CI active record, escapes & order_by datetime column - sql

Question

I've noticed that when ordering by a datetime column in CI with active record, it's treating the column as a string, or int.
Example:
$this->db->limit(12);
$this->db->where('subscribed',1);
$this->db->join('profiles','profiles.user_id=users.id');
$this->db->where('active',1);
$this->db->select('users.thumbUpload,users.vanity_url');
$this->db->select('users.created_on as time');
$this->db->order_by('time');
$query = $this->db->get('users');
This is where users.created_on is a datetime field. Firstly, is it because active record is rendering time escaped, or is it something else? And if it is, can I prevent the escaping on order_by somehow?
Also, stackoverflow, please stop autocorrecting 'datetime' to 'date time'. It's annoying.
Cheers!

Answer 1

When you set second argument as false, function wont check and escape string. Try this
$this->db->select('users.created_on as time', FALSE);
Or for you query use
$this->db->order_by('users.created_on', 'DESC'); //or ASC
And for complex queries
$this->db->query("query");

Answer 2

According to the signature of the method in core files of CI (currently 2.2), it does not have any option to allow to choose whether or not to escape.
// The original prototype of the order_by()
public function order_by($orderby, $direction = '') {
// Definition
}
As you see there is not argument as $escape = true in the argument list. One way to do so is to hack this core file (I normally do not suggest it, since if you upgrade CI to a newer version later, then these changes will be lost, but if you do not intend to do so, it is OK to use it).
To do so, first change the prototype as:
public function order_by($orderby, $direction = '', $escape = true) {
// Definition
}
And then check the conditions in the following parts of definition:
// Line 842
if($escape){
$part = $this->_protect_identifiers(trim($part));
}else {
$part = trim($part);
}
// Line 856
if($escape){
$orderby = $this->_protect_identifiers($orderby);
}
When you call it, to prevent the escaping:
$this->db->order_by($ORDERBY_CLAUSE, null, false);