Cakephp FormHelper Create select box - cakephp

i am cakephp beginner.
My Employee Model,
class Employee extends AppModel {
var $belongsTo = array(
'Department'=>array(
'className'=>'Department',
'foreignKey'=>'department_id',
'conditions'=>null,
'fields'=>null
)
);
blah--
now in employee add.ctp i want to create a select box which list all the department.
i was going through official cakephp 2.1 documentation (here)
it tells me to add
$this->set('departments', $this->Employee->Department->find('list'));
in my controller..
i have no idea to put in which controller ? is it in EmployeesController or DepartmentsController? and in which action of controller?
view to create select box (in add.ctp)
echo $this->Form->input('Department');

you were almost correct - only a minor glitch:
echo $this->Form->input('department_id');
you need to name the fields as they are in the database.
and if it is a BelongsTo relation than there should be a department_id foreign key in your employees table.
PS: cake knows that if you pass down $departments that this array will need to be the options for this form field. so no additional configuration necessary!
// in your add action at the very bottom
$departments = $this->Employee->Department->find('list');
$this->set(compact('departments'));

Related

CakePHP Not Saving BelongsTo Key

I'm trying to save a record that belongs to another model. Yet, I get an error that the foreign key is missing. The CakePHP docs show examples of this working but I can't get it to work.
Here is the Form:
echo $this->Form->create('Message', array('action'=>'add'));
echo $this->Form->hidden('Ticket.id');
echo $this->Form->input('Message.message');
echo $this->Form->submit('Save Message');
echo $this->Form->end();
Here is what is returned to the controller upon submit:
Array(
[Ticket] => Array
(
[id] => 2
)
[Message] => Array
(
[message] => Message text
)
)
Here is my Message model:
class Message extends AppModel {
public $belongsTo = array('Ticket');
}
Here is my Ticket model:
class Ticket extends AppModel {
public $hasMany = 'Message';
}
Here is my controller logic:
$this->Message->save($this->request->data);
Here is the error message I receive:
Error: SQLSTATE[HY000]: General error: 1364 Field 'ticket_id' doesn't have a default value
The CakePHP documents are pretty clear that Cake will grab the id from the Ticket array. The only way I can get this to work is if I manually assign the ticket id to the message array.
$this->request->data['Message']['ticket_id'] = $this->request->data['Ticket']['id']
I shouldn't have to do that. Where's the magic? I've read at least 20 similar posts but none exactly like this (probably because this is so basic that nobody has this problem because it works for them).
I'm using version 2.4.2
Thanks for any help.
Don't use Model::save() in this case, the reason is that you also want to save associated data, in order for you save data for the main model along with its associated models you need to use Model::saveAssociated().
Your controller should be looking like this
$this->Message->saveAssociated($this->request->data);

Can't populate a Select options with related model info - CakePHP

Puling my hair out with this, I know its something very simple but I've been struggling to resolve it. For the record I'm using cakePHP 2.2.
I'm trying to populate a select input with related model data.
Basically I have users and user_statuses. The user model belongsTo the UserStatus model. Within the user/add() function I want to have a drop down select box populated with the data from the UserStatus model.
Heres the code:
UsersController/Add()
$groups = $this->User->Group->find('list');
$UserStatus = $this->User->UserStatus->find('list');
$this->set(compact('groups', 'UserStatus'));
View/Users/add.ctp
echo $this->Form->input('user_status_id', array('class' => 'span9'));
The field in the users table making the relationship is user_status_id which links to the id in the user_statuses table.
Based on the above the select box will NOT populate with the statuses from the user_statuses table. Interestingly enough, it will if I change the view code to just :
echo $this->Form->input('user_status_id', array('class' => 'span9'));
However, when I do this is will NOT write to the database.
Any help will be gratefully received.
Thanks in advance.
The options param should solve the problems for display and as long as there is a user_status_id in your User table, the below code should save the value in your User model on save.
echo $this->Form->input('User.user_status_id', array('options'=>$UserStatus,'class' => 'span9'));
Should be:
$userStatus = $this->User->UserStatus->find('list');
(note the lowercase 'u')

Select drop down from associated model

I have a model InstrumentFunding (id,title) that belongsTo InstrumentFundingGroup (id,title)
In the backend when I add/edit the InstrumentFunding I want a select dropdown to select the InstrumentFundingGroup
I tried using $form->input('InstrumentFundingGroup',array('type' => 'select')); but the dropdown is empty
How can I do this?
In your controller:
$instrumentFundingGroups = $this->InstrumentFundingGroup->find( 'list' );
$this->set( compact( 'instrumentFundingGroups' ) );
In your view:
$form->input('InstrumentFundingGroup.id' );
Cake does the work of recognizing that the array identified by the pluralized model name should populate the id field for that model. Check out the automagic form fields page in the docs. Those outline what's happening.

