Symfony3 class inheritance and db relationships - php

Question

I have these 3 entitites
Users.php
<?php
namespace AppBundle\Entity;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
/**
* Users
*
* #ORM\Table(name="users")
* #ORM\Entity(repositoryClass="AppBundle\Repository\UsersRepository")
*/
class Users
{
/**
* #var int
*
* #ORM\Column(name="id", type="integer")
* #ORM\Id
* #ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="AUTO")
*/
private $id;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="email", type="string", length=255, unique=true)
*/
private $email;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="password", type="string", length=20)
*/
private $password;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="phone", type="string", length=20)
*/
private $phone;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="type", type="string")
*/
private $type;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="name", type="string", length=255)
*/
private $name;
/**
* #var int
*
* #ORM\Column(name="feedback", type="integer")
*/
private $feedback;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="picture", type="blob")
*/
private $picture;
/**
* #var int
*
* #ORM\Column(name="rating", type="integer", length=255)
*/
private $rating;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="info", type="text")
*/
private $info;
/**
* #var \DateTime
*
* #ORM\Column(name="datecreated", type="datetime")
*/
private $datecreated;
/**
* #ORM\Column(name="is_active", type="boolean")
*/
private $isActive;
}
client.php
<?php
namespace AppBundle\Entity;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
/**
* client
*
* #ORM\Table(name="client")
* #ORM\Entity(repositoryClass="AppBundle\Repository\clientRepository")
*/
class client extends Users
{
/**
* #var int
*
* #ORM\Column(name="id", type="integer")
* #ORM\Id
* #ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="AUTO")
*/
private $id;
/**
* #var int
*
* #ORM\Column(name="numberofjobsposted", type="integer")
*/
private $numberofjobsposted;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="clienttype", type="string", length=255)
*/
private $clienttype;
}
sprovider.php
<?php
namespace AppBundle\Entity;
use Doctrine\ORM\Mapping as ORM;
/**
* sprovider
*
* #ORM\Table(name="sprovider")
* #ORM\Entity(repositoryClass="AppBundle\Repository\sproviderRepository")
*/
class sprovider extends Users
{
/**
* #var int
*
* #ORM\Column(name="id", type="integer")
* #ORM\Id
* #ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="AUTO")
*/
private $id;
/**
* #var array
*
* #ORM\Column(name="interestedin", type="simple_array")
*/
private $interestedin;
/**
* #var int
*
* #ORM\Column(name="numofsuccjobs", type="integer")
*/
private $numofsuccjobs;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="sprovidertype", type="string", length=255)
*/
private $sprovidertype;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="address", type="string", length=255)
*/
private $address;
/**
* #var string
*
* #ORM\Column(name="postcode", type="string", length=255)
*/
private $postcode;
}
So I achieved that the extends statement provides the Users properties in the client and sprovider tables in MySQL. That's awesome. What I want now is to make the relations so that when I add a new client for example, both the tables Users and client add a new user/client in MySQL, and they have same id too.
the type() property in the Users entity i would like to be optional for the type of user I create. Example : I create a new client and in the Users table in MySQL the type is set to "CLIENT".
I read this and so far I think it has to be ManyToMany relation but It's quite confusing to me.
How to make those relations in the entities and then how to use them in the controller? If possible, please provide an example.

Answer 1

I think you're confused about the reasons to use inheritance.
The idea is that you have base class, in this case User, and that can be extended to provide variations of that class, in this case client (you should capitalise this) and sprovider.
Ideally, you would not have a User table, only the other 2.
In doctrine, this is called a mapped super-class.
A mapped superclass is an abstract or concrete class that provides persistent entity state and mapping information for its subclasses, but which is not itself an entity. Typically, the purpose of such a mapped superclass is to define state and mapping information that is common to multiple entity classes.
see the documentation here
you can link properties using relationships, this is their example.
<?php
/** #MappedSuperclass */
class MappedSuperclassBase
{
/** #Column(type="integer") */
protected $mapped1;
/** #Column(type="string") */
protected $mapped2;
/**
* #OneToOne(targetEntity="MappedSuperclassRelated1")
* #JoinColumn(name="related1_id", referencedColumnName="id")
*/
protected $mappedRelated1;
// ... more fields and methods
}
/** #Entity */
class EntitySubClass extends MappedSuperclassBase
{
/** #Id #Column(type="integer") */
private $id;
/** #Column(type="string") */
private $name;
// ... more fields and methods
}