Database Configuration

CodeIgniter has a config file that lets you store your database connection values (username, password, database name, etc.). The config file is located at application/config/database.php. You can also set database connection values for specific environments by placing database.php in the respective environment config folder.

The config settings are stored in a multi-dimensional array with this prototype:

$db['default'] = array(
        'dsn'   => '',
        'hostname' => 'localhost',
        'username' => 'root',
        'password' => '',
        'database' => 'database_name',
        'dbdriver' => 'mysqli',
        'dbprefix' => '',
        'pconnect' => TRUE,
        'db_debug' => TRUE,
        'cache_on' => FALSE,
        'cachedir' => '',
        'char_set' => 'utf8',
        'dbcollat' => 'utf8_general_ci',
        'swap_pre' => '',
        'encrypt' => FALSE,
        'compress' => FALSE,
        'stricton' => FALSE,
        'failover' => array()
);

Some database drivers (such as PDO, PostgreSQL, Oracle, ODBC) might require a full DSN string to be provided. If that is the case, you should use the ‘dsn’ configuration setting, as if you’re using the driver’s underlying native PHP extension, like this:

// PDO
$db['default']['dsn'] = 'pgsql:host=localhost;port=5432;dbname=database_name';

// Oracle
$db['default']['dsn'] = '//localhost/XE';

You can also specify failovers for the situation when the main connection cannot connect for some reason. These failovers can be specified by setting the failover for a connection like this:

$db['default']['failover'] = array(
                array(
                        'hostname' => 'localhost1',
                        'username' => '',
                        'password' => '',
                        'database' => '',
                        'dbdriver' => 'mysqli',
                        'dbprefix' => '',
                        'pconnect' => TRUE,
                        'db_debug' => TRUE,
                        'cache_on' => FALSE,
                        'cachedir' => '',
                        'char_set' => 'utf8',
                        'dbcollat' => 'utf8_general_ci',
                        'swap_pre' => '',
                        'encrypt' => FALSE,
                        'compress' => FALSE,
                        'stricton' => FALSE
                ),
                array(
                        'hostname' => 'localhost2',
                        'username' => '',
                        'password' => '',
                        'database' => '',
                        'dbdriver' => 'mysqli',
                        'dbprefix' => '',
                        'pconnect' => TRUE,
                        'db_debug' => TRUE,
                        'cache_on' => FALSE,
                        'cachedir' => '',
                        'char_set' => 'utf8',
                        'dbcollat' => 'utf8_general_ci',
                        'swap_pre' => '',
                        'encrypt' => FALSE,
                        'compress' => FALSE,
                        'stricton' => FALSE
                )
        );

You can specify as many failovers as you like.

The reason we use a multi-dimensional array rather than a more simple one is to permit you to optionally store multiple sets of connection values. If, for example, you run multiple environments (development, production, test, etc.) under a single installation, you can set up a connection group for each, then switch between groups as needed. For example, to set up a “test” environment you would do this:

$db['test'] = array(
        'dsn'   => '',
        'hostname' => 'localhost',
        'username' => 'root',
        'password' => '',
        'database' => 'database_name',
        'dbdriver' => 'mysqli',
        'dbprefix' => '',
        'pconnect' => TRUE,
        'db_debug' => TRUE,
        'cache_on' => FALSE,
        'cachedir' => '',
        'char_set' => 'utf8',
        'dbcollat' => 'utf8_general_ci',
        'swap_pre' => '',
        'compress' => FALSE,
        'encrypt' => FALSE,
        'stricton' => FALSE,
        'failover' => array()
);

Then, to globally tell the system to use that group you would set this variable located in the config file:

$active_group = 'test';

Query Builder

The Query Builder Class is globally enabled or disabled by setting the $query_builder variable in the database configuration file to TRUE/FALSE (boolean). The default setting is TRUE. If you are not using the query builder class, setting it to FALSE will utilize fewer resources when the database classes are initialized.

$query_builder = TRUE;

Explanation of Values:

$db['default']['port'] = 5432;