Cakephp many to many recursive - database

Question

Hy i am trying to create a follow feature to my website so user can follow each other , I am using Cakephp what kind of relation should i use , what should i name the tables.
NB: I created a user table + follow table containing user_id and follower_id !

Answer 1

If you don't need to save any information about the relation, then hasAndBelongsToMany is the natural relation to use in this case.
Try this:
// User Model
var $hasAndBelonsToMany = array(
'Follower' => array(
'className' => 'User',
'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
'associationForeignKey' => 'follower_id'
'joinTable' => 'followers_users'
)
)
then you must create the users table as normal, and a table 'followers_users' with columns: 'id', 'user_id', 'follower_id' (and 'created' and 'updated' if you need them).
EDIT :
To retrieve your data (read here) you do it as usual:
$this->User->find('all', array('conditions' => array('id' => 1)));
Then you'll get an array like:
Array(
[User] => array(
[id] => 1
[name] => xxxx
)
[Follower] => array(
[0] => array(
[id] => 2
[name] => yyyy
)
[1] => array(
[id] => 3
[name] => zzzz
)
)
)
To save your data (read here and here), you need to create an array like:
array(
[User] => array(
[id] => 1
[name] => xxx
)
[Follower] => array(
[0] => array(
[id] => 2
)
[1] => array(
[id] => 3
)
)
)

Answer 2

Explanation of what you are looking / example is right in the book:
http://book.cakephp.org/2.0/en/models/associations-linking-models-together.html#multiple-relations-to-the-same-model
Similar example per the book:
"It is also possible to create self associations as shown below:"
<?php
class Post extends AppModel {
public $name = 'Post';
public $belongsTo = array(
'Parent' => array(
'className' => 'Post',
'foreignKey' => 'parent_id'
)
);
public $hasMany = array(
'Children' => array(
'className' => 'Post',
'foreignKey' => 'parent_id'
)
);
}