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wheels scaffold

Generate complete CRUD scaffolding for a resource.

Synopsis

wheels scaffold name=[resourceName] [options]

Description

The wheels scaffold command generates a complete CRUD (Create, Read, Update, Delete) implementation including model, controller, views, tests, and database migration. It's the fastest way to create a fully functional resource.

Arguments

Argument
Description
Default

name

Resource name (singular)

Required

Options

Option
Description
Default

properties

Model properties (format: name:type,name2:type2)

belongs-to

Parent model relationships (comma-separated)

has-many

Child model relationships (comma-separated)

--api

Generate API-only scaffold (no views)

false

--tests

Generate test files

true

--migrate

Run migrations after scaffolding

false

--force

Overwrite existing files

false

Examples

Basic scaffold

wheels scaffold name=product

Scaffold with properties

wheels scaffold name=product properties=name:string,price:decimal,stock:integer

Scaffold with associations

wheels scaffold name=order properties=total:decimal,status:string \
  belongsTo=user hasMany=orderItems

API scaffold

wheels scaffold name=product api=true properties=name:string,price:decimal

Scaffold with auto-migration

wheels scaffold name=category properties=name:string migrate=true

What Gets Generated

Standard Scaffold

  1. Model (/models/Product.cfc)

    • Properties and validations

    • Associations

    • Business logic

  2. Controller (/controllers/Products.cfc)

    • All CRUD actions

    • Flash messages

    • Error handling

  3. Views (/views/products/)

    • index.cfm - List all records

    • show.cfm - Display single record

    • new.cfm - New record form

    • edit.cfm - Edit record form

    • _form.cfm - Shared form partial

  4. Migration (/app/migrator/migrations/[timestamp]_create_products.cfc)

    • Create table

    • Add indexes

    • Define columns

  5. Tests (if enabled)

    • Model tests

    • Controller tests

    • Integration tests

API Scaffold

  1. Model - Same as standard

  2. API Controller - JSON responses only

  3. Migration - Same as standard

  4. API Tests - JSON response tests

  5. No Views - API doesn't need views

Generated Files Example

For wheels scaffold name=product properties=name:string,price:decimal,stock:integer:

Model: /models/Product.cfc

component extends="Model" {

    function init() {
        // Properties
        property(name="name", label="Product Name");
        property(name="price", label="Price");
        property(name="stock", label="Stock Quantity");
        
        // Validations
        validatesPresenceOf("name,price,stock");
        validatesUniquenessOf("name");
        validatesNumericalityOf("price", greaterThan=0);
        validatesNumericalityOf("stock", onlyInteger=true, greaterThanOrEqualTo=0);
    }

}

Controller: /controllers/Products.cfc

component extends="Controller" {

    function init() {
        // Filters
    }

    function index() {
        products = model("Product").findAll(order="name");
    }

    function show() {
        product = model("Product").findByKey(params.key);
        if (!IsObject(product)) {
            flashInsert(error="Product not found.");
            redirectTo(action="index");
        }
    }

    function new() {
        product = model("Product").new();
    }

    function create() {
        product = model("Product").new(params.product);
        if (product.save()) {
            flashInsert(success="Product was created successfully.");
            redirectTo(action="index");
        } else {
            flashInsert(error="There was an error creating the product.");
            renderView(action="new");
        }
    }

    function edit() {
        product = model("Product").findByKey(params.key);
        if (!IsObject(product)) {
            flashInsert(error="Product not found.");
            redirectTo(action="index");
        }
    }

    function update() {
        product = model("Product").findByKey(params.key);
        if (IsObject(product) && product.update(params.product)) {
            flashInsert(success="Product was updated successfully.");
            redirectTo(action="index");
        } else {
            flashInsert(error="There was an error updating the product.");
            renderView(action="edit");
        }
    }

    function delete() {
        product = model("Product").findByKey(params.key);
        if (IsObject(product) && product.delete()) {
            flashInsert(success="Product was deleted successfully.");
        } else {
            flashInsert(error="Product could not be deleted.");
        }
        redirectTo(action="index");
    }

}

View: /views/products/index.cfm

<h1>Products</h1>

#flashMessages()#

<p>#linkTo(text="New Product", action="new", class="btn btn-primary")#</p>

<table class="table">
    <thead>
        <tr>
            <th>Name</th>
            <th>Price</th>
            <th>Stock</th>
            <th>Actions</th>
        </tr>
    </thead>
    <tbody>
        <cfloop query="products">
            <tr>
                <td>#encodeForHtml(products.name)#</td>
                <td>#dollarFormat(products.price)#</td>
                <td>#products.stock#</td>
                <td>
                    #linkTo(text="Show", action="show", key=products.id)#
                    #linkTo(text="Edit", action="edit", key=products.id)#
                    #linkTo(text="Delete", action="delete", key=products.id, 
                            method="delete", confirm="Are you sure?")#
                </td>
            </tr>
        </cfloop>
    </tbody>
</table>

