Trouble linking models together in CakePHP2 - php

Question

I'm using CakePHP 2.6.7.
Here is my database (simplified) :
***Users***
id
username
***Cars***
id
CarMake
CarModel
NumberPlate
user_id
***Addresses***
id
address
postalcode
city
country
***Addresses_Users***
user_id
address_id
This is what I want :
One user can have multiple cars and one car is owned by only one user.
One user can have multiple addresses and one address can by owned by multiple users.
One car can have multiple addresses and one address can be owned by multiple cars.
So right now I have a model User.php :
<?php
class User extends AppModel {
public $hasMany = array(
'Car' => array(
'classname' => 'Car')
);
public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
'Address' => array(
'classname' => 'Address')
);
?>
And a model Car.php :
<?php
class Car extends AppModel {
public $belongsTo = array(
'User' => array(
'className' => 'User'
)
);
public $hasMany = array(
'Address' => array(
'classname' => 'Address')
);
}
?>
And a model Address.php :
<?php
class Address extends AppModel {
public $belongsTo = array(
'User' => array(
'className' => 'User'
),
'Car' => array(
'classname' => 'Car')
);
}
?>
I tried to link cars with addresses but I can't get it to work...
If I do a debug($this->User->find()); I have this result :
array(
'User' => array(
'id' => '1',
'username' => 'wblondel',
),
'Car' => array(
(int) 0 => array(
'id' => '2',
'CarMake' => 'Allard',
'CarModel' => '2005',
'NumberPlate' => '56QDS1',
'user_id' => '1',
),
(int) 1 => array(
'id' => '5',
'CarMake' => 'Alvis',
'CarModel' => '25',
'NumberPlate' => '5lDS1',
'user_id' => '1',
)
),
'Address' => array(
(int) 0 => array(
'id' => '2',
'address' => 'fghfghgf',
'postalcode' => '78200',
'city' => 'buchelay',
'country' => '40'
),
(int) 1 => array(
'id' => '3',
'address' => 'jkjkjk',
'postalcode' => '69100',
'city' => 'villeurbanne',
'country' => '59'
)
)
)
What I would firstly like is that in each car there is an array "address"...
Thanks!

Answer 1

From what you've described your associations look wrong. They should be something like:-
User
<?php
class User extends AppModel {
public $hasMany = array(
'Car'
);
public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
'Address'
);
}
Car
<?php
class Car extends AppModel {
public $belongsTo = array(
'User'
);
public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
'Address'
);
}
Address
<?php
class Address extends AppModel {
public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
'Car',
'User'
);
}
You don't need to use className unless the alias you want to use is different from the model name or the model belongs to a plugin.
Then if you use the Containable behavior you should be able to get everything back using something like:-
$this->User->find(
'all',
array(
'contain' => array(
'Address',
'Car' => array(
'Address'
)
)
)
);

Answer 2

To control what exactly is retrieved from a find() query, you can use the ContainableBehavior.
By the way I think you have an error in your Address model as an address doesn't "belong to" a user, but can have many ones. It should be an HABTM relation as you have done in the User model.