Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract provides accessor methods so you can reference columns in the row as object properties.

$bugs = new Bugs();
$row = $bugs->fetchRow($bugs->select()->where('bug_id = ?', 1));

// Echo the value of the bug_description column
echo $row->bug_description;

You can access the row's data as an array using the toArray() method of the Row object. This returns an associative array of the column names to the column values.

$bugs = new Bugs();
$row = $bugs->fetchRow($bugs->select()->where('bug_id = ?', 1));

// Get the column/value associative array from the Row object
$rowArray = $row->toArray();

// Now use it as a normal array
foreach ($rowArray as $column => $value) {
    echo "Column: $column\n";
    echo "Value:  $value\n";
}

The array returned from toArray() is not updateable. You can modify values in the array as you can with any array, but you cannot save changes to this array to the database directly.

The Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract class provides methods for fetching rows and rowsets from related tables. See “Zend_Db_Table Relationships” for more information on table relationships.

You can set individual column values using column accessors, similar to how the columns are read as object properties in the example above.

Using a column accessor to set a value changes the column value of the row object in your application, but it does not commit the change to the database yet. You can do that with the save() method.

$bugs = new Bugs();
$row = $bugs->fetchRow($bugs->select()->where('bug_id = ?', 1));

// Change the value of one or more columns
$row->bug_status = 'FIXED';

// UPDATE the row in the database with new values
$row->save();

You can create a new row for a given table with the createRow() method of the table class. You can access fields of this row with the object-oriented interface, but the row is not stored in the database until you call the save() method.

$bugs = new Bugs();
$newRow = $bugs->createRow();

// Set column values as appropriate for your application
$newRow->bug_description = '...description...';
$newRow->bug_status = 'NEW';

// INSERT the new row to the database
$newRow->save();

The optional argument to the createRow() method is an associative array, with which you can populate fields of the new row.

$data = array(
    'bug_description' => '...description...',
    'bug_status'      => 'NEW'
);

$bugs = new Bugs();
$newRow = $bugs->createRow($data);

// INSERT the new row to the database
$newRow->save();

Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract provides the setFromArray() method to enable you to set several columns in a single row at once, specified in an associative array that maps the column names to values. You may find this method convenient for setting values both for new rows and for rows you need to update.

$bugs = new Bugs();
$newRow = $bugs->createRow();

// Data are arranged in an associative array
$data = array(
    'bug_description' => '...description...',
    'bug_status'      => 'NEW'
);

// Set all the column values at once
$newRow->setFromArray($data);

// INSERT the new row to the database
$newRow->save();

You can call the delete() method on a Row object. This deletes rows in the database matching the primary key in the Row object.

$bugs = new Bugs();
$row = $bugs->fetchRow('bug_id = 1');

// DELETE this row
$row->delete();

You do not have to call save() to apply the delete; it is executed against the database immediately.

Simply use PHP 's serialize() function to create a string containing a byte-stream representation of the Row object argument.

$bugs = new Bugs();
$row = $bugs->fetchRow('bug_id = 1');

// Convert object to serialized form
$serializedRow = serialize($row);

// Now you can write $serializedRow to a file, etc.

Use PHP's unserialize() function to restore a string containing a byte-stream representation of an object. The function returns the original object.

Note that the Row object returned is in a disconnected state. You can read the Row object and its properties, but you cannot change values in the Row or execute other methods that require a database connection (for example, queries against related tables).

$rowClone = unserialize($serializedRow);

// Now you can use object properties, but read-only
echo $rowClone->bug_description;

You can reactivate a disconnected Row, using the setTable() method. The argument to this method is a valid object of type Zend_Db_Table_Abstract , which you create. Creating a Table object requires a live connection to the database, so by reassociating the Table with the Row, the Row gains access to the database. Subsequently, you can change values in the Row object and save the changes to the database.

$rowClone = unserialize($serializedRow);

$bugs = new Bugs();

// Reconnect the row to a table, and
// thus to a live database connection
$rowClone->setTable($bugs);

// Now you can make changes to the row and save them
$rowClone->bug_status = 'FIXED';
$rowClone->save();

If application-specific logic needs to be initialized when a row is constructed, you can select to move your tasks to the init() method, which is called after all row metadata has been processed. This is recommended over the __construct method if you do not need to alter the metadata in any programmatic way.

class MyApplicationRow extends Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract
{
    protected $_role;

    public function init()
    {
        $this->_role = new MyRoleClass();
    }
}

The Row class calls protected methods _insert() , _update() , and _delete() before performing the corresponding operations INSERT , UPDATE , and DELETE . You can add logic to these methods in your custom Row subclass.

If you need to do custom logic in a specific table, and the custom logic must occur for every operation on that table, it may make more sense to implement your custom code in the insert() , update() and delete() methods of your Table class. However, sometimes it may be necessary to do custom logic in the Row class.

Below are some example cases where it might make sense to implement custom logic in a Row class instead of in the Table class:

class MyLoggingRow extends Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract
{
    protected function _insert()
    {
        $log = Zend_Registry::get('database_log');
        $log->info(Zend_Debug::dump($this->_data,
                                    "INSERT: $this->_tableClass",
                                    false)
                  );
    }
}

// $loggingEnabled is an example property that depends
// on your application configuration
if ($loggingEnabled) {
    $bugs = new Bugs(array('rowClass' => 'MyLoggingRow'));
} else {
    $bugs = new Bugs();
}

class MyLoggingRow extends Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract
{
    protected function _insert()
    {
        $log = Zend_Registry::get('database_log');
        $log->info(Zend_Debug::dump($this->_data,
                                    "INSERT: $this->_tableClass",
                                    false)
                  );
    }
}

class Bugs extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract
{
    protected $_name = 'bugs';
    protected $_rowClass = 'MyLoggingRow';
}

class Products extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract
{
    protected $_name = 'products';
    protected $_rowClass = 'MyLoggingRow';
}

Some people prefer that the table class name match a table name in the RDBMS by using a string transformation called inflection .

Zend_Db classes do not implement inflection by default. See “Define Inflection in Zend_Db_Table” for an explanation of this policy.

If you prefer to use inflection, then you must implement the transformation yourself, by overriding the _transformColumn() method in a custom Row class, and using that custom Row class when you perform queries against your Table class.

class MyInflectedRow extends Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract
{
    protected function _transformColumn($columnName)
    {
        $nativeColumnName = myCustomInflector($columnName);
        return $nativeColumnName;
    }
}

class Bugs extends Zend_Db_Table_Abstract
{
    protected $_name = 'bugs';
    protected $_rowClass = 'MyInflectedRow';
}

$bugs = new Bugs();
$row = $bugs->fetchNew();

// Use camelcase column names, and rely on the
// transformation function to change it into the
// native representation.
$row->bugDescription = 'New description';

You are responsible for writing the functions to perform inflection transformation. Zend Framework does not provide such a function.