doctrine2/manual/docs/en/data-fixtures.txt

Doctrine Data uses the Doctrine Parser for the dumping and loading of fixtures data so it is possible to use any of the formats available in the Parser. Currently yml is the only fully supported format but xml and others are next.

++ Exporting

You can export data to fixtures file in many different formats

<code type="php">
// A few ways exist for specifying where you export the data

// Dump to one large fixture file
$data = new Doctrine_Data();
$data->exportData('data.yml', 'yml');

// Dump to individual files. One file per model. 3rd argument true specifies to dump to individual files
$data = new Doctrine_Data();
$data->exportData('path/to/directory', 'yml', true);
</code>

++ Importing

You can import data from fixtures files in many different formats

<code type="php">
// Path can be in a few different formats
$path = 'path/to/data.yml'; // Path directly to one yml file
$path = array('data.yml', 'data2.yml', 'more.yml'); // Array of yml file paths
$path = array('directory1', 'directory2', 'directory3'); // Array of directories which contain yml files. It will find all files with an extension of .yml

// Specify the format of the data you are importing
$format = 'yml';
$format = 'xml';
$format = 'csv';

$models = array('User', 'Phonenumber'); // you can optionally specify an array of the models you wish to import the data for, by default it loads data for all the available loaded models and the data that exists

$data = new Doctrine_Data();
$data->importData($path, $format, $models);
</code>

++ Dummy Data

With Doctrine Data you can import dummy data to all your Doctrine Records

<code type="php">
$numRecords = 3; // Number of dummy records to populate for each model
$models = array('User', 'Email'); // Models to generate dummy data for. If none specified it generates dummy data for all loaded models.

$data = new Doctrine_Data();
$data->importDummyData($numRecords, $models);
</code>

++ Writing

You can write your fixtures files manually and load them in to your applications. Below is a sample data.yml fixtures file. You can also split your data fixtures file up in to multiple files. Doctrine will read all fixtures files and parse them, then load all data.

Please see the [doc schema-files :index :name] for the sample models/schema for these example fixtures.

<code type="yml">
---
Adult:
  Adult_1:
    name: Parent 1
    Contact: Contact_1
Car:
  Car_1:
    name: Chevorlet Trailblazer
  Car_2:
    name: Chevorlet Blazer
  Car_3:
    name: Buick
Child:
  Child_1:
    name: Child 1
    Adult: Adult_1
Contact:
  Contact_1:
    name: Jonathan H. Wage
  Contact_3:
    name: Daniel Adams
  Contact_4:
    name: Robert Adams
Dog:
  Dog_1:
    name: Sam
    User: User_1
  Dog_2:
    name: Dixie
    User: User_2
  Dog_3:
    name: Chief
    User: User_3
SelfReference:
  SelfReference_1:
    User1: User_1
    User2: User_2
    name: Self Reference 1
    SelfReference1: SelfReference_2
    SelfReference2: SelfReference_3
  SelfReference_2:
    User1: User_2
    User2: User_1
    name: Self Reference 2
    SelfReference1: SelfReference_1
    SelfReference2: SelfReference_1
  SelfReference_3:
    User1: User_2
    User2: User_1
    name: Self Reference 3
    SelfReference1: SelfReference_3
    SelfReference2: SelfReference_3
User:
  User_1:
    username: jwage
    hair_color: light brown
    Contact: Contact_1
  User_2:
    username: dadams
    hair_color: dark brown
    Contact: Contact_3
  User_3:
    username: radams
    hair_color: light brown
    Contact: Contact_4
UserCar:
  UserCar_1:
    User: User_1
    Car: Car_1
  UserCar_2:
    User: User_2
    Car: Car_2
  UserCar_3:
    User: User_3
    Car: Car_3
</code>

Here is how you would write code to load the data from that data.yml file

<code type="php">
$data = new Doctrine_Data();
$data->importData('data.yml', 'yml');
</code>