Not sure how to retrieve my the values from array - cakephp

Question

I have two issues with my CakePHP application (its my first one in CakePHP). I am trying to convert an old php website to cake.
1.Issue
I have my controller that accepts a parameter $id, but the data is comming from joined tables so in the cookbook it had something like this
MY Controller
dish_categories_controller.php
class DishCategoriesController extends AppController {
var $uses = array("DishCategory");
var $hasOne ='';
function get_categories($id)
{
$this->set('dishes',$this->DishCategory->find());
$this->layout = 'master_layout';
}
}
model
dish_category.php
class DishCategory extends AppModel{
var $name = 'DishCategory';
var $hasOne = array(
'Dish' => array(
'className' => 'Dish',
'conditions' => array('Dish.id' => '1'),
'dependent' => true
)
);
}
As you can see the Dish.id=> '1' is hard coded, how can make it dynamic there so that I pass a value and make it something like Dish.if =>$id ?.
So that was my first issue.
The second issue is related to the view
That model returns only one record, how can I make it so that it returns all and also how would I be able to loop through that, below the code in the view currently and the array format.
This is in my view
<?php
echo $dishes['DishCategory']['category_info'];
echo $dishes['DishCategory']['category_title'];
echo $dishes['Dish']['dish_name'];
echo $dishes['Dish']['dish_image'];
echo $this->Html->image($dishes['Dish']['dish_image'], array('alt' => 'CakePHP'))
?>
Array Format
Array ( [DishCategory] => Array
( [id] => 1 [category_name] => Appetizers
[category_keywords] => appetizer, appetizers
[category_title] => Our Side Dishes
[category_info] => Test Test
[dish_id] => 1 )
[Dish] => Array ( [id] => 1
[dish_name] => Rice
[dish_disc] => The Best flavor ever
[dish_price] => 2.90 [dish_image] => /img/rice_chicken.jpeg [dish_category_id] => 1
[dish_price_label] => Delicious Arepa ) )
I would appreciate your help to help me understand how to better do this. Thank you.

Answer 1

Firstly, you DishCategoriesController has model properties, you can remove them. In your controller, you will set up the conditions for the find like so:
class DishCategoriesController extends AppController {
function get_categories($id)
{
// find category with a dish of $id
$this->set('dishes', $this->DishCategory->find('all', array(
'conditions' => array(
'Dish.id' => $id
)
)));
// set master layout
$this->layout = 'master_layout';
}
}
Your DishCategory model will look very basic, you don't need to hard code the relationship condition:
class DishCategory extends AppModel {
/**
* hasOne associations
*
* #var array
*/
public $hasOne = array(
'Dish' => array(
'className' => 'Dish',
'foreignKey' => 'dish_category_id'
)
)
}
At this point it is worth noting that since the DishCategory hasOne Dish, using the above find query, it will only ever return a single result. But, it you were returning multiple results, you could loop through them in your view like so:
<?php foreach ($dishes as $key => $dish): ?>
<?php var_dump($dish) ?>
<?php endforeach ?>