Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract provides accessor methods so you can reference columns in the row as object properties.

Note: Earlier versions of Zend_Db_Table_Row mapped these column accessors to the database column names using a string transformation called inflection.
Currently, Zend_Db_Table_Row does not implement inflection. Accessed property names need to match the spelling of the column names as they appear in your database.

You can access the row's data as an array using the toArray() method of the Row object. This returns an associative array of the column names to the column values.

The array returned from toArray() is not updateable. You can modify values in the array as you can with any array, but you cannot save changes to this array to the database directly.

The Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract class provides methods for fetching rows and rowsets from related tables. See the relationship chapter for more information on table relationships.

You can set individual column values using column accessors, similar to how the columns are read as object properties in the example above.

Using a column accessor to set a value changes the column value of the row object in your application, but it does not commit the change to the database yet. You can do that with the save() method.

You can create a new row for a given table with the createRow() method of the table class. You can access fields of this row with the object-oriented interface, but the row is not stored in the database until you call the save() method.

The optional argument to the createRow() method is an associative array, with which you can populate fields of the new row.

Note: The createRow() method was called fetchNew() in earlier releases of Zend_Db_Table. You are encouraged to use the new method name, even though the old name continues to work for the sake of backward compatibility.

Zend_Db_Table_Row_Abstract provides the setFromArray() method to enable you to set several columns in a single row at once, specified in an associative array that maps the column names to values. You may find this method convenient for setting values both for new rows and for rows you need to update.

You can call the delete() method on a Row object. This deletes rows in the database matching the primary key in the Row object.

You do not have to call save() to apply the delete; it is executed against the database immediately.

Simply use PHP's serialize() function to create a string containing a byte-stream representation of the Row object argument.

Use PHP's unserialize() function to restore a string containing a byte-stream representation of an object. The function returns the original object.

Note that the Row object returned is in a disconnected state. You can read the Row object and its properties, but you cannot change values in the Row or execute other methods that require a database connection (for example, queries against related tables).

Note: Why do Rows unserialize in a disconnected state?
A serialized object is a string that is readable to anyone who possesses it. It could be a security risk to store parameters such as database account and password in plain, unencrypted text in the serialized string. You would not want to store such data to a text file that is not protected, or send it in an email or other medium that is easily read by potential attackers. The reader of the serialized object should not be able to use it to gain access to your database without knowing valid credentials.

You can reactivate a disconnected Row, using the setTable() method. The argument to this method is a valid object of type Zend_Db_Table_Abstract, which you create. Creating a Table object requires a live connection to the database, so by reassociating the Table with the Row, the Row gains access to the database. Subsequently, you can change values in the Row object and save the changes to the database.

If application-specific logic needs to be initialized when a row is constructed, you can select to move your tasks to the init() method, which is called after all row metadata has been processed. This is recommended over the __construct() method if you do not need to alter the metadata in any programmatic way.

The Row class calls protected methods _insert(), _update(), and _delete() before performing the corresponding operations INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE. You can add logic to these methods in your custom Row subclass.

If you need to do custom logic in a specific table, and the custom logic must occur for every operation on that table, it may make more sense to implement your custom code in the insert(), update() and delete() methods of your Table class. However, sometimes it may be necessary to do custom logic in the Row class.

Below are some example cases where it might make sense to implement custom logic in a Row class instead of in the Table class:

Some people prefer that the table class name match a table name in the RDBMS by using a string transformation called inflection.

Zend_Db classes do not implement inflection by default. See the chapter about extending inflection for an explanation of this policy.

If you prefer to use inflection, then you must implement the transformation yourself, by overriding the _transformColumn() method in a custom Row class, and using that custom Row class when you perform queries against your Table class.

You are responsible for writing the functions to perform inflection transformation. Zend Framework does not provide such a function.