make View trigger notice by default if elements are missing

and add elementExists() method

lib/Cake/Test/Case/View/ViewTest.php

@@ -622,6 +622,29 @@ public function testAddInlineScripts() {
 		$this->assertEquals(array('prototype.js', 'mainEvent' => 'Event.observe(window, "load", function() { doSomething(); }, true);'), $View->scripts());
 	}
 
+/**
+ * testElementExists method
+ *
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testElementExists() {
+		$result = $this->View->elementExists('test_element');
+		$this->assertTrue($result);
+
+		$result = $this->View->elementExists('TestPlugin.plugin_element');
+		$this->assertTrue($result);
+
+		$result = $this->View->elementExists('non_existent_element');
+		$this->assertFalse($result);
+
+		$result = $this->View->elementExists('TestPlugin.element');
+		$this->assertFalse($result);
+
+		$this->View->plugin = 'TestPlugin';
+		$result = $this->View->elementExists('test_plugin_element');
+		$this->assertTrue($result);
+	}
+
 /**
  * testElement method
  *
@@ -640,21 +663,39 @@ public function testElement() {
 		$result = $this->View->element('TestPlugin.plugin_element');
 		$this->assertEquals('this is the plugin element using params[plugin]', $result);
 
-		$result = $this->View->element('test_plugin.plugin_element');
-		$this->assertRegExp('/Not Found:/', $result);
-		$this->assertRegExp('/test_plugin.plugin_element/', $result);
-
 		$this->View->plugin = 'TestPlugin';
 		$result = $this->View->element('test_plugin_element');
 		$this->assertEquals('this is the test set using View::$plugin plugin element', $result);
+	}
 
+/**
+ * testElementInexistent method
+ *
+ * @expectedException PHPUnit_Framework_Error_Notice
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testElementInexistent() {
 		$result = $this->View->element('non_existent_element');
-		$this->assertRegExp('/Not Found:/', $result);
-		$this->assertRegExp('/non_existent_element/', $result);
+	}
 
+/**
+ * testElementInexistent2 method
+ *
+ * @expectedException PHPUnit_Framework_Error_Notice
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testElementInexistent2() {
 		$result = $this->View->element('TestPlugin.plugin_element', array(), array('plugin' => 'test_plugin'));
-		$this->assertRegExp('/Not Found:/', $result);
-		$this->assertRegExp('/TestPlugin.plugin_element/', $result);
+	}
+
+/**
+ * testElementInexistent3 method
+ *
+ * @expectedException PHPUnit_Framework_Error_Notice
+ * @return void
+ */
+	public function testElementInexistent3() {
+		$result = $this->View->element('test_plugin.plugin_element');
 	}
 
 /**

lib/Cake/View/View.php

@@ -385,6 +385,7 @@ public function getEventManager() {
  * - `plugin` - Load an element from a specific plugin.  This option is deprecated, see below.
  * - `callbacks` - Set to true to fire beforeRender and afterRender helper callbacks for this element.
  *   Defaults to false.
+ * - `ignoreMissing` - Used to allow missing elements. Set to true to not trigger notices.
  * @return string Rendered Element
  * @deprecated The `$options['plugin']` is deprecated and will be removed in CakePHP 3.0.  Use
  *   `Plugin.element_name` instead.
@@ -412,13 +413,24 @@ public function element($name, $data = array(), $options = array()) {
 			return $this->_renderElement($file, $data, $options);
 		}
 
-		$file = 'Elements' . DS . $name . $this->ext;
-
-		if (Configure::read('debug') > 0) {
-			return __d('cake_dev', 'Element Not Found: %s', $file);
+		if (empty($options['ignoreMissing'])) {
+			$file = 'Elements' . DS . $name . $this->ext;
+			trigger_error(__d('cake_dev', 'Element Not Found: %s', $file), E_USER_NOTICE);
 		}
 	}
 
+/**
+ * Checks if an element exists
+ *
+ * @param string $name Name of template file in the/app/View/Elements/ folder,
+ *   or `MyPlugin.template` to use the template element from MyPlugin.  If the element
+ *   is not found in the plugin, the normal view path cascade will be searched.
+ * @return boolean Success
+ */
+	public function elementExists($name) {
+		return (bool)$this->_getElementFilename($name);
+	}
+
 /**
  * Renders view for given view file and layout.
  *