CakePHP recursive not working with conditions - php

Question

I have a problem with querying associated data from a Model in CakePHP. I wrote an example to show the behavior:
TestController.php:
class TestController extends AppController
{
public $uses = array(
'User',
'Upload',
'Detail'
);
public function test(){
$result = $this->Upload->find('all', array(
'recursive' => 2,
'conditions' => array('Detail.id' => 1)
));
print_r($result);
}
}
Upload.php:
class Upload extends AppModel {
public $belongsTo = array(
'User' => array(
'className' => 'User',
'foreignKey' => 'user_id'
)
);
}
Detail.php:
class Detail extends AppModel {
public $belongsTo = array(
'User' => array(
'className' => 'User',
'foreignKey' => 'user_id'
)
);
}
User.php:
class User extends AppModel {
public $hasOne = 'Detail';
public $hasMany = array(
'Upload' => array(
'className' => 'Upload',
'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
)
);
}
When I remove the condition I get back an array with Details included. But with the condition I get the following error:
Error: SQLSTATE[42S22]: Column not found: 1054 Unknown column 'Detail.id' in 'where clause'
Looking at the SQL Queries it seems like he is not joining the tables correctly when I add the condition. Without the condition he is joining all three tables.
Is this a bug in CakePHP or am I doing anything wrong?

Answer 1

No, it is not a bug with CakePHP. It's simply the way it's designed, using conditions during a find on associated models will often create an invalid query. You should be using containable behavior or manually joining to use conditions on associated models.
Also, I suspect that you will not get the results you are looking for doing this way anyways. CakePHP by default uses left joins. Therefore, your results will not be limited by those associated with the desired Detail ID, but rather, it will get all uploads, all users associated with those uploads, and then only those details associated with those users that have the correct ID. The simplest way then to get what you're probably looking for is to do the query from the opposite direction:
$result = $this->Detail->find('all', array(
'recursive' => 2,
'conditions' => array('Detail.id' => 1)
));
EDIT: If you do want to do left joins, then make your query this way:
$result = $this->Upload->find('all', array(
'contain' => array('User' => array('Detail' => array('conditions' => array('Detail.id' => 1))),
));