Multiple levels of "has many" relationship - php

Question

I want to achieve a structure where e.g. an Organisation has many Departments, and where Departments has many Persons.
I've set up my model structure like this:
Organisations
<?php
class Organisation extends AppModel {
public $hasMany = array(
'Department' => array(
'className' => 'Department',
'foreignKey' => 'organisations_id'
)
);
}
Departments
<?php
class Department extends AppModel {
public $hasMany = array(
'Person' => array(
'className' => 'Person',
'foreignKey' => 'departments_id'
)
);
}
Persons
<?php
class Person extends AppModel {
}
Then I have a controller like this:
<?php
class OrganisationsController extends AppController {
public $helpers = array('Html', 'Form', 'Session');
public $components = array('Session');
public function index() {
$this->set('organisations', $this->Organisation->find('all'));
}
}
When I print out $organisations I get an array like this:
Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[Organisation] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[created] => 2013-01-03 16:02:47
)
[Department] => Array
(
[0] => Array
(
[id] => 1
[created] => 2013-01-03 16:02:47
[organisations_id] => 1
)
)
)
)
I'm new to both PHP and CakePHP, but wouldn't you expect the Person array to be included in the Organisation array? And if not, is there another way to achieve a structure like the one described above (Organisation->Department->Person)?
Any hints on how to go about this is highly appreciated! :)

Answer 1

You are probably looking for recursive
Or you could make use of the containable behaviour
But please have a look at the result. When using recursive you can get a lot of data you don't want! So please be careful and select the fields you actually need!
Recursive
You would get something like:
<?php
class OrganisationsController extends AppController {
public $helpers = array('Html', 'Form', 'Session');
public $components = array('Session');
public function index() {
$this->Organisation->recursive = 2; # or -1, 0, 1, 2, 3
$this->set('organisations', $this->Organisation->find('all'));
}
}
You could also declare this in the find itself like so:
$this->set('organisations', $this->Organisation->find('all' array(
'recursive' => 2 # or -1, 0, 1, 2, 3
)
));
Containable
class Organisation extends AppModel {
public $hasMany = array(
'Department' => array(
'className' => 'Department',
'foreignKey' => 'organisations_id'
)
);
$actsAs = array('Containable');
}
Now in your controller you can do something like:
$this->set('organisations', $this->Organisation->find('all', array(
'contain' => array('User')
)
));
But as always, there are many roads leading to Rome. So please read the books very carefully!
http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/index.html
http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/models/model-attributes.htm
http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/core-libraries/behaviors/containable.html
http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/models/retrieving-your-data.html

Answer 2

Recursive function will do it for you.
Just in OrganisationsController index function , try doing like below.
$this->Organisation->recursive = 2;
$this->set('organisations', $this->Organisation->find('all'));
Note: Recursive may affect your performance , you can use unbind method to get rid of it by just fetching the data you want.