DebugKit Error: CakePHP get() mystery empty elements in associations - cakephp

Question

EDIT: This is after upgrading from CakePHP 4.0 to 4.3
With DebugKit turned on, CakePHP is throwing the following error message:
Argument 1 passed to Cake\ORM\Entity::get() must be of the type string, bool given, called in /Users/thomasbelknap/one-vision/vendor/cakephp/cakephp/src/Datasource/EntityTrait.php on line 607
This appears to be as a result of an empty, numerically-indexed element in the return array of a database query. Let me explain:
In my system, a User has many Estimates (and also Carts and Orders, but more on that). These two clauses in the User and Estimate table files bare this out:
$this->belongsTo('Users', [
'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
]);
::snip::
$this->hasMany('Estimates', [
'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
'dependent' => true,
]);
I am querying this information on a "Dashboard" page using the following query structure:
$user = $this->Users->get($this->getRequest()->getSession()->read('Auth.id'), [
'contain' => [
'UserGroups',
'Carts' => function ($q) {
return $q->limit(5);
},
'Orders' => function ($q) {
return $q->limit(5);
},
'Orders.OrderStatuses',
'Estimates' => function ($q) {
return $q->limit(5);
},
'Estimates.EstimateStatuses',
],
]);
I am not doing any further transformation of the data. There are no Collection functions being employed here. Nevertheless, in the estimates returned, there is always a mystery, numerically-indexed and empty array element:
[1] => Visualize\Model\Entity\Estimate Object
(
[id] => 30
[user_id] => 1
[estimate_status_id] => 5
[estimate_po] => lksjdf
[estimate_total] =>
[name] => Full throttle
[instore_date] => Cake\I18n\FrozenDate Object
(
[date] => 2022-12-31 00:00:00.000000
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => EST
)
[notes] => Let's do this.
[created] => Cake\I18n\FrozenTime Object
(
[date] => 2022-04-19 13:20:39.000000
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => EST
)
[modified] => Cake\I18n\FrozenTime Object
(
[date] => 2022-04-19 13:21:26.000000
[timezone_type] => 3
[timezone] => EST
)
[1] =>
[location_info] => Array
(
)
[[new]] =>
[[accessible]] => Array
(
[user_id] => 1
[estimate_status_id] => 1
[estimate_po] => 1
[estimate_total] => 1
[name] => 1
[instore_date] => 1
[notes] => 1
[created] => 1
[modified] => 1
[user] => 1
[line_items] => 1
[orders] => 1
[estimate_options] => 1
)
[[dirty]] => Array
(
)
[[original]] => Array
(
)
[[virtual]] => Array
(
[item_count] => 1
[box_count] => 1
[deliverable_count] => 1
[0] => location_info
[estimate_total] => 1
)
[[hasErrors]] =>
[[errors]] => Array
(
)
[[invalid]] => Array
(
)
[[repository]] => Estimates
)
This only affects the Estimates part of the query! The other two elements do not have this mystery index. Here's what CakePHP ultimately uses as it's query, which again, seems fine:
SELECT
Estimates.id AS Estimates__id,
Estimates.user_id AS Estimates__user_id,
Estimates.estimate_status_id AS Estimates__estimate_status_id,
Estimates.estimate_po AS Estimates__estimate_po,
Estimates.estimate_total AS Estimates__estimate_total,
Estimates.name AS Estimates__name,
Estimates.instore_date AS Estimates__instore_date,
Estimates.notes AS Estimates__notes,
Estimates.created AS Estimates__created,
Estimates.modified AS Estimates__modified,
EstimateStatuses.id AS EstimateStatuses__id,
EstimateStatuses.name AS EstimateStatuses__name,
EstimateStatuses.description AS EstimateStatuses__description,
EstimateStatuses.created AS EstimateStatuses__created,
EstimateStatuses.modified AS EstimateStatuses__modified
FROM
estimates Estimates
LEFT JOIN estimate_statuses EstimateStatuses ON EstimateStatuses.id = Estimates.estimate_status_id
WHERE
Estimates.user_id in (1)
ORDER BY
Estimates.modified DESC
LIMIT
5
For obvious reasons, I really need the DebugKit to work, but I have no idea where this mystery element is coming from. Everything seems right, to me?
Edit: Adding the definition of my estimate entity:
<?php
declare(strict_types=1);
namespace Visualize\Model\Entity;
use Cake\ORM\Entity;
/**
* Estimate Entity
*
* #property int $id
* #property int $user_id
* #property int|null $estimate_status_id
* #property string|null $estimate_po
* #property float|null $estimate_total
* #property string $name
* #property \Cake\I18n\FrozenDate $instore_date
* #property string $notes
* #property \Cake\I18n\FrozenTime $created
* #property \Cake\I18n\FrozenTime $modified
*
* #property \Visualize\Model\Entity\User $user
* #property \Visualize\Model\Entity\LineItem[] $line_items
* #property \Visualize\Model\Entity\Order[] $orders
* #property \Visualize\Model\Entity\EstimateOption[] $estimate_options
* #property float $item_count
