Saving related model data (3 levels) - cakephp

Question

Really struggling with saving model info a few levels down.
Firstly, I have a expenseClaim – that hasMany expenses (expenses belongTo expenseClaim).
Expenses HABTM ExpenseCode. (these are things like train fare, petrol costs etc).
So, I have a Add a new Expense page – (ExpenseClaimsController /add).
This kinda looks a bit like a spreadsheet and it allows you to enter multiple rows (each row being a expense). On each row theres a drop down to select the expenseCode. The issue is that the expenseCode is not getting written to the join table (expenses_expense_codes).
If I add a single expense, through the unused and soon to be removed expenseController /add it works fine, so the issue is saving assoisiated models, models. Cant figure out how to do this as expenseCode is not directly related to the expenseClaim model and therefore not saving when I do ExpenseClaimsController /add.
Hope that makes sense….
Heres my ExpenseClaimsController code:
public function add() {
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
//debug($this->request->data);
// Test
$this->loadModel('ExpenseCode');
// Create the claim and the expenses
$this->ExpenseClaim->create();
$this->ExpenseClaim->Expense->create();
// Set the user ID
$this->request->data['ExpenseClaim']['user_id'] = $this->Auth->user('id');
// Set the claim status based on which submit btn was pressed
if ($this->request->data['submit'] == 'Submit') {
$this->request->data['ExpenseClaim']['claim_status_id'] = '2';
} else {
$this->request->data['ExpenseClaim']['claim_status_id'] = '1';
}
// Set the claim status
$now = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');
$this->request->data['ExpenseClaim']['date_submitted'] = $now;
// Save both expenses and the expense claim
if ($this->ExpenseClaim->saveAll($this->request->data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash('The expense claim has been saved', 'flash_success');
$this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
} else {
$this->Session->setFlash('The expense claim could not be saved. Please, try again.', 'flash_failure');
}
}
$users = $this->ExpenseClaim->User->find('list');
$claimStatuses = $this->ExpenseClaim->ClaimStatus->find('list');
$expenseCodes = $this->ExpenseClaim->Expense->ExpenseCode->find('list');
$mileageRate = $this->Auth->user('mileage_rate');
$this->set(compact('users', 'claimStatuses', 'expenseCodes', 'mileageRate'));
// Set errors for top of page
$this->set('errors', $this->ExpenseClaim->validationErrors);
}
Can anyone point me in the right direction? Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Managed to track down the issue, I had to rename the field in ExpenseClaim add to
$this->Form->input('Expense.0.ExpenseCode.ExpenseCode');
This then solved the issue.
Hopefully this will help someone.