Creating models

If you are developing a custom HivePress extension, you may need to create a new model. To do this, create a new class-{model-name}.php file (use lowercase letters, numbers, and hyphens only) in the includes/models extension subdirectory and HivePress will load it automatically.

Then, define the model PHP class. The class name should be based on the file name but with underscores instead of hyphens and no lowercase restriction (e.g. Foo_Bar class for the class-foo-bar.php file). Pick a name that is unique enough to avoid conflicts with other HivePress models.

<?php
namespace HivePress\Models;

use HivePress\Helpers as hp;

// Exit if accessed directly.
defined( 'ABSPATH' ) || exit;

class Foo_Bar extends Post {
	public function __construct( $args = [] ) {
		$args = hp\merge_arrays(
			[
				// Define the model fields.
				'fields' => [
					'description' => [
						'type'       => 'textarea',
						'max_length' => 1234,
						'required'   => true,
						'_alias'     => 'post_content',
					],
				],
			],
			$args
		);

		parent::__construct( $args );
	}

	// Implement custom methods.
	public function get_short_description() {
		return substr( $this->get_description(), 0, 123 );
	}
}

The code example above implements a Foo_Bar model based on the Post model. This means that the Foo_Bar objects are stored as posts of a custom hp_foo_bar type (the same hp_ prefix is used for comment types and taxonomies). A model class can be based on one of the base classes or any other model class. The following base classes are available:

• Post - for models based on a custom post type (e.g. Listing);

• Term - for models based on a custom taxonomy (e.g. Listing_Category);

• Comment - for models based on a custom comment type (e.g. Review).

If your model inherits the Post class, you must register the hp_{model_name} post type separately, either via the WordPress API or HivePress configuration. Similarly, if your model inherits the Term class, you must register a taxonomy.

The Foo_Bar model has a single required description field mapped to the standard post_content field (so the value will be stored in the post_content column of the wp_posts database table). Also, there's a get_short_description method used as a helper for getting the short description limited to 123 characters.

In the same way, you can create custom models for your HivePress extension.