Nested CollectionType Save Entity in ArrayCollection - php

Question

i want to store some data
class Offer
{
/**
* #ORM\Column(type="array")
*/
private $meterPoints;
public function __construct()
{
$this->meterPoints = new ArrayCollection();
}
}
for an offer as a CollectionType.
class OfferType extends AbstractType
{
$builder
->add('meterPoints', CollectionType::class, array(
'entry_type' => OfferMeterPointType::class,
'allow_add' => true,
'allow_delete' => true,
'prototype' => true,
'prototype_name' => '__mp_name__',
))
}
In the OfferMeterPointType I also have an EntityType
class OfferMeterPointType extends AbstractType
{
$builder
->add('meterPoint', EntityType::class, array(
'attr' => array(
'class' => 'chosen-select'
),
'class' => 'AppBundle:MeterPoint',
'choice_label' => 'meterPoint',
))
->add('billData', CollectionType::class, array(
'label' => false,
'entry_type' => OfferBillType::class,
'allow_add' => true,
'allow_delete' => true,
'entry_options' => array(
'label' => false
)
));
}
Now when I persist that entity the whole AppBundle:MeterPoint object get serialized and not just the id. I kind of understand why doctrine does that but can I change it such that just the id will be stored?
Also when I want to edit an Offer
$offer = $em->getRepository('AppBundle:Offer')->findOneById(2);
$form = $this->createForm(OfferType::class, $offer);
i get an Exception
Entities passed to the choice field must be managed. Maybe persist them in the entity manager?
I guess a solution would be to create an Entity for the OfferMeterPointType but I don't really want to do that. Because I allmost never need that data.
Update
I tried like martin suggested. now the exception is gone but it still saves the complete object
$meterPoints = $this->em->getRepository('AppBundle:MeterPoint')->findAll();
//dump($meterPoints);
$builder
->add('meterPoint', ChoiceType::class, array(
'label' => 'offerMeterPoint.meterPoint',
'attr' => array(
'class' => 'chosen-selesct',
'placeholder' => 'ob.to'
),
'choices' => $meterPoints,
'choice_label' => function($meterPoint) {
return $meterPoint->getMeterPoint();
},
'choice_value' => function($meterPoint) {
if($meterPoint === null){
return null;
}
dump($meterPoint);
return $meterPoint->getId();
},
'placeholder' => 'global.plz_select'
))
Update 2
Got it working
changed the ChoiceType
$meterPoints = $this->em->getRepository('AppBundle:MeterPoint')->findAll();
$mps = array();
foreach($meterPoints as $mp){
$mps [$mp->getMeterPoint()] = $mp->getId();
}
//dump($meterPoints);
$builder
->add('meterPoint', ChoiceType::class, array(
'label' => 'offerMeterPoint.meterPoint',
'attr' => array(
'class' => 'chosen-selesct',
'placeholder' => 'ob.to'
),
'choices' => $mps,
'placeholder' => 'global.plz_select'
))

Answer 1

You get a object serialized because your column type is array and EntityType automatically replaces choice values with objects.
There's however choice_value that accepts also a callable so I'd try fiddling with it and maybe you can get it to return just the id (maybe force string type?).
If this doesn't help then probably use just ChoiceType and handle the logic yourself.
This happens because Doctrine automatically deserializes the objects from $meterPoints that you try to use as entities with EntityType. These objects are obviously not managed by the Doctrine Entity manager. Thus the error.
I think you'll have to convert the $meterPoints to database entities before using $this->createForm(...) yourselves if you want to avoid creating more relations. Eventually and maybe even easier approach would be writing a custom Doctrine type that could do this for you:
http://docs.doctrine-project.org/projects/doctrine-orm/en/latest/cookbook/custom-mapping-types.html