Using the CakeDC search plugin with associated models - php

Question

I'm using CakePHP 1.3.8, and I've installed the CakeDC Search plugin. I have a Tutorial model, which is in a HABTM relationship with a LearningGoal model.
I have a search action & view in the Tutorials controller with which I can successfully search fields in the Tutorial model. I'd also like to filter my tutorial search results using LearningGoal checkboxes on the same form. I've tried adding various parameters to Tutorial's $filterArgs and TutorialsController's $presetVars. I've also tried moving the relevant $filterArgs to the LearningGoal model. I have not yet been able to successfully trigger the entry for learning goals in $filterArgs.
I think I must be missing something obvious. Or maybe the Search plugin doesn't support what I'm trying to do. Does anyone know how to use this plugin to search on associated models?

Answer 1

So here's what I've figured out. You can combine what's below with the Search plugin directions to search on related models.
The $filterArgs piece in the Tutorial model must look like this:
var $filterArgs = array(
array('name' => 'LearningGoal', 'type' => 'subquery', 'method' => 'findByLearningGoals', 'field' => 'Tutorial.id'),
);
Here's the supporting function in the Tutorial model:
function findByLearningGoals($data = array()) {
$ids = explode('|', $data['LearningGoal']);
$ids = join(',', $ids);
$this->LearningGoalsTutorial->Behaviors->attach('Containable', array('autoFields' => false));
$this->LearningGoalsTutorial->Behaviors->attach('Search.Searchable');
$query = $this->LearningGoalsTutorial->getQuery('all',
array(
'conditions' => array('LearningGoalsTutorial.learning_goal_id IN (' . $ids . ')'),
'fields' => array('tutorial_id'),
)
);
return $query;
}
In TutorialsController, $presetVars should look like this:
public $presetVars = array(
array('field' => 'LearningGoal', 'type' => 'checkbox', 'model' => 'Tutorial'),
);
And in my search action in TutorialsController, I did this:
$this->LearningGoal = $this->Tutorial->LearningGoal;
The Prg component seems to need that.

Answer 2

I am using CakePHP version 2.X
Every time I come to do this in a project I always spend hours figuring out how to do it using CakeDC search behavior so I wrote this to try and remind myself with simple language what I need to do. I've also noticed that although Michael is generally correct there is no explanation which makes it more difficult to modify it to one's own project.
When you have a "has and belongs to many" relationship and you are wanting to search the joining table i.e. the table that has the two fields in it that joins the tables on either side of it together in a many-to-many relationship you want to create a subquery with a list of IDs from one of the tables in the relationship. The IDs from the table on the other side of the relationship are going to be checked to see if they are in that record and if they are then the record in the main table is going to be selected.
In this following example
SELECT Handover.id, Handover.title, Handover.description
FROM handovers AS Handover
WHERE Handover.id in
(SELECT ArosHandover.handover_id
FROM aros_handovers AS ArosHandover
WHERE ArosHandover.aro_id IN (3) AND ArosHandover.deleted != '1')
LIMIT 20
all the records from ArosHandover will be selected if they have an aro_id of 3 then the Handover.id is used to decide which Handover records to select.
On to how to do this with the CakeDC search behaviour.
Firstly, place the field into the search form:
echo $this->Form->create('Handover', array('class' => 'form-horizontal'));?>
echo $this->Form->input('aro_id', array('options' => $roles, 'multiple' => true, 'label' => __('For', true), 'div' => false, true));
etc...
notice that I have not placed the form element in the ArosHandover data space; another way of saying this is that when the form request is sent the field aro_id will be placed under the array called Handover.
In the model under the variable $filterArgs:
'aro_id' => array('name' => 'aro_id', 'type' => 'subquery', 'method' => 'findByAros', 'field' => 'Handover.id')
notice that the type is 'subquery' as I mentioned above you need to create a subquery in order to be able to find the appropriate records and by setting the type to subquery you are telling CakeDC to create a subquery snippet of SQL. The method is the function name that are going to write the code under. The field element is the name of the field which is going to appear in this part of the example query above
WHERE Handover.id in
Then you write the function that will return the subquery:
function findByAros($data = array())
{
$ids = ''; //you need to make a comma separated list of the aro_ids that are going to be checked
foreach($data['aro_id'] as $k => $v)
{
$ids .= $v . ', ';
}
if($ids != '')
{
$ids = rtrim($ids, ', ');
}
//you only need to have these two lines in if you have not already attached the behaviours in the ArosHandover model file
$this->ArosHandover->Behaviors->attach('Containable', array('autoFields' => false));
$this->ArosHandover->Behaviors->attach('Search.Searchable');
$query = $this->ArosHandover->getQuery('all',
array(
'conditions' => array('ArosHandover.aro_id IN (' . $ids . ')'),
'fields' => array('handover_id'), //the other field that you need to check against, it's the other side of the many-to-many relationship
'contain' => false //place this in if you just want to have the ArosHandover table data included
)
);
return $query;
}
In the Handovers controller:
public $components = array('Search.Prg', 'Paginator'); //you can also place this into AppController
public $presetVars = true; //using $filterArgs in the model configuration
public $paginate = array(); //declare this so that you can change it
// this is the snippet of the search form processing
public function admin_find()
{
$this->set('title_for_layout','Find handovers');
$this->Prg->commonProcess();
if(isset($this->passedArgs) && !empty($this->passedArgs))
{//the following line passes the conditions into the Paginator component
$this->Paginator->settings = array('conditions' => $this->Handover->parseCriteria($this->passedArgs));
$handovers = $this->Paginator->paginate(); // this gets the data
$this->set('handovers', $handovers); // this passes it to the template
If you want any further explanation as to why I have done something, ask and if I get an email to tell me that you have asked I will give an answer if I am able to.