SuperModel/Model setup

Event.php

<?php

class EventNotFoundException extends Exception{};

class Event extends SuperModel {

    protected $TABLE = 'event';
    
    protected $db_fields;
    
    protected $id;
    protected $type;
    protected $message;
    protected $raw;
    protected $extra_data;
    protected $trace;
    protected $created;
    protected $project_id;
    protected $status;
    
    protected $project;
    
    public function __clone() {
        
        unset( $this->count_only );
    }
    
    // <editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc=" Factory Methods ">
    public function find($id) {


        $query = $this->db->where('id', $id)->get($this->TABLE);


        if ($query->num_rows() == 0)
            throw new EventNotFoundException();


        $row = $query->row();


        return $this->create($row);
    }


    public function forProject($project) {


        if (is_numeric($project)) {
            $id = $project;
        } else if (is_a($project, 'Project')) {
            $id = $project->get_id();
        } else {
            throw new InvalidArgumentException("Invalid project given: $project");
        }


        $this->db->where('project_id', $id);

        if ( isset($this->count_only) ) {
            unset( $this->count_only );
            return $this->db->count_all( $this->TABLE );
        }

        $query = $this->db->get($this->TABLE);
        
        if ($query->num_rows() == 0)
            return array();


        $events = array();
        foreach ($query->result() as $row)
            $events[] = $this->create($row);


        return $events;
    }
    
    function count() {
        
        $this->count_only = true;
        return $this;
    }
    // </editor-fold>
    
    public function parse() {
        
        return $this;
    }
    
    // <editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc=" Setters ">
    public function set_raw($raw) {


        $this->raw = $raw;
        return $this;
    }


    public function set_status($status) {


        $this->status = $status;
        return $this;
    }


    public function set_type($type) {


        $this->type = $type;
        return $this;
    }


    public function set_extra_data($extra_data) {


        $this->extra_data = $extra_data;
        return $this;
    }


    public function set_trace($trace) {


        $this->trace = $trace;
        return $this;
    }


    public function set_message($message) {


        $this->message = $message;
        return $this;
    }


    public function set_project(Project $project) {


        $this->project_id = $project->get_id();
        $this->project = $project;
        return $this;
    }

    // </editor-fold>
    
    // <editor-fold defaultstate="collapsed" desc=" Getters ">
    public function get_message() {


        if (is_null($this->message))
            return "Unknown";


        return $this->message;
    }


    public function get_trace() {


        return $this->trace;
    }


    public function get_extra_data() {


        return $this->extra_data;
    }


    public function get_type() {


        if (is_null($this->type))
            return "Unknown";


        return $this->type;
    }


    public function get_raw() {


        return $this->raw;
    }


    public function get_id() {


        return $this->id;
    }


    public function get_status() {


        if (is_null($this->status))
            return "Unknown";

        return $this->status;
    }


    public function get_project_id() {


        return $this->project_id;
    }


    public function get_project() {


        return $this->project;
    }

    public function decode_extra_data() {
        
        if ( is_null( $this->extra_data ) )
            return NULL;
        
        if ( !is_null($json = json_decode($this->extra_data)))
            return $json;    
    }
    
    // </editor-fold>
}

SuperModel.php

<?php

class SuperModel {

    private $db;

    function __construct() {
        $this->db = new DB(); // your db class (in this case codeigniter db class)
    }

    function save() {
        
        if ( method_exists( $this, 'pre_save') )
            $this->pre_save();
        
        if ( is_null( $this->db_fields ) ) {
            
            $this->db_fields = $this->db->list_fields( $this->TABLE );
            $new = TRUE;
        }
        
        $row = new StdClass;
        foreach ( $this->db_fields as $field )
            $row->$field = $this->$field;
        
        if ( $new ) {
            
            $this->db->insert( $this->TABLE, $row );
        } else {
            
            $this->db->where('id', $this->id)->update( $this->TABLE, $row );
        }
        
        return $this;
    }
    
    function populate($row) {
        
        $this->reset();
        
        if ( is_null( $row ) )
            return $this;
        
        $this->db_fields = get_object_vars($row);

        foreach ( $this->db_fields as $field => $v)
            $this->$field = $row->$field;

        return $this;
    }
    
    function create( $row=null ) {
        
        $model = clone $this;
        $model->populate( $row );
        return $model;
    }
    
    function find_all() {

        $models = array();
        $query = $this->db->get( $this->TABLE );
        
        if ( $query->num_rows() == 0 )
            return array();
        
        foreach ( $query->result() as $row )
            $models[] = $this->create( $row );

        return $models;
    }
    
    function reset() {
		
        $fields = ( get_object_vars( $this ) );
        unset( $fields['TABLE']);
        
        foreach ( $fields as $field => $v )
			$this->$field = null;

        return $this;
    }
    
    function get_created($fmt='jS F Y') {
        
        return date( $fmt, strtotime( $this->created ));
    }
    
    function get_id() {
        
        return $this->id;
    }
}

usage.php

<?php

$event_factory = new Event();

$event = $event_factory->find( 44 ); // gets one event with the id of 44
$events = $event_factory->find_all(); // finds all the events in the table - returns array
$event = $event_factory->create(); // creates a blank event

// You should be able to even use the generated events as factories (I've not tested this though)
$new_event = $event->create();

// Then you can save
$event->set_message( "a message" )->save();

// And friendly interfaces are fun
$event->create()->set_message("a message")->set_trace("a trace")->save();
echo $event->find( 4 )->set_message("blah")->save()->get_message();