Save cakephp 2.0 associations - php

Question

I am trying to save associated data in Cakephp 2.0, in the database I have two tables, table entities (id, main_name) and adresses(id, entity_id, city)
In the Entities model I made the association:
public $hasMany = array(
'Address' => array(
'className' => 'Address',
'foreignKey' => 'entity_id'
)
);
In the AdressesController I saved with the following data:
public function add() {
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
if($this->Entity->save($this->request->data)) {
$this->Flash->success('Entity successfully registered!');
$this->redirect(array('action' => 'add'));
} else {
$this->Flash->error(Oops, we could not register this entity!
Make sure it already exists.');
}
}
}
And in the view, my form looks like this:
<?php
echo $this->Form->input(
'Entity.main_name',
array(
'type' => 'text',
'class' => 'form-control',
'label' => false
)
);
?>
<?php
echo $this->Form->input(
'Address.city',
array(
'type' => 'text',
'class' => 'form-control',
'label' => false
)
);
?>
The data of the entity normally saved in the database, but does not relate the entity_id and does not save the city in the adresses table, do I have to do anything else in the controller?

Answer 1

There are several ways of solving your problem. Like described in CakeBook: Saving your data you can use saveAssociated() or Save each Model step by step.
Saving using saveAssociated()
In your Controller/EntitiesController.php:
public function add() {
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
$this->Entity->create();
// Use saveAssociated() instead of save() here
if ($this->Entity->saveAssociated($this->request->data)) {
$this->Flash->success(__('The entity has been saved.'));
return $this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
} else {
$this->Flash->error(__('The entity could not be saved. Please, try again.'));
}
}
$addresses = $this->Entity->Address->find('all');
$this->set($addresses);
}
In your View/Entities/add.ctp:
<?php
echo $this->Form->input('main_name', array(
'type' => 'text',
'class' => 'form-control',
'label' => false
));
// Make sure you use Address.0.city
echo $this->Form->input('Address.0.city', array(
'type' => 'text',
'class' => 'form-control',
'label' => false
));
?>
Since you use a hasMany Association a Entity can have several Addresses. For this reason you have to set the 0 in Address.0.city. This will result in a data array like this:
array(
'Entity' => array(
'main_name' => 'Fancy Name'
),
'Address' => array(
(int) 0 => array(
'city' => 'Cool City'
)
)
)
Saving Models step by step
Another approach would be to save the Entity and then save the Address with the entity_id like described in CakeBook:
In your Controller/EntitiesController.php:
public function add() {
if (!empty($this->request->data)) {
// save Entity
$entity = $this->Entity->save($this->request->data);
if (!empty($entity)) {
// Set the EntityId to the data array and save the Address with the EntityId
$this->request->data['Address']['entity_id'] = $this->Entity->id;
$this->Entity->Address->save($this->request->data);
}
}
}
In this case your View/Entities/add.ctp Address form would look like:
echo $this->Form->input('Address.city', array(
'type' => 'text',
'class' => 'form-control',
'label' => false
));
Best, variables