Step 6. Create a Gantt

Finally, we'll add a gantt on the page. The technique used for dhtmlxGrid is the same for all other DHTMLX components, including dhtmlxGantt.
We will divide the step into 2 substeps again:

If after completing the step, you will run webhost/codeigniter_dhtmlx/gantt, the app will produce the following gantt that loads data from server and saves them back:

Step 6.1. Configuring the View object

Let's create a View file that will present our gantt.

For a deeper learning of dhtmlxGantt initialization, read:

To configure the View object:

In the "views " folder create a new file and name it "GanttView.php "

Open the "GanttView.php " file and add the following code there:

"views/GanttView.php" file

<!DOCTYPE html>
<head>
    <meta http-equiv="Content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
    <script src="./static/lib/dhtmlxGantt/codebase/dhtmlxgantt.js"></script>
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="./static/lib/dhtmlxGantt/codebase/dhtmlxgantt.css">
</head>
 
<body>
    <div id="gantt_here" style='width:100%; height:250px;'></div>
 
    <script type="text/javascript">        gantt.init("gantt_here", new Date(2010,7,1), new Date(2010,8,1));
        // refers to the 'data' action that we will create in the next substep 
        gantt.load("./gantt/data", "xml");
        // refers to the 'data' action as well
        var dp = new dataProcessor("./gantt/data");
        dp.init(gantt);
    </script>
</body>

Step 6.2. Configuring the Controller object

The configuration of GanttConnector is the same as those of GridConnector and SchedulerConnector. Thus, we need to implement the actions below:

One that loads the view.
One that loads and processes data.

To load and process data we will use GanttConnector. A common use of GanttConnector is:

$controller = new GanttConnector($this->db, "PHPCI");                   
$controller->render_links("gantt_links", "id", "source,target,type");   
$controller->render_table("gantt_tasks", "id", "start_date,duration,text,progress,parent");

The GanttConnector constructor takes 2 parameters:

$db - the DB connection variable;
$type - the database type.

Remember, in case of working with CodeIgniter, the parameters will always get the values:
$this->db and "PHPCI".

The render_links method configures connector, retrieves data from a table with links and takes 3 parameters:

$table - the database's table name;
$id - the name of the id field;
$links - a list of fields which will be used as data properties of a link.

The render_table method configures connector, retrieves data from a table with tasks and takes 3 parameters:

$table - the database's table name;
$id - the name of the id field;
$tasks - a list of fields which will be used as data properties of a task.

To configure the Controller object:

Create a new file in the "controllers " folder and name it "Gantt.php ".

Open the "Gantt.php " file and apply the use keyword to include GanttConnector:

"controllers/Gantt.php" file

<?php
use Dhtmlx\Connector\GanttConnector;
?>

Create the root controller class with the name "Gantt ":

"controllers/Gantt.php" file

<?php 
use Dhtmlx\Connector\GanttConnector;
 
class Gantt extends CI_Controller {                     // here you should place all your functions     }                                                                                          ?>

Create an action that will load the view:

"controllers/Gantt.php" file

сlass Gantt extends CI_Controller {                     
    public function index(){                            $this->load->view("GanttView");             }                                           };

Create an action that will load and process data:

"controllers/Gantt.php" file

class Gantt extends CI_Controller {                     
    public function index(){       
        $this->load->view("GanttView");     
    }
    public function data(){                                                             $this->load->database(); // data feed                                            $controller = new GanttConnector($this->db, "PHPCI");                           $controller->render_links("gantt_links", "id", "source,target,type");           $controller->render_table(                                                          "gantt_tasks",                                                                  "id",                                                                           "start_date,duration,text,progress,parent"                                    );                                                                           }                                                                           };

That's all. We believe you have enjoyed the tutorial and seen how easy you could integrate CodeIgniter with dhtmlxConnector. The final application logic was not the goal of this article, but interface built here is a good start for creating a fully-functional web application.

Follow our other tutorials to become a true DHTMLX expert.