Magento: Mage:: Static Functions

Posted on October 25, 2010 by Josh Pratt

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I’m sure if you are a Magento developer, you’ve seen or used a lot of these types of methods: Mage::app(), Mage::getModel(), Mage::getSingleton(), etc. I’d like to explain how and why these work if you are unaware.

First, if you open up app/Mage.php, you’ll notice that the class declaration is final class Mage. The ‘final’ php keyword prevents this class from being overridden (extended). Second, you’ll notice that every function in the class is a static function, for instance: public static function getVersion(). A static function basically means that you do not need to instantiate the class/object to use the method.

I will list out some of the main, most useful methods available here. If you want to see the others, just open up app/Mage.php and have a look. You can call these anywhere within your application:

• Mage::getVersion()
      Returns your current Magento version.
   
• Mage::getModel($modelClass = '', $arguments = array())
      Returns a new model object.
   
• Mage::helper($name)
      Returns a helper object.
   
• Mage::log($message, $level = null, $file = '', $forceLog = false)
      Logging tool. If you only pass in a message, it logs to var/log/system.log, if you have logging enabled.
   
• Mage::app()
      Initialize a Magento application object.
   
• Mage::getStoreConfig($path, $store = null)
      Returns config value by path (basically anything in System >> Configuration).
   
• Mage::getBaseUrl($type = Mage_Core_Model_Store::URL_TYPE_LINK, $secure = null)
      Returns the base URL by type.
   
• Mage::register($key, $value)
      Registers a new variable in the registry.
   
• Mage::unregister($key)
      Unregisters a variable in the registry.
   
• Mage::registry($key)
      Returns a value from the registry by the given key.
   
• Mage::getBaseDir($type = 'base')
      Returns the root absolute path. You can of course change which website by passing in the code.
   
• Mage::getModuleDir($type, $moduleName)
      Returns the absolute path of a given module.
   
• Mage::getStoreConfigFlag($path, $store = null)
      Returns a config flag by path.
   
• Mage::getConfig()
      Returns a config instance.
   
• Mage::getUrl($route = '', $params = array())
      Generates a url by route and parameters.
   
• Mage::getDesign()
      Returns a design package singleton.
   
• Mage::dispatchEvent($name, array $data = array())
      Dispatches an event in Magento.
   
• Mage::getSingleton($modelClass = '', $arguments = array())
      Returns a model object singleton.
   
• Mage::getResourceModel($modelClass, $arguments = array())
      Returns a resource model object.
   
• Mage::throwException($message, $messageStorage = null)
      Throw an exception, the Magento way.
   
• Mage::setIsDeveloperMode($mode)
      Turns developer mode on or off ($mode should be true or false).
   
• Mage::getIsDeveloperMode()
      Returns if developer mode is enabled or not