Getting started

Shim lets you add individual helpers or traits to a CakePHP 5 application. For a new application, start with a convenience trait. Use legacy shims only for code you are migrating.

Follow Installation first, then choose a trait or helper below. No database changes are needed for these examples.

Read an optional nested value

Add ReadTrait to one of your application's entities, for example src/Model/Entity/Article.php:

namespace App\Model\Entity;

use Cake\ORM\Entity;
use Shim\Model\Entity\ReadTrait;

class Article extends Entity {
    use ReadTrait;
}

In a controller or service:

use App\Model\Entity\Article;

$article = new Article(['title' => 'First article']);
$name = $article->read('author.name', 'Unknown author');
// $name is 'Unknown author' because no author is present.

No plugin loading or database changes are needed for this trait. When reading associated records, fetch the association with contain() first. The trait does not load it for you. See Entity for required-value checks.

Use a plugin helper

The helper works without loading the plugin. If you also want its bootstrap configuration and legacy time constants, load it:

bin/cake plugin load Shim

In src/View/AppView.php, inside initialize():

$this->loadHelper('Shim.Number');

Then, in a template:

echo $this->Number->format(null, ['default' => '-']);
// Prints -.

Loading Shim runs its bootstrap and enables its own deprecation notices. Use Installation for details and Upgrade Guide to replace legacy shims as you migrate.