cakePHP hasOne relationship not auto completing dropdown field

I'm trying to implement a hasone relationship between 2 models, but I can't have the 'add' form autocomplete with the possible options in the second model (the one that belongsTo the first one). This is my code:
- model 1: item.php
<?php
class Item extends AppModel{
var $name = 'Item';
var $primaryKey = 'id';
var $hasOne = 'CoverImage';
}
?>
- model 2: cover_image.php
<?php
class CoverImage extends AppModel{
var $name = 'CoverImage';
var $primaryKey = 'id';
var $belongsTo = array(
'Item' => array(
'className' => 'Item',
'foreignKey' => 'item_id'
));
}
?>
- add view of model 2: add.ctp
<?php echo $this->Form->create('CoverImage',array('url' => array('controller' => 'admins', 'action' => 'add')));?>
<fieldset>
<legend><?php __('Info'); ?></legend>
<?php
echo $this->Form->input('item_id');
echo $this->Form->input('description');
?>
</fieldset>
<?php echo $this->Form->end(__('Create', true));?>
For what I see in Cake's documentation, with this relationship, in the add view I should see a dropdown list in the item_id field to be able to select to which item does this CoverImage belongs to, but the dropdown is empty (and yes, I have some items in the items table already).
Maybe I'm missing something or I've done something wrong, but I can't figure it out. Thanks so much in advance for any clues!
EDIT
One think I've just realized is that if I do this:
echo $this->Form->input('item_id', array('type'=>'text'));
instead of this:
echo $this->Form->input('item_id');
I can add/edit the *item_id* field, I can see its value in the text box. However, if I leave the other one, I just see an empty dropbox and when I try to add/edit a CoverImage, it doesn't work, it just shows an empty white page, not even with errors...
Maybe this is a lead to something...
In order for that to work you have to create a list of possible options in the controller. That does not happen automatically.
public function add() {
$items = $this->CoverImage->Item->find('list');
$this->set(compact('items'));
}
The FormHelper only automatically infers that the field item_id should be populated by the options in the variable $items (plural, no _id).
Do be careful that Items that already haveOne CoverImage should not be part of that list. find('list', array('conditions' => array('CoverItem.id' => null))) will probably* take care of that, but you'll need to recheck just before saving as well, or you need to rethink your associations.
* Not sure off the top of my head whether that'll work for 'list' searches.
EXCELLENT QUESTION. You've run afoul of a disingenuous feature of Cake's associations:
Considering you defined the relationship as hasOne? Guessing at the trace but Cake probably even correctly inferred your preference for list functionality. You got your automagic list...
...of One.
$hasOne is pretty exclusive like that. It "uses up" those "has" relationships (it's makes the relationship a de facto Singleton - so Users only have 1 Profile <-> Profile only has 1 User). Consider - Database can have many configurations, but Dbo will only ever have one Connection at a time and Connection will only have one Dbo. Thus -> hasOne is for marrying two Models til die() do they part.
-- So it doesn't get used nearly as much as hasMany and belongsTo.
For your purpose, you probably want to change to a different association.
Adding an additional $this->Item->find doesn't really fix what's wrong (and I wouldn't recommend it, unless you're mostly done with both models/controllers, or you actively want things to start getting weird fast.)
Also, changing how you call the Form Helper methods - if you return a 'list' type fetch from a find, Cake will automatically produce an option list out of it. What's actually happening is, you're sneaking around your Model on a very thin margin of View functionality. That's why specifying the input type to "break the magic" tends to be discouraged (which, you totally can if you want. Just understand what's actually happening, or: see, weird, fast.)
But you might want to rethink how you've associated your models - wouldn't it also be correct to say, each Item belongsTo a CoverImage (same as each CoverImage belongs to an Item) -- because you have a form expressly permitting a CoverImage to select an Item, any Item, to be displayed with? You'll probably get better results.
HTH. :)

CakePHP assocation question

I'm creating a small timesheet application. Timesheets have athletes, and each athlete has personal split times (like in running, or race car driving)
An Athlete hasMany Run, a Run belongsTo Athlete, An Athlete hasAndBelongsToMany Timesheets (and vice versa). A Timesheet hasMany Run, and finally a Run belongsTo Timesheet.
When I'm adding new runs in my view, I'm unable to get anything but the athlete_id in the select box. I'd really like to have their names instead. Instead of
<?php echo $run['athlete_id'];?>, I've tried <?php echo $athlete['Athlete']['last_name'] ?> but I can't seem to get it to work. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
Without knowing exactly how you are building your forms/data it is hard to tell, but how I would do it is.
In the RunController add
$athletes = $this->Run->Athlete->find('list');
$this->set('athletes', $athletes);
and then in the View use this form helper line.
<?php echo $form->input('Run.athlete_id', array('type' => 'select', 'options' => $athletes)); ?>
This should work, there is also a way to use 'compact' to make it a little easier but the above should work fine.
---- BEGIN EDIT ----
I did a little research and found the compact method.
In your RunController use
$athletes = $this->Run->Athlete->find('list');
$this->set(compact('athletes'));
and then in your View use
<?php echo $form->input('Run.athlete_id'); ?>
and the form helper will automatically find the compacted Athlete array and build the select.
---- END EDIT ----
Hope this helps.
Cheers,
Dean
Try printing out the content of the $run: print_r($run) and see if the ['Athlete'] is there.
If not, you might have to manually contain the Athlete model when you do your run query:
$this->Run->contain('Athlete');
Don't forget to use the displayField property of the Model class i.e.
<?php
class Athlete extends AppModel {
public $name = "Athlete";
public $displayField = "name"; // the field name that has the athletes name in it
}
?>
http://book.cakephp.org/view/438/displayField

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