Searching for data from model in CakePHP - php

Question

I am working on my first project experimenting with CakePHP. Basically I have a site where I want users to be able to search through different workouts stored in a MySQL database.
When users enter a search term, I want to simply return any workouts whose names contain the search term. On top of that, I want them to be able to apply filters to narrow down the search to specific muscle groups.
The filters are passed to the search action through a querystring, and the search term is passed using the post method.
First off, here are the two models I care about right now:
class Workout extends AppModel {
public $name = 'Workout';
public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
'MuscleGroup' =>
array(
'className' => 'MuscleGroup',
'joinTable' => 'workouts_muscle_groups',
'foreignKey' => 'workout_id',
'associationForeignKey' => 'muscle_group_id',
'unique' => true,
'conditions' => '',
'fields' => '',
'order' => '',
'limit' => '',
'offset' => '',
'finderQuery' => '',
'deleteQuery' => '',
'insertQuery' => ''
)
);
}
class MuscleGroup extends AppModel {
public $name = 'MuscleGroup';
public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
'Workout' =>
array(
'className' => 'Workout',
'joinTable' => 'workouts_muscle_groups',
'foreignKey' => 'muscle_group_id',
'associationForeignKey' => 'workout_id',
'unique' => true,
'conditions' => '',
'fields' => '',
'order' => '',
'limit' => '',
'offset' => '',
'finderQuery' => '',
'deleteQuery' => '',
'insertQuery' => ''
)
);
}
Now below is the search action in my WorkoutsController:
function search() {
$hasFilters = false;
$filters = array(
"abs" => false,
"back" => false,
"biceps" => false,
"chest" => false,
"forearms" => false,
"legs" => false,
"shoulders" => false,
"triceps" => false
);
if(isset($this->params['url']['abs']))
if($this->params['url']['abs'] == "1")
$filters['abs'] = $hasFilters = true;
if(isset($this->params['url']['back']))
if($this->params['url']['back'] == "1")
$filters['back'] = $hasFilters = true;
if(isset($this->params['url']['biceps']))
if($this->params['url']['biceps'] == "1")
$filters['biceps'] = $hasFilters = true;
if(isset($this->params['url']['chest']))
if($this->params['url']['chest'] == "1")
$filters['chest'] = $hasFilters = true;
if(isset($this->params['url']['forearms']))
if($this->params['url']['forearms'] == "1")
$filters['forearms'] = $hasFilters = true;
if(isset($this->params['url']['legs']))
if($this->params['url']['legs'] == "1")
$filters['legs'] = $hasFilters = true;
if(isset($this->params['url']['shoulders']))
if($this->params['url']['shoulders'] == "1")
$filters['shoulders'] = $hasFilters = true;
if(isset($this->params['url']['triceps']))
if($this->params['url']['triceps'] == "1")
$filters['triceps'] = $hasFilters = true;
$query = $this->request->data['search'];
//insert code here to actually perform the search!
}
I was really hoping for an easy way to do this but I have been poking around the documentation all night and can't seem to find any relevant examples. In EntityFramework I could simply say something like:
List<Workout> results = context.Workouts.Where(w => w.Name.Contains(searchTerm) && w.MuscleGroups.Any(g => g.Id == mg_id)).ToList();
Note: no idea if that C# syntax is anywhere near correct, but the ease of accessing data from the model was somewhere close to that from what I remember.
How can I get the equivalent of that from CakePHP?

Answer 1

Try to use MuscleGroup IDs for filtering, instead of their names. I guess the user will select them from a list, anyway.
Then, the find() should work like this:
$this->Workout->find(
'all',
array(
'conditions' => array(
'Workout.name LIKE' => '%'.$searchTerm.'%',
// List of included MuscleGroups:
'MuscleGroup.id' => array(1, 5, 9, 17)
)
)
);
Note that you need to take care that the related MuscleGroup is included in the Workout query, either by setting $this->Workout->recursive = 1 or (recommended) by using the more flexible ContainableBehavior.