Cakephp 1.3 Set/Pass ID to the view - php

Question

I have a table called Policy and a table called Declination. Policy hasMany Declination. Declination belongs to Policy. Now with that said, I am trying to save the ID of a policy in a field called Policy_id in the Declination table. Unfortunately, I'm having no luck. I believe I having trouble with my view. Let me explain what I am doing..in my controller I am reading 1 record and then setting the ID from that array to policy_id. Once I do that I send that variable to the view via set(). Once there I am using that variable in a hidden field. When I run my script there the data saves but the id does not populate. I have been stuck on this over 2 days and can't wrap my head around it! One thing I might add..I am passing the ID from that policy in via the URL. So the url looks something like localhost/site/add/xxxx-xxxx-xxxx. Im not sure if I should grab it from there or not. If I should can you explain or point me somewhere as to where I can learn. If I shouldn't please inform me as to why not. Thanks!
Model
<?php
class Declination extends AppModel {
public $name = 'Declination';
public $virtualFields = array(
'name' => 'CONCAT(Declination.first_name,\' \',Declination.last_name)'
);
public $belongsTo = array(
'Policy' => array(
'className' => 'Policy',
'foreignKey' => 'policy_id',
'conditions' => '',
'fields' => '',
'order' => ''
),
'Reason' => array(
'className' => 'Reason',
'foreignKey' => 'reason_id'
),
'ContactType' => array(
'className' => 'ContactType',
'foreignKey' => 'contact_type_id'
)
);
public function beforeSave() {
if (array_key_exists('dated', $this->data[$this->alias]) && !empty($this->data[$this->alias]['dated'])) {
$this->data[$this->alias]['dated'] = date('Y-m-d', strtotime($this->data[$this->alias]['dated']));
}
if(array_key_exists('reason_id', $this->data[$this->alias])) {
if (!$this->Reason->isOther($this->data[$this->alias]['reason_id'])) {
$this->data[$this->alias]['other'] = null;
}
}
return true;
}
Controller
class DeclinationsController extends AppController {
public $name = 'Declinations';
/**
* add function.
*
* #access public
* #param mixed $id (default: null)
* #return void
*/
public function add($id = null) {
if (!empty($this->data)) {
$this->loadmodel('Policy');
$policy = $this->Policy->read('id', $id);
$policy_id = $policy['Policy']['id'];
$this->Declination->create();
if ($this->Declination->saveAll($this->data['Declination'])) {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('Declinations saved.', true));
$this->redirect(array(
'controller' => 'coverages',
'action' => 'view',
$id
));
} else {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('Declinations failed to save.', true));
}
}
$reasons = $this->Declination->Reason->find('list');
$contactTypes = $this->Declination->ContactType->find('list');
$this->set(compact('id', 'reasons', 'contactTypes', '$policy_id'));
}
View
<?php echo $this->Ui->widgetHeader(__('Policy Declinations', true)); ?>
<?php $this->Ui->widgetContent(); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->create('Declination', array(
'url' => array(
'controller' => 'declinations',
'action' => 'add',
$id
)
)); ?>
<?php for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++): ?>
<h4>Declination <?php echo ($i + 1); ?></h4>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->create("Declination.{$i}.policy_id", array('type' => 'hidden', 'value' => '$policy_id')); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.first_name"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.last_name"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.company"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.contact_type_id"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.phone_number"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.reason_id"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.other", array(
'label' => 'If other, please supply a reason'
)); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.dated", array(
'type' => 'text',
'readonly' => 'readonly',
'data-datepicker' => ''
)); ?>
<?php endfor; ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->end('Continue'); ?>
<?php echo $this->Ui->widgetContentEnd(); ?>

Answer 1

I'm guessing UiForm is a custom helper of some sort. If it's similar to the Form helper, then it looks like an error in your create statement. It should be:
<?php echo $this->UiForm->create('Declination'); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.policy_id", array('type' => 'hidden', 'value' => '$policy_id')); ?>

Answer 2

I figured it out. I grabbed the $id variable that was in my view and set it as my value. So in stead of my value being $policy_id....it is $id. I also deleted some things out of my controller that I did not need. Please see below. Hope this helps someone!
View
<?php echo $this->Ui->widgetHeader(__('Policy Declinations', true)); ?>
<?php $this->Ui->widgetContent(); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->create('Declination', array(
'url' => array(
'controller' => 'declinations',
'action' => 'add',
$id
)
)); ?>
<?php for ($i = 0; $i < 3; $i++): ?>
<h4>Declination <?php echo ($i + 1); ?></h4>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->create('Declination'); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.policy_id", array('type' => 'hidden', 'value' => $id)); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.first_name"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.last_name"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.company"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.contact_type_id"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.phone_number"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.reason_id"); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.other", array(
'label' => 'If other, please supply a reason'
)); ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->input("Declination.{$i}.dated", array(
'type' => 'text',
'readonly' => 'readonly',
'data-datepicker' => ''
)); ?>
<?php endfor; ?>
<?php echo $this->UiForm->end('Continue'); ?>
<?php echo $this->Ui->widgetContentEnd(); ?>
Controller
public function add($id = null) {
if (!empty($this->data)) {
$this->Declination->create();
if ($this->Declination->saveAll($this->data['Declination'])) {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('Declinations saved.', true));
$this->redirect(array(
'controller' => 'policies',
'action' => 'view',
$id
));
} else {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('Declinations failed to save.', true));
}
}
$reasons = $this->Declination->Reason->find('list');
$contactTypes = $this->Declination->ContactType->find('list');
$this->set(compact('id', 'reasons', 'contactTypes'));
}