CakePHP count() return wrong results? - cakephp

Question

CakePHP 3.6.14
This code reproduce wrong number:
$where = [
'Postings.source' => $source,
'Postings.approved' => 1,
'Postings.deleted' => 0,
'Postings.disabled' => 0
];
if ($source !== null) {
$where['Postings.created >='] = '(NOW() - INTERVAL 3 DAY)';
}
$count = $this->Postings
->find()
->where($where)
->count();
debug($count); exit;
// 77568 total of all records
########## DEBUG ##########
[
'Postings.source' => 'xzy',
'Postings.approved' => (int) 1,
'Postings.deleted' => (int) 0,
'Postings.disabled' => (int) 0,
'Postings.created >=' => '(NOW() - INTERVAL 3 DAY)'
]
//SQL produced by this query:
SELECT (COUNT(*)) AS `count`
FROM postings Postings
WHERE (
Postings.source = 'xzy'
AND Postings.approved = 1
AND Postings.deleted = 0
AND Postings.disabled = 0
AND Postings.created >= '(NOW() - INTERVAL 3 DAY)' // <<<< with quotes
)
but raw sql query:
SELECT COUNT(*) as `count
FROM `postings`
WHERE `source` = 'xzy'
AND `approved` = 1
AND `deleted` = 0
AND `disabled` = 0
AND `created` >= (NOW() - INTERVAL 3 DAY) // <<< without quotes
// return correct num 2119
How to fix?

Answer 1

Values on the right hand side of a key => value condition are always subject to binding/casting/escaping, unless it's an expression object. Look at the generated query, your SQL snippet will end up as a string literal, ie:
created >= '(NOW() - INTERVAL 3 DAY)'
Long story short, use an expression, either a raw one:
$where['Postings.created >='] = $this->Postings->query()->newExpr('NOW() - INTERVAL 3 DAY');
or use the functions builder:
$builder = $this->Postings->query()->func();
$where['Postings.created >='] = $builder->dateAdd($builder->now(), -3, 'DAY');
See also
Cookbook > Database Access & ORM > Query Builder > Advanced Conditions
Cookbook > Database Access & ORM > Query Builder > Using SQL Functions

Answer 2

You should use Query builder and add to select method count function.
Everything is described here: https://book.cakephp.org/3.0/en/orm/query-builder.html#using-sql-functions