* #property int $box_count
* #property array|\Cake\Collection\CollectionInterface|null $by_location
* #property int $deliverable_count
* #property array $location_info
* #property \Visualize\Model\Entity\EstimateStatus|null $estimate_status
* #property array|\Cake\Collection\CollectionInterface|null $by_deliverable
*/
class Estimate extends Entity
{
/**
* Fields that can be mass assigned using newEntity() or patchEntity().
*
* Note that when '*' is set to true, this allows all unspecified fields to
* be mass assigned. For security purposes, it is advised to set '*' to false
* (or remove it), and explicitly make individual fields accessible as needed.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $_accessible = [
'user_id' => true,
'estimate_status_id' => true,
'estimate_po' => true,
'estimate_total' => true,
'name' => true,
'instore_date' => true,
'notes' => true,
'created' => true,
'modified' => true,
'user' => true,
'line_items' => true,
'orders' => true,
'estimate_options' => true,
];
/**
* #var array
*/
protected $_virtual = [
'item_count' => true,
'box_count' => true,
'deliverable_count' => true,
'location_info' => true,
'estimate_total' => true,
];
/**
* Returns a zero-filled version of the cannonical ID
*
* #param int $id The autoincremental ID
* #return string
*/
protected function _getId($id): string
{
return sprintf('%05d', $id);
}
/**
* Returns the sum of quantities of all line items.
*
* #return float
*/
protected function _getItemCount(): float
{
$count = 0;
if (!empty($this->line_items)) {
$collection = new \Cake\Collection\Collection($this->line_items);
$count = $collection->sumOf('quantity');
}
return (float)$count;
}
/**
* Returns the count of locations in the estimate
*
* #return int
*/
protected function _getBoxCount(): int
{
$count = 0;
if (!empty($this->line_items)) {
$collection = new \Cake\Collection\Collection($this->line_items);
$collection = $collection->combine('location_id', 'id');
$count = $collection->count();
}
return $count;
}
/**
* Returns the total number of deliverable types in the order.
*
* #return int
*/
protected function _getDeliverableCount(): int
{
$count = 0;
if (!empty($this->line_items)) {
$collection = new \Cake\Collection\Collection($this->line_items);
$collection = $collection->combine('deliverable_id', 'id');
$count = $collection->count();
}
return $count;
}
/**
* Returns the list of locations for this estimate
*
* #return array
*/
protected function _getLocationInfo(): array
{
$info = [];
if (!empty($this->line_items)) {
$collection = new \Cake\Collection\Collection($this->line_items);
$info = $collection->combine(
'location_id',
function ($entity) {
return $entity->location;
}
);
return $info->toArray();
}
return $info;
}
/**
* Returns either the name or the id of the given estimate
*
* #return string
*/
protected function _getName(): string
{
return $this->name ?? (string)$this->id;
}
public const FIELD_ID = 'id';
public const FIELD_USER_ID = 'user_id';
public const FIELD_ESTIMATE_STATUS_ID = 'estimate_status_id';
public const FIELD_ESTIMATE_PO = 'estimate_po';
public const FIELD_ESTIMATE_TOTAL = 'estimate_total';
public const FIELD_NAME = 'name';
public const FIELD_INSTORE_DATE = 'instore_date';
public const FIELD_NOTES = 'notes';
public const FIELD_CREATED = 'created';
public const FIELD_MODIFIED = 'modified';
public const FIELD_USER = 'user';
public const FIELD_LINE_ITEMS = 'line_items';
public const FIELD_ORDERS = 'orders';
public const FIELD_ESTIMATE_OPTIONS = 'estimate_options';
public const FIELD_ITEM_COUNT = 'item_count';
public const FIELD_BOX_COUNT = 'box_count';
public const FIELD_BY_LOCATION = 'by_location';
public const FIELD_DELIVERABLE_COUNT = 'deliverable_count';
public const FIELD_LOCATION_INFO = 'location_info';
public const FIELD_ESTIMATE_STATUS = 'estimate_status';
public const FIELD_BY_DELIVERABLE = 'by_deliverable';
}

Answer 1

Take a close look at the dump of the entity, that field is apparently configured as an exposed virtual field, and looking at the other exposed fields, they seem to be configured incorrectly, as that property should hold a flat array of strings, not string indexed entries like 'item_count' => 1, as the value declares the field name, hence why you see a field named 1.
You are also misinterpreting the output, location_info does not belong to the 1 field, that's actually two different fields, 1 which holds something empty-ish that PHP doesn't print, like null or false, and location_info which holds an empty array.
Use debug() instead of pr()/print_r() to get a better structured dump which also properly shows empty data. And then inspect your Estimate entity class (or wherever things may be configured on the fly) and fix up the virtual fields.