# Class yii\web\Controller

Inheritance | yii\web\Controller » yii\base\Controller » yii\base\Component » yii\base\BaseObject
Implements | yii\base\Configurable, yii\base\ViewContextInterface
Subclasses | yii\debug\controllers\DefaultController, yii\debug\controllers\UserController, yii\gii\controllers\DefaultController, yii\rest\ActiveController, yii\rest\Controller
Available since version | 2.0
Source Code | https://github.com/yiisoft/yii2/blob/master/framework/web/Controller.php

Controller is the base class of web controllers.

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
$actionParams | array | The parameters bound to the current action. | yii\web\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
$enableCsrfValidation | boolean | Whether to enable CSRF validation for the actions in this controller. | yii\web\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\web\Request |  | yii\web\Controller
$response | yii\web\Response |  | yii\web\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
asJson() | Send data formatted as JSON. | yii\web\Controller
asXml() | Send data formatted as XML. | yii\web\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\web\Controller
behaviors() | Returns a list of behaviors that this component should behave as. | yii\base\Component
bindActionParams() | Binds the parameters to the action. | yii\web\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
goBack() | Redirects the browser to the last visited page. | yii\web\Controller
goHome() | Redirects the browser to the home page. | yii\web\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
redirect() | Redirects the browser to the specified URL. | yii\web\Controller
refresh() | Refreshes the current page. | yii\web\Controller
render() | Renders a view and applies layout if available. | yii\base\Controller
renderAjax() | Renders a view in response to an AJAX request. | yii\web\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

$actionParams public property

The parameters bound to the current action.

public array $actionParams = []
$enableCsrfValidation public property

Whether to enable CSRF validation for the actions in this controller. CSRF validation is enabled only when both this property and yii\web\Request::$enableCsrfValidation are true.

public boolean $enableCsrfValidation = true
$request public property
public yii\web\Request $request = null
$response public property
public yii\web\Response $response = null

## Method Details

asJson() public method (available since version 2.0.11)

Send data formatted as JSON.

This method is a shortcut for sending data formatted as JSON. It will return the response application component after configuring the format and setting the data that should be formatted. A common usage will be:

    return $this->asJson($data);

See also:

- yii\web\Response::$format
- yii\web\Response::FORMAT_JSON
- yii\web\JsonResponseFormatter

public yii\web\Response asJson ( $data )
$data | mixed | The data that should be formatted.
return | yii\web\Response | A response that is configured to send `$data` formatted as JSON.

asXml() public method (available since version 2.0.11)

Send data formatted as XML.

This method is a shortcut for sending data formatted as XML. It will return the response application component after configuring the format and setting the data that should be formatted. A common usage will be:

    return $this->asXml($data);

See also:

- yii\web\Response::$format
- yii\web\Response::FORMAT_XML
- yii\web\XmlResponseFormatter

public yii\web\Response asXml ( $data )
$data | mixed | The data that should be formatted.
return | yii\web\Response | A response that is configured to send `$data` formatted as XML.

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. This method will check the parameter names that the action requires and return the provided parameters according to the requirement. If there is any missing parameter, an exception will be thrown.

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.
throws | yii\web\BadRequestHttpException | if there are missing or invalid parameters.

goBack() public method

Redirects the browser to the last visited page.

You can use this method in an action by returning the yii\web\Response directly:

    // stop executing this action and redirect to last visited page
    return $this->goBack();

For this function to work you have to set the return URL in appropriate places before.

See also yii\web\User::getReturnUrl().

public yii\web\Response goBack ( $defaultUrl = null )
$defaultUrl | string|array | The default return URL in case it was not set previously. If this is null and the return URL was not set previously, yii\web\Application::$homeUrl will be redirected to. Please refer to yii\web\User::setReturnUrl() on accepted format of the URL.
return | yii\web\Response | The current response object

goHome() public method

Redirects the browser to the home page.

You can use this method in an action by returning the yii\web\Response directly:

    // stop executing this action and redirect to home page
    return $this->goHome();

public yii\web\Response goHome ( )
return | yii\web\Response | The current response object

redirect() public method

Redirects the browser to the specified URL.

This method is a shortcut to yii\web\Response::redirect().

You can use it in an action by returning the yii\web\Response directly:

    // stop executing this action and redirect to login page
    return $this->redirect(['login']);

public yii\web\Response redirect ( $url, $statusCode = 302 )
$url | string|array | The URL to be redirected to. This can be in one of the following formats: a string representing a URL (e.g. "http://example.com") a string representing a URL alias (e.g. "@example.com") an array in the format of `[$route, ...name-value pairs...]` (e.g. `['site/index', 'ref' => 1]`) yii\helpers\Url::to() will be used to convert the array into a URL. Any relative URL that starts with a single forward slash "/" will be converted into an absolute one by prepending it with the host info of the current request.
$statusCode | integer | The HTTP status code. Defaults to 302. See https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-10 for details about HTTP status code
return | yii\web\Response | The current response object

refresh() public method

Refreshes the current page.

This method is a shortcut to yii\web\Response::refresh().

You can use it in an action by returning the yii\web\Response directly:

    // stop executing this action and refresh the current page
    return $this->refresh();

public yii\web\Response refresh ( $anchor = '' )
$anchor | string | The anchor that should be appended to the redirection URL. Defaults to empty. Make sure the anchor starts with '#' if you want to specify it.
return | yii\web\Response | The response object itself

renderAjax() public method

Renders a view in response to an AJAX request.

This method is similar to renderPartial() except that it will inject into the rendering result with JS/CSS scripts and files which are registered with the view. For this reason, you should use this method instead of renderPartial() to render a view to respond to an AJAX request.

public string renderAjax ( $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.