Q:

passing optional variable to pagination in codeigniter

What I would really like to do is create an optional text to pass to a controller method in codeigniter. 
Currently I have something like this
public function manage($page = 1, $method = '', $id=0)
{
    //code
}

So if the parameters are not passed the pagination displays normally, and if they are then some variables are set in the view to give some feedback to the user.
However I get this error when I try it out:
http://domain.path/to/controller/method/1/test/1
You have an error in your SQL syntax; check the manual that corresponds to your MySQL server version for the right syntax to use near ''1', 50' at line 5

SELECT CONCAT('so_',id,'_am'), value, updated, FROM words LIMIT '1', 50

So it seems to be that the segment is being cast as a string for some reason, and this is causing the error. 
Any ideas on how to work around this constraint?

A:

it looks like your query builder automatically adds quotes around strings.  cast $page as int explicitly.
$page = "4";
$offset = "4";
$qb->setLimit((int)$page,(int)$offset)

