CakePHP 2.x: How to return 404 HTTP status code when missing view

Introduction

By default, CakePHP 2.x returns 500 status code when missing view. This is because of View#_getViewFileName() throws MissingViewException in such a case.

Ref: https://github.com/cakephp/cakephp/blob/2.x/lib/Cake/View/View.php#L1031

This post will show one examples of how to return 404 status code.

Codes

So, you will need do the following.

1. Create new MyView class which is subclass of View class. It throws NotFoundException
2. Modify your controller to use MyView class instead of View class

1. Create new MyView class

View/MyView.php

<?php
App::uses('View', 'View');

class MyView extends View {

	public function _getViewFileName($name = null) {
		try {
			return parent::_getViewFileName($name);
		} catch (MissingViewException $e) {
			throw new NotFoundException();
		}
	}
}

2. Modify your controller to use MyView class

Controller/FoosController.php

<?php
App::uses('AppController', 'Controller');

class FoosController extends AppController {

	public function bar() {
		$this->viewClass = 'My';

		// Do something
	}
}