access controller variable in NavBar items

Question

in my layout file at navbar i have item called message . i want to show number of message above it actually i can build a hidden element and acho my variabe inside it and get it again and append it to empety element in item with Jquery ... but i want know the simpler and shorter way if there is any

i get message count in beforeAction like this

 namespace app\component;

    class Controller extends \yii\web\Controller {

        public function beforeAction($event)
        {

            $this->layout = "site-developer";

            $username = Yii::$app->user->identity->username;
            $model = Messages::find()->select('*')->where(['towho' => $username])->count();

            $this->view->params['model'] = $model;


            return parent::beforeAction($event);
        }


    }

in layout my navbar code is like this

<?php
NavBar::begin([
    'brandOptions' => [
        'class' => 'hide-on-med-and-down'
    ],
    'brandLabel' => 'My Company',
    'brandUrl' => Yii::$app->homeUrl,
    'fixed' => false,
    'wrapperOptions' => [
        'class' => 'nav-wrapper'
    ],
]);

$menuItems = [
    ['label' => '<i class="material-icons">search</i>'],
    ['label' => '<i class="material-icons">email</i>'],
    ['label' => '<i class="material-icons">view_module</i>'],
    ['label' => '<i class="material-icons">refresh</i>'],
    ['label' => '<i class="material-icons">more_vert</i>', 'items' => [  // will be rendered as dropdown
        ['label' => 'Home', 'url' => ['/site/index']],
        ['label' => 'About', 'url' => ['/site/about']],
        ['label' => 'Home', 'url' => ['/site/about']],
        ['label' => 'Contact', 'url' => ['/site/contact']]
    ]],

];
if (Yii::$app->user->isGuest) {
    $menuItems[] = ['label' => '<i class="fa fa-sign-in"></i>', 'url' => ['/site/signup'], 'class'=>'aa'];
    $menuItems[] = ['label' => '<i class="fa fa-sign-in"></i>', 'url' => ['/site/login'], 'class'=>'aa'];
} else {
    $menuItems[] = '<li>'
        . Html::beginForm(['/site/logout'], 'post')
        . Html::submitButton(
            '<i class="fa fa-sign-out"></i> (' . Yii::$app->user->identity->username . ')',
            ['class' => 'badge red lighten-2 user-dash']
        )
        . Html::endForm()
        . '</li>';
}

echo Nav::widget([
    'encodeLabels' => false,
    'options' => ['class' => 'right'],
    'items' => $menuItems,

]);

NavBar::end();
?>

is there any way to user number of message in menu item in navbar right here ['label' => '<i class="material-icons">email</i>'],

???

we can access the number with

<?php

$model = $this->params['model'];

echo $model; ?>

Answer 1

Do the fact you already 'encodeLabels' => false, in Nav::widget you could concat the value in the label content

['label' => '<i class="material-icons">email(' . $this->params['model']. ')</i>'],