Form Partial: /views/products/_form.cfm

#errorMessagesFor("product")#

#textField(objectName="product", property="name", label="Product Name")#
#textField(objectName="product", property="price", label="Price")#
#textField(objectName="product", property="stock", label="Stock Quantity")#

Migration: /app/migrator/migrations/[timestamp]_create_products.cfc

component extends="wheels.migrator.Migration" {

    function up() {
        transaction {
            t = createTable("products");
            t.string("name");
            t.decimal("price", precision=10, scale=2);
            t.integer("stock");
            t.timestamps();
            t.create();
            
            addIndex(table="products", columns="name", unique=true);
        }
    }

    function down() {
        transaction {
            dropTable("products");
        }
    }

}

Routes Configuration

Add to /config/routes.cfm:

<cfset resources("products")>

This creates all RESTful routes:

  • GET /products - index

  • GET /products/new - new

  • POST /products - create

  • GET /products/[key] - show

  • GET /products/[key]/edit - edit

  • PUT/PATCH /products/[key] - update

  • DELETE /products/[key] - delete

Post-Scaffold Steps

  1. Run migration (if not using --migrate):

    wheels dbmigrate latest

  2. Add routes to /config/routes.cfm:

    <cfset resources("products")>

  3. Restart application:

    wheels reload

  4. Test the scaffold:

    • Visit /products to see the index

    • Create, edit, and delete records

    • Run generated tests

Customization

Adding Search

In controller's index():

function index() {
    if (StructKeyExists(params, "search")) {
        products = model("Product").findAll(
            where="name LIKE :search",
            params={search: "%#params.search#%"}
        );
    } else {
        products = model("Product").findAll();
    }
}

Adding Pagination

function index() {
    products = model("Product").findAll(
        page=params.page ?: 1,
        perPage=20,
        order="createdAt DESC"
    );
}

Adding Filters

function init() {
    filters(through="authenticate", except="index,show");
}

Template Customization

The scaffold command uses templates to generate code. You can customize these templates to match your project's coding standards and markup preferences.

Template Override System

The CLI uses a template override system that allows you to customize the generated code:

  1. CLI Templates - Default templates are located in the CLI module at /cli/templates/

  2. App Templates - Custom templates in your application at /app/snippets/ override the CLI templates

This means you can modify the generated code structure by creating your own templates in the /app/snippets/ directory.

How It Works

When generating code, the CLI looks for templates in this order:

  1. First checks /app/snippets/[template-name]

  2. Falls back to /cli/templates/[template-name] if not found in app

Customizing Templates

To customize scaffold output:

  1. Copy the template you want to customize from /cli/templates/ to /app/snippets/

  2. Modify the template to match your project's needs

  3. Run scaffold - it will use your custom template

Example for customizing the form template:

# Create the crud directory in your app
mkdir -p app/snippets/crud

# Copy the form template
cp /path/to/wheels/cli/templates/crud/_form.txt app/snippets/crud/

# Edit the template to match your markup
# The CLI will now use your custom template

Available Templates

Templates used by scaffold command:

  • crud/index.txt - Index/list view

  • crud/show.txt - Show single record view

  • crud/new.txt - New record form view

  • crud/edit.txt - Edit record form view

  • crud/_form.txt - Form partial shared by new/edit

  • ModelContent.txt - Model file structure

  • ControllerContent.txt - Controller file structure

Template Placeholders

Templates use placeholders that get replaced during generation:

  • |ObjectNameSingular| - Lowercase singular name (e.g., "product")

  • |ObjectNamePlural| - Lowercase plural name (e.g., "products")

  • |ObjectNameSingularC| - Capitalized singular name (e.g., "Product")

  • |ObjectNamePluralC| - Capitalized plural name (e.g., "Products")

  • |FormFields| - Generated form fields based on properties

  • <!--- CLI-Appends-Here ---> - Marker for future CLI additions

Best Practices

  1. Properties: Define all needed properties upfront

  2. Associations: Include relationships in initial scaffold

  3. Validation: Add custom validations after generation

  4. Testing: Always generate and run tests

  5. Routes: Use RESTful resources when possible

  6. Security: Add authentication/authorization

  7. Templates: Customize templates in /app/snippets/ to match your project standards

Comparison with Individual Generators

Scaffold generates everything at once:

# Scaffold does all of this:
wheels generate model product properties="name:string,price:decimal"
wheels generate controller products --rest
wheels generate view products index,show,new,edit,_form
wheels generate test model product
wheels generate test controller products
wheels dbmigrate create table products

See Also