Doctrine2 / transfer Collection element to another Collection - php

Question

Here are 3 entities :
Entity A
class EntityA
{
/**
* #ORM\OneToMany(targetEntity="EntityB", mappedBy="entityA", cascade={"all"}, orphanRemoval=true)
*/
protected $entitiesB;
public function __construct()
{
$this->entitiesB = new ArrayCollection();
}
public function getEntitiesB()
{
return $this->entitiesB;
}
public function setEntitiesB($entitiesB)
{
$this->entitiesB = new ArrayCollection();
return $this->addEntitiesB($entitiesB);
}
public function addEntityB(EntityB $entityB)
{
if (!$this->entitiesB->contains($entityB))
{
$this->entitiesB->add($entityB);
$entityB->setEntityA($this);
}
return $this;
}
public function addEntitiesB($entitiesB)
{
foreach ($entitiesB as $entityB)
{
$this->addEntityB($entityB);
}
return $this;
}
public function removeEntityB(EntityB $entityB)
{
if ($this->entitiesB->contains($entityB))
{
$this->entitiesB->removeElement($entityB);
}
return $this;
}
public function removeEntitiesB($entitiesB)
{
foreach ($entitiesB as $entityB)
{
$this->removeEntityB($entityB);
}
return $this;
}
}
Entity B
class EntityB
{
/**
*
* #ORM\OneToMany(targetEntity="EntityC", mappedBy="entityB", cascade={"all"}, orphanRemoval=true)
*/
protected $entitiesC;
/**
* #ORM\ManyToOne(targetEntity="EntityA", inversedBy="entitiesB")
* #ORM\JoinColumn(name="entity_a_id", referencedColumnName="id", onDelete="CASCADE")
*/
protected $entityA;
public function __construct()
{
$this->entitiesC = new ArrayCollection();
}
public function getEntityA()
{
return $this->entityA;
}
public function setEntityA(EntityA $entityA)
{
$this->entityA = $entityA;
$entityA->addEntityB($this);
return $this;
}
public function getEntitiesC()
{
return $this->entitiesC;
}
public function setEntitiesC($entitiesC)
{
$this->entitiesC = new ArrayCollection();
return $this->addEntitiesC($entitiesC);
}
public function addEntityC(EntityC $entityC)
{
if (!$this->entitiesC->contains($entityC))
{
$this->entitiesC->add($entityC);
$entityC->setEntityB($this);
}
return $this;
}
public function addEntitiesC($entitiesC)
{
foreach ($entitiesC as $entityC)
{
$this->addEntityC($entityC);
}
return $this;
}
public function removeEntityC(EntityC $entityC)
{
if ($this->entitiesC->contains($entityC))
{
$this->entitiesC->removeElement($entityC);
}
return $this;
}
public function removeEntitiesC($entitiesC)
{
foreach ($entitiesC as $entityC)
{
$this->removeEntityC($entityC);
}
return $this;
}
}
Entity C
class EntityC
{
/**
* #ORM\ManyToOne(targetEntity="EntityB", inversedBy="entitiesC")
* #ORM\JoinColumn(name="entity_b_id", referencedColumnName="id", onDelete="CASCADE")
*/
protected $entityB;
public function getEntityB()
{
return $this->entityB;
}
public function setEntityB(EntityB $entityB)
{
$this->entityB = $entityB;
$entityB->addEntityC($this);
return $this;
}
}
So, now, assume that we have this data :
EntityA [
EntitiesB [
EntityB1 [
EntitiesC [
EntityC1
EntityC2
EntityC3
]
]
EntityB2 [
EntitiesC [
EntityC4
]
]
]
]
That I want is to transfer EntityC4 to the EntityB1[EntitieC] collection.
To achieve that, the process would be :
- EntityB2.EntitiesC::removeEntityC(EntityC4)
- EntityB1.EntitiesC::addEntity(EntityC4)
But it will not do the trick ... EntityC4 is removed and not transferred !
So, it works when orphanRemoval=false on EntityB.EntitiesC, but I want to keep this Doctrine flag.
Is it another way to achieve that properly ?
Thanks for your ideas.

Answer 1

If you read the Doctrine documentation chapter 8.7. Orphan Removal you can see the following:
When using the orphanRemoval=true option Doctrine makes the assumption that the entities are privately owned and will NOT be reused by other entities. If you neglect this assumption your entities will get deleted by Doctrine even if you assigned the orphaned entity to another one.
Seems to me that this this is exactly the mistake you are making in this case.
You simply cannot use orphanRemoval in this case.