Codeigniter - Multiple database connections - local and remote

Question

I am currently building an app whereby a user will be able to enter their own personal DB connections to utilise data from their MySQL database.

This means I will have two DB connections - my local (managing sessions etc) and the users remote one.

Can anyone advise on the best way to manage these two connections? I have looked at db groups - http://codeigniter.com/user_guide/database/connecting.html however the users db connection will be set by session vars, so I cannot put the details of the remote db in the config file.

I have tried manually setting a new db group within my class like:

        $db['foreign']['hostname'] = $this->session->userdata('hostname');
        $db['foreign']['username'] = $this->session->userdata('dbuser');
        $db['foreign']['password'] = $this->session->userdata('dbpassword');
        $db['foreign']['database'] = $this->session->userdata('dbname');
        $db['foreign']['dbdriver'] = "mysql";
        $db['foreign']['dbprefix'] = "";
        $db['foreign']['pconnect'] = FALSE;
        $db['foreign']['db_debug'] = TRUE;
        $db['foreign']['cache_on'] = FALSE;
        $db['foreign']['cachedir'] = "";
        $db['foreign']['char_set'] = "utf8";
        $db['foreign']['dbcollat'] = "utf8_general_ci";

        $foreign_db = $this->load->database('foreign', TRUE);

But i get an exception on the load line:

You have specified an invalid database connection group.

Can anyone advise how I can achieve this?

Many thanks, Ben.

Please mark the correct answer so it is easy to read through for those of us who have the same issues. — rivenate247
– rivenate247, Commented Nov 7, 2013 at 21:01

Nenoco · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-05 03:53:55Z

3

In order to use the group calling syntax, the group has to be defined in the config file. CI includes the ability to pass the config directly in to the database loader. (Note: this might only be a CI 2+ feature)

You want something like this:

$db['hostname'] = $this->session->userdata('hostname');
$db['username'] = $this->session->userdata('dbuser');
$db['password'] = $this->session->userdata('dbpassword');
$db['database'] = $this->session->userdata('dbname');
$db['dbdriver'] = "mysql";
$db['dbprefix'] = "";
$db['pconnect'] = FALSE;
$db['db_debug'] = TRUE;
$db['cache_on'] = FALSE;
$db['cachedir'] = "";
$db['char_set'] = "utf8";
$db['dbcollat'] = "utf8_general_ci";

$foreign_db = $this->load->database($db, TRUE);

answered Mar 5, 2012 at 3:53

Nenoco

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Repox · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-04 20:30:57Z

0

The 'foreign' group is probably not known to the system at the point you're trying to load it.

You shouldn't load anything in your config files; that's not what config files are for, which basically is the problem.

If you really need to autoload the foreign database, do it by extending the CI controller and load it in it's construct.

answered Mar 4, 2012 at 20:30

Repox

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2 Comments

Ben Over a year ago

Thanks for the response. To clarify, I do not need to autoload the foreign DB, im just looking for a method of setting up the foreign DB connection (as the parameters are set by session variables), and then using the new config in a class. The parameters in my example were where I have tried to set them in a class, not a config file. Regards, Ben.

Repox Over a year ago

@Ben Well, then the answer Nenoco came with is the right one.

MrPHP · Accepted Answer · 2012-03-05 08:37:53Z

0

you could use a hook to get the session var's and populate the config vars pre-connection.

else you could manually call the second DB class from the controllers and use the session class to define the details ?

answered Mar 5, 2012 at 8:37

MrPHP

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1 Comment

Ben Over a year ago

Thanks for the comments. So in the config file I would set the details to empty? $db['foreign']['hostname'] = ''; How would I then set a value from the controller? Regards, Ben.

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