Controller

API reference › yii › web › Controller

class	yii\web\Controller
Extends	yii\base\Controller » yii\base\Component » yii\base\BaseObject
Implements	yii\base\ViewContextInterface, yii\base\Configurable
Since	2.0
Source	framework/web/Controller.php

2 subclasses

• yii\rest\Controller
• yii\inertia\web\Controller

Controller is the base class of web controllers.

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

Properties

Property	Type	Description	Defined by
$action	yii\base\Action<static>|null	The action that is currently being executed. Default: null.	yii\base\Controller
$actionParams	array	The parameters bound to the current action. Default: [].	Controller
$behaviors read-only	array<yii\base\Behavior<static>>	List of behaviors attached to this component.	yii\base\Component
$defaultAction	string	The ID of the action that is used when the action ID is not specified in the request. Default: 'index'.	yii\base\Controller
$enableCsrfValidation	bool	Whether to enable CSRF validation for the actions in this controller. Default: true.	Controller
$id	string	The ID of this controller. Default: null.	yii\base\Controller
$layout	string|null|false	The name of the layout to be applied to this controller’s views. Default: null.	yii\base\Controller
$module	yii\base\T	The module that this controller belongs to. Default: null.	yii\base\Controller
$modules read-only	yii\base\Module[]	All ancestor modules that this controller is located within.	yii\base\Controller
$request	Request	The request object.	Controller
$response	Response	The response object.	Controller
$route read-only	string	The route (module ID, controller ID and action ID) of the current request.	yii\base\Controller
$uniqueId read-only	string	The controller ID that is prefixed with the module ID (if any).	yii\base\Controller
$view	View	The view object that can be used to render views or view files.	Controller
$viewPath	string	The directory containing the view files for this controller.	yii\base\Controller

Methods

Method	Description	Defined by
__construct()		yii\base\Controller
__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
__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.	Controller
asXml()	Send data formatted as XML.	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.	Controller
behaviors()	Returns a list of behaviors that this component should behave as.	yii\base\Component
bindActionParams()	Binds the parameters to the action.	Controller
bindActionParamsToCallable() static	Resolves the parameters for an action’s invokable callable using the same scalar coercion, type validation, and DI rules as bindActionParams().	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() static	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.	Controller
goHome()	Redirects the browser to the home page.	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.	Controller
refresh()	Refreshes the current page.	Controller
render()	Renders a view and applies layout if available.	yii\base\Controller
renderAjax()	Renders a view in response to an AJAX request.	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
bindInjectedParams() protected final	Fills parameters based on types and names in action method signature.	yii\base\Controller

Events

Event	Type	Description	Defined by
EVENT_BEFORE_ACTION	yii\base\ActionEvent	An event raised right before executing a controller action. Event name: 'beforeAction'.	yii\base\Controller
EVENT_AFTER_ACTION	yii\base\ActionEvent	An event raised right after executing a controller action. Event name: 'afterAction'.	yii\base\Controller

Property details

$enableCsrfValidation

public bool $enableCsrfValidation = true

Whether to enable CSRF validation for the actions in this controller.

CSRF validation is enabled only when both this property and Request::$enableCsrfValidation are true.

Method details

asJson()

public function asJson(mixed $data): yii\web\Response

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);

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$data	mixed	The data that should be formatted.

Returns

Response: A response that is configured to send $data formatted as JSON.

Since

2.0.11

See also

• Response::$format
• Response::FORMAT_JSON
• JsonResponseFormatter

asXml()

public function asXml(mixed $data): yii\web\Response

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);

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$data	mixed	The data that should be formatted.

Returns

Response: A response that is configured to send $data formatted as XML.

Since

2.0.11

See also

• Response::$format
• Response::FORMAT_XML
• XmlResponseFormatter

beforeAction()

public function beforeAction(mixed $action): bool

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
}

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$action	mixed	The action to be executed.

Returns

bool: Whether the action should continue to run.

bindActionParams()

public function bindActionParams(yii\base\Action<static> $action, array<array-key, mixed> $params): mixed[]

Binds the parameters to the action.

This method is invoked by 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.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$action	yii\base\Action<static>	The action to be bound with parameters.
$params	array<array-key, mixed>	The parameters to be bound to the action.

Returns

mixed[]: The valid parameters that the action can run with.

Throws

• BadRequestHttpException: if there are missing or invalid parameters.

bindActionParamsToCallable()

public static function bindActionParamsToCallable(ReflectionMethod $method, array $params, yii\base\Module|null $module = null): array

Resolves the parameters for an action’s invokable callable using the same scalar coercion, type validation, and DI rules as bindActionParams().

Standalone actions extending Action use this static entry point so they get the exact same HTTP-aware parameter handling as controller-hosted actions.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$method	ReflectionMethod	The reflected run() (or controller method) whose parameters are being bound.
$params	array	Route parameters available for binding (typically $_GET/$_POST-derived).
$module	yii\base\Module|null	The module that should be queried for components and DI definitions when resolving non-builtin typed parameters. May be null for standalone resolution outside a module context.

Returns

array: A tuple [positional args, named action params, named requested params] where the first item is passed to the callable, the second mirrors the controller’s actionParams, and the third is a description map for Yii::$app->requestedParams.

Throws

• BadRequestHttpException: if a scalar parameter fails type coercion or a required parameter is missing.
• ServerErrorHttpException: if a typed dependency cannot be resolved by the container.

Since

22.0

goBack()

public function goBack(string|array|null $defaultUrl = null): yii\web\Response

Redirects the browser to the last visited page.

You can use this method in an action by returning the 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.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$defaultUrl	string|array|null	The default return URL in case it was not set previously. If this is null and the return URL was not set previously, Application::$homeUrl will be redirected to. Please refer to User::setReturnUrl() on accepted format of the URL.

Returns

Response: The current response object

See also

• User::getReturnUrl()

goHome()

public function goHome(): yii\web\Response

Redirects the browser to the home page.

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

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

Returns

Response: The current response object

redirect()

public function redirect(string|array $url, int $statusCode = 302): yii\web\Response

Redirects the browser to the specified URL.

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

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

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

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$url	string|array	The URL to be redirected to. This can be in one of the following formats: - a string representing a URL (e.g. “https://example.com”) - a string representing a URL alias (e.g. “@example.com”) - an array in the format of [$route, ...name-value pairs...] (e.g. ['site/index', 'ref' => 1]) 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	int	The HTTP status code. Defaults to 302. See https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc2616#section-10 for details about HTTP status code

Returns

Response: The current response object

refresh()

public function refresh(string $anchor = ''): yii\web\Response

Refreshes the current page.

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

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

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

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$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.

Returns

Response: The response object itself

renderAjax()

public function renderAjax(string $view, array $params = []): string

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.

Parameters

Parameter	Type	Description
$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.

Returns

string: The rendering result.