PHP ActiveRecord in CodeIgniter and mysql datetime field - php

Question

I just added PHP ActiveRecord to my CodeIgniter installation. I'm running a few tests now and am very confused by a few things. I have a products table in mysql, and when I use ActiveRecord to retrieve the first row in the table, this is the output I get:
Product Object
(
[errors] =>
[attributes:ActiveRecord\Model:private] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[ext_id] => 347
[ext_type_id] => 1
[sku] => SYB-RIU-SUP
[url] => http://domain.com
[name] => SUP Wall Storage Rack
[thumbnail_url] => https://thumburl.com
[sort_order] => 20
[profitability] => 40
[last_google_update] => ActiveRecord\DateTime Object
(
[model:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => Product Object
*RECURSION*
[attribute_name:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => last_google_update
[date] => 2014-05-21 05:01:12
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => UTC
)
[last_internal_update] =>
[discontinued] => 0
[stock_notes] =>
[deleted] => 0
[created_on] => ActiveRecord\DateTime Object
(
[model:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => Product Object
*RECURSION*
[attribute_name:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => created_on
[date] => 2014-03-25 22:31:58
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => UTC
)
)
[__dirty:ActiveRecord\Model:private] => Array
(
)
[__readonly:ActiveRecord\Model:private] =>
[__relationships:ActiveRecord\Model:private] => Array
(
)
[__new_record:ActiveRecord\Model:private] =>
)
What do the *RECURSION* lines mean in the object? Is that expected or is that a problem? Also, let's say I need to access the last_google_update field, I do the following:
$product = Product::first();
$date = $product->last_google_update;
print_r($date);
This outputs the following:
ActiveRecord\DateTime Object
(
[model:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => Product Object
(
[errors] =>
[attributes:ActiveRecord\Model:private] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[ext_id] => 347
[ext_type_id] => 1
[sku] => SYB-RIU-SUP
[url] => http://www.storeyourboard.com/sup-storage-rack.html
[name] => SUP Wall Storage Rack
[thumbnail_url] => https://cdn2.bigcommerce.com/server2100/6p8lmnk/products/347/images/2292/standup_paddle_board_rack__43491.1392317669.225.360.jpg?c=2
[sort_order] => 20
[profitability] => 40
[last_google_update] => ActiveRecord\DateTime Object
*RECURSION*
[last_internal_update] =>
[discontinued] => 0
[stock_notes] =>
[deleted] => 0
[created_on] => ActiveRecord\DateTime Object
(
[model:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => Product Object
*RECURSION*
[attribute_name:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => created_on
[date] => 2014-03-25 22:31:58
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => UTC
)
)
[__dirty:ActiveRecord\Model:private] => Array
(
)
[__readonly:ActiveRecord\Model:private] =>
[__relationships:ActiveRecord\Model:private] => Array
(
)
[__new_record:ActiveRecord\Model:private] =>
)
[attribute_name:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => last_google_update
[date] => 2014-05-21 05:01:12
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => UTC
)
So the get the actual date, I tried this:
print_r($date->date);
However, this gives the following error:
<div style="border:1px solid #990000;padding-left:20px;margin:0 0 10px 0;">
<h4>A PHP Error was encountered</h4>
<p>Severity: Notice</p>
<p>Message: Undefined property: ActiveRecord\DateTime::$date</p>
<p>Filename: controllers/test.php</p>
<p>Line Number: 16</p>
</div>
But, if I include a call to get_active_vars() first, it works:
print_r(get_object_vars($date))
print_r($date->date);
Outputs:
Array
(
[date] => 2014-05-21 05:01:12
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => UTC
)
2014-05-21 05:01:12
To summarize:
Are the *RECURSION* flags expected?
How do I work with datetime fields and how do I access the actual dates?

Answer 1

RECURSION is not good defenetly
I am not sure but
[model:ActiveRecord\DateTime:private] => Product Object
somehow you have product object in a dateTime so and class trying to parse it that is why recursion.
try to see configuration of the module

Answer 2

So solution is to use format function on the date object property.
$date->date->format('Y-m-d H:i:s')