Model linking in CakePHP - cakephp

Question

In this example, how do you create the "assignments-to-teachers" relationship in the models?
assignments subjects teachers
--------- --------- ------
id id id
student_id subject_name teacher_name
subject_id teacher_id
I want an SQL query that shows: assignment_id, student_id, subject_name, teacher_name. I used a "belongsTo" to create the "assignments-to-subjects" relationship, but I'm not sure how to create the "assignments-to-teachers".
AssignmentsController.php
public function index() {
$this->set('assignments', $this->Assignment->find('all'));
}
--------------------------
Assignment.php
public $belongsTo = array(
'Subject'
);
I did get this to work by adding joins to the "find('all')" in the controller, but I'm wondering how to do this in the models.
AssignmentsController.php
//(working, but looking to solve this in models, not controller)
$this->set('assignments', $this->Assignment->find('all', array(
'joins' => array(
array(
'table' => 'subjects',
'alias' => 'Subject',
'type' => 'LEFT',
'conditions' => 'Assignment.subject_id = Subject.id'
),
array(
'table' => 'teachers',
'alias' => 'Teacher',
'type' => 'LEFT',
'conditions' => 'Subject.teacher_id = Teacher.id'
)
),
'fields' => array('*','Subject.subject_name', 'Teacher.teacher_name')
)));

Answer 1

As far as I can tell, assignments are related to teachers through subjects, right? Then, on Subject model:
public $belongsTo = array('Teacher');
Also, on AppModel, use Containable behavior:
public $actsAs = array('Containable');
Now, you can do a find on assignment this way:
$this->Assignment->find('all', array(
'fields' => array('id', 'student_id')
'contain' => array(
'Subject' => array(
'fields' => array('id', 'subject_name')
'Teacher' => array(
'fields' => array('id', 'teacher_name')
)
)
)
));
Containable behavior will let you do a deep search through related models