DataMapper ORMModern Active Record for CodeIgniter

Get Started in 3 Steps ​

Why DataMapper 2.0? ​

Before vs After ​

$user = new User();
$user->where('active', 1);
$user->where('age >', 18);
$user->order_by('created_at', 'DESC');
$user->limit(10);
$user->get();

// N+1 problem - multiple queries
foreach ($user as $u) {
    foreach ($u->post as $post) {  // Extra query each iteration!
        echo $post->title;
    }
}

$users = (new User())
    ->where('active', 1)
    ->where('age >', 18)
    ->order_by('created_at', 'DESC')
    ->limit(10)
    ->with('post')  // Eager load - ONE query!
    ->get();

// No N+1 problem!
foreach ($users as $user) {
    foreach ($user->post as $post) {  // Already loaded!
        echo $post->title;
    }
}

Real-World Performance ​

// Before: 101 queries (N+1 nightmare)
$organizations = (new Organization())->get();
foreach ($organizations as $org) {
    foreach ($org->installation as $installation) {
        echo $installation->name;
    }
}

// After: 2 queries (98% reduction!)
$organizations = (new Organization())
    ->with('installation')
    ->get();
    
foreach ($organizations as $org) {
    foreach ($org->installation as $installation) {
        echo $installation->name;
    }
}

Quick Example ​

// E-commerce: Get premium customers with recent orders
$customers = (new Customer())
    ->with([
        'order' => function($q) {
            $q->where('created_at >', date('Y-m-d', strtotime('-30 days')))
              ->where('status', 'completed')
              ->order_by('created_at', 'DESC')
              ->limit(10);
        }
    ])
    ->where('status', 'premium')
    ->where('credits >', 100)
    ->whereNotNull('email_verified_at')
    ->order_by('total_spent', 'DESC')
    ->cache(3600)  // Cache for 1 hour
    ->get();

// Work with collections
$totalSpent = $customers->sum('total_spent');
$emails = $customers->pluck('email');
$topCustomer = $customers->first();

Feature Comparison ​

Authors & Maintainers ​

DataMapper ORM is developed and maintained by:

• P2GR - Version 2.0 development and maintenance
• KayElliot - Version 2.0 development and maintenance

DataMapper ORM was originally created by Phil DeJarnett and Simon Stenhouse, with continued development by Harro Verton through version 1.8.3.

Community & Support ​

Legacy Manual ​

The legacy HTML manual that used to live under /manual/ has been retired. All content now lives in this VitePress site under /guide, /reference, and /examples.

If you previously linked to URLs such as /manual/pages/gettingstarted.html, update them to the equivalent path on this site (for example /guide/getting-started/introduction). When hosting the docs, configure HTTP 301 redirects from the old /manual/* paths to their new locations so bookmarks and search indexes continue to work.

Trusted By ​

DataMapper ORM powers applications across diverse industries:

• Healthcare - Patient management systems
• E-commerce - Online stores and marketplaces
• Enterprise - Business management platforms
• Education - Learning management systems
• Fintech - Financial tracking applications