Saving Multiple Select in input - php

Question

I have model for
user(id,name)
section(id,name)
section_users(id,user_id,section_id)
The admin adds all the users and sections separately. Once theses are added I want the admin to selects the section and add all the users in it in section_users
I have a select input with multiple set to true. How do i save this data the cakephp way along with validation.
<?php echo $this->Form->input("section_id"); ?>
<?php echo $this->Form->input("user_id", array('multiple'=>'checkbox')); ?>
This generates
Array
(
[section_id] => 1
[user_id] => Array
(
[0] => 3
[1] => 4
)
)
I know i can loop and convert to this and use saveAll or saveMany but what is the cakephp way/right way to do it.
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[section_id] => 1
[user_id] => 3
)
[1] => Array
(
[section_id] => 1
[user_id] => 4
)
)

Answer 1

As already mentioned, this is exaplained in the docs, please read them, and in case you don't understand them (which would be understandable as the HABTM section is a little confusing and requires some trial & error), tell us what exactly you are having problems with.
http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/models/saving-your-data.html#saving-related-model-data-habtm
Based on the examples shown, the format for saving multiple X to Y should be
Array
(
[Section] => Array
(
[id] => 1
)
[User] => Array
(
[User] => Array(3, 4)
)
)
The corresponding form could look like this:
<?php echo $this->Form->create('User'); ?>
<?php echo $this->Form->input('Section.id'); ?>
<?php echo $this->Form->input('User', array('multiple' => 'checkbox')); ?>
<?php echo $this->Form->end('Add Users'); ?>
And the data would be saved via the Section model, that way its modified column is being updated properly.
public function addUsersToSection($id) {
// ...
if($this->request->is('post')) {
if($this->Section->save($this->request->data)) {
// ...
} else {
// ...
}
} else {
$options = array(
'conditions' => array(
'Section.' . $this->Section->primaryKey => $id
)
);
$this->request->data = $this->Section->find('first', $options);
}
$users = $this->Section->User->find('list');
$this->set(compact('users'));
}
Another way would be to restructure the array as shown by Vinay Aggarwal, that works fine, the only difference is that it requires saving through the join model, and consequently it doesn't update the Section models modified column.

Answer 2

CakePHP has the saveMany function, as mentioned in the documentation:
Model::saveMany(array $data = null, array $options = array())¶

Answer 3

This is HABTM relation, first of all you need have relation setup in SectionUser model. Then you can use saveAll() method to save all records at once.
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[user_id] => 33
[section_id] => 9
)
[1] => Array
(
[user_id] => 33
[section_id] => 10
)
)
Make sure your data array is in above given format.
$this->SectionUser->saveAll($data);