | array | The parameters (name-value pairs) that should be made available in the view.
return | string | The rendering result.
throws | yii\base\InvalidArgumentException | if the view file does not exist.

run() public method

Runs a request specified in terms of a route.

The route can be either an ID of an action within this controller or a complete route consisting of module IDs, controller ID and action ID. If the route starts with a slash '/', the parsing of the route will start from the application; otherwise, it will start from the parent module of this controller.

See also runAction().

public mixed run ( $route, $params = [] )
$route | string | The route to be handled, e.g., 'view', 'comment/view', '/admin/comment/view'.
$params | array | The parameters to be passed to the action.
return | mixed | The result of the action.

runAction() public method

Runs an action within this controller with the specified action ID and parameters.

If the action ID is empty, the method will use $defaultAction.

See also createAction().

public mixed runAction ( $id, $params = [] )
$id | string | The ID of the action to be executed.
$params | array | The parameters (name-value pairs) to be passed to the action.
return | mixed | The result of the action.
throws | yii\base\InvalidRouteException | if the requested action ID cannot be resolved into an action successfully.

setView() public method

Sets the view object to be used by this controller.

public void setView ( $view )
$view | yii\base\View|yii\web\View | The view object that can be used to render views or view files.

setViewPath() public method (available since version 2.0.7)

Sets the directory that contains the view files.

public void setViewPath ( $path )
$path | string | The root directory of view files.
throws | yii\base\InvalidArgumentException | if the directory is invalid

## Event Details

EVENT_AFTER_ACTION event of type yii\base\ActionEvent

An event raised right after executing a controller action.

EVENT_BEFORE_ACTION event of type yii\base\ActionEvent

An event raised right before executing a controller action. You may set yii\base\ActionEvent::$isValid to be false to cancel the action execution.