CodeIgniter base model classes

SUSHI_Model.php

<?php if ( ! defined('BASEPATH')) exit('No direct script access allowed');

/**
 * SUSHI_Model provides a base model class that interacts with SUSHI_ModelRow to
 * make saving and loading data easier.
 *
 * @package default
 * @author Isaac Raway
 **/
class SUSHI_Model extends CI_Model
{
    public $table = '';
    public $singular = '';
    public $class = '';
    public $serialized = array();
    
    public function __construct($table = FALSE, $singular = FALSE, $class = FALSE, $serialized = FALSE)
    {
        parent::__construct();
        
        /*$this->CI->db->cache_off();
        
        if($table) $this->table = $table;
        if($singular) $this->singular = $singular;
        if($class) $this->class = $class;
        if($serialized) $this->serialized = $serialized;*/
    }
    
    /**
     * Wrapper around ImageRow constructor to hide class name from client code.
     *
     * @return ImageRow
     * @author Isaac Raway
     **/
    public function create()
    {
        return new {$this->class}();
    }
    
    
} // END SUSHI_Model 


/**
 * SUSHI_ModelRowMeta provides a dumping ground for data that is not saved for a row but
 * is needed to manage it's lifecycle. Basically we just use this instead of an array
 * to keep the syntax cleaner.
 *
 * @package default
 * @author Isaac Raway
 **/
class SUSHI_ModelRowMeta
{
    public $new = TRUE;
    public $model = NULL;
}

/**
 * SUSHI_ModelRow provides facilities for automatically interacting with model objects
 * in an object oriented way (new record created with new ClassName(), save with 
 * $inst->save(), etc.)
 *
 * @package default
 * @author Isaac Raway
 **/
class SUSHI_ModelRow
{
    public $meta = NULL;
    
    public function __construct(&$row = FALSE)
    {
        // The META field contains all non-data fields that are not saved or loaded from the datasource
        $this->META = new SUSHI_ModelRowMeta();
        
        $this->CI = &get_instance();
        
        if($row)
        {
            $this->META->new = FALSE;
            foreach($row as $key => $value) 
            {
                if($key != 'CI' && $key != 'META')
                {
                    $this->$key = &$value;
                }
            }
        }
    }
    
    public function dump() 
    {
        echo "<b>DUMP " . get_class($this)  . "</b><br/>";
        echo "<i>Meta:</i><br/>";
        foreach($this->META as $key => $value) 
        {
            echo $key . "=" . (is_object($value) ? 'OBJECT: ' . get_class($value) : $value) . "<br/>";
        }
        echo "<i>Fields:</i><br/>";
        foreach($this as $key => $value) 
        {
            if($key != 'CI' && $key != 'META')
            {
                echo $key . "=" . (is_object($value) ? 'OBJECT: ' . get_class($value) : $value) . "<br/>";
            }
        }
        echo "<br/>";
    }
    
    public function save()
    {
        $id_field = $this->META->model->singular.'_id';
        
        $this->_serialize();
        if($this->META->new)
        {
            // Create new record
            $this->CI->db->insert($this->table, $data);
            $insert_id = $this->CI->db->insert_id();
            $this->$id_field = $insert_id;
        } else {
            // Update existing record
            $this->CI->db->where($id_field, $this->$id_field)->update($this->META->model->table, $this);
        }
        $this->_unserialize();
    }
    
    public function delete() 
    {
        $id_field = $this->META->model->singular.'_id';
        
        return $query = $this->CI->db->where($id_field, $this->$id_field)
                                     ->delete($this->table);
    }
    
    private function _serialize()
    {
        foreach($this->META['model']->serialized as $field) {
            if(isset($this->$field)) {
                $this->$field = serialize($this->$field);
            }
        }
    }

    private function _unserialize()
    {
        foreach($this->META['model']->serialized as $field) {
            if(isset($this->$field)) {
                $this->$field = unserialize($this->$field);
            }
        }
    }
}