How to save to 2 HABTM and 1 belongsTo association with cakephp

Question

I am trying to save data from one of my controllers named "EvidenceController.php". The problem I am having is that not all the associations with my Remark Model will save. Only Remark's association with Evidence will save, and it only saves the evidence_id and the date created. None of Remark's other associations will save. Here are my table setups for projects, evidences, remarks, users, evidences_remarks, users_remarks:

projects.id, projects.title, projects.description, projects.created, projects.approved, projects.approvedby, projects.user_id

evidences.id, evidences.title, evidences.date, evidences.description, evidences.sourcetype, evidences.source, evidences.pdfloc, evidences.author, evidences.authorcred, evidences.user_id, evidences.created

remarks.id, remarks.evidence_id, remarks.remark, remarks.created

users.id, users.username, users.password, users.full_name, users.type, users.created

evidences_remarks.id, evidences_remarks.evidence_id, evidences_remarks.remark_id

users_remarks.id, users_remarks.user_id, users_remarks.remark_id

Here are my models:

Project.php

App::uses('AppModel', 'Model');

class Project extends AppModel {

    var $name = 'Project';
    public $displayField = 'title';


    public $validate = array(
        'id' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),

            ),
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'title' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
        ),
        'created' => array(
            'datetime' => array(
                'rule' => array('datetime'),
            ),
        ),
        'approved' => array(
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'user_id' => array(
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
    );

    public $belongsTo = array(
        'User' => array(
            'className' => 'User',
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => ''
        )
    );

    public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
        'Evidence' => array(
            'className' => 'Evidence',
            'joinTable' => 'evidences_projects',
            'foreignKey' => 'project_id',
            'associationForeignKey' => 'evidence_id',
            'unique' => 'keepExisting',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
        ),
        'Remark' => array(
            'className' => 'Remark',
            'joinTable' => 'projects_remarks',
            'foreignKey' => 'project_id',
            'associationForeignKey' => 'remark_id',
            'unique' => 'keepExisting',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
        )
    );
}

Evidence.php

App::uses('AppModel', 'Model');

class Evidence extends AppModel {

    var $name = 'Evidence';
    public $displayField = 'title';

    public $validate = array(
        'id' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'title' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
        ),
        'date' => array(
            'datetime' => array(
                'rule' => array('datetime'),
            ),
        ),
        'sourcetype' => array(
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'user_id' => array(
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'created' => array(
            'datetime' => array(
                'rule' => array('datetime'),
            ),
        ),
    );

    public $belongsTo = array(
        'User' => array(
            'className' => 'User',
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => ''
        )
    );

    public $hasMany = array(
        'Remark' => array(
            'className' => 'Remark',
            'foreignKey' => 'evidence_id',
            'dependent' => false,
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'exclusive' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
            'counterQuery' => ''
        ),
    );

    public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
        'Project' => array(
            'className' => 'Project',
            'joinTable' => 'evidences_projects',
            'foreignKey' => 'evidence_id',
            'associationForeignKey' => 'project_id',
            'unique' => 'keepExisting',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
        )
    );
}

Remark.php

App::uses('AppModel', 'Model');

class Remark extends AppModel {

    var $name = 'Remark';
    public $displayField = 'title';

    public $validate = array(
        'id' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'evidence_id' => array(
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'created' => array(
            'datetime' => array(
                'rule' => array('datetime'),
            ),
        ),
    );

    public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
        'User' => array(
            'className' => 'User',
            'joinTable' => 'users_remarks',
            'foreignKey' => 'remark_id',
            'associationForeignKey' => 'user_id',
            'unique' => 'keepExisting',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
        ),
        'Project' => array(
            'className' => 'Project',
            'joinTable' => 'projects_remarks',
            'foreignKey' => 'remark_id',
            'associationForeignKey' => 'project_id',
            'unique' => 'keepExisting',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
        )
    );

    public $belongsTo = array(
        'Evidence' => array(
            'className' => 'Evidence',
            'foreignKey' => 'evidence_id',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => ''
        )
    );
}

User.php

App::uses('AppModel', 'Model');

class User extends AppModel {

    var $name = 'User';
    public $displayField = 'title';

    public $validate = array(
        'id' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'username' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
        ),
        'password' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
        ),
        'full_name' => array(
            'notEmpty' => array(
                'rule' => array('notEmpty'),
            ),
        ),
        'type' => array(
            'numeric' => array(
                'rule' => array('numeric'),
            ),
        ),
        'created' => array(
            'datetime' => array(
                'rule' => array('datetime'),
            ),
        ),
    );

    public $hasMany = array(
        'Evidence' => array(
            'className' => 'Evidence',
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
            'dependent' => false,
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'exclusive' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
            'counterQuery' => ''
        ),
        'Project' => array(
            'className' => 'Project',
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
            'dependent' => false,
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'exclusive' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
            'counterQuery' => ''
        )
    );

    public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
        'Remark' => array(
            'className' => 'Remark',
            'joinTable' => 'users_remarks',
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
            'associationForeignKey' => 'remark_id',
            'unique' => 'keepExisting',
            'conditions' => '',
            'fields' => '',
            'order' => '',
            'limit' => '',
            'offset' => '',
            'finderQuery' => '',
        )
    );
}

EvidencesController.php

class EvidencesController extends AppController{
    public $components = array('Session');
    var $helpers = array( 'Form' );

    public function add(){
        $projectid  = isset($this->request->query['projectid']) ? $this->request->query['projectid']    :null;
        $projectData = $this->Evidence->Project->findById($projectid);
        $this->set('project',$projectData);
        if($this->request->is('post')){
            $this->Evidence->create();
            $this->request->data['Evidence']['user_id'] = Authcomponent::user('id');
            if($this->Evidence->saveAll($this->request->data)){
                $this->Session->setFlash('The Evidence has been created');
                //$this->redirect(array('controller' => 'projects', 'action'=> 'view', $projectid));
                print_r($this->request->data);
            }
        }
    }
}

I commented out the redirect so I could see the printed data array.

add.ctp

<h1>Create Evidence for <?php echo $this->Html->link($project['Project']['title'], array('controller' => 'projects', 'action'=> 'view',$project['Project']['id'])); ?></h1>
<?php
    echo $this->Form->create('Evidence');
    echo $this->Form->input('title');
    echo $this->Form->input('date');
    echo $this->Form->input('description');
    echo $this->Form->input('sourcetype');
    echo $this->Form->input('source');
    echo $this->Form->input('pdfloc');
    echo $this->Form->input('author');
    echo $this->Form->input('authorcred');
    echo $this->Form->input('Remark.remark');
    echo $this->Form->input('Project.id', array('type' => 'hidden', 'value' => $project['Project']['id']));
    echo $this->Form->end('Add Evidence');
?>

This is the array that is printed from EvidencesController.php

Array ( [Evidence] => Array ( [title] => EvTestTile [date] => Array ( [month] => 01 [day] => 25 [year] => 2015 [hour] => 09 [min] => 45 [meridian] => am ) [description] => EvTestDescription [sourcetype] => 1 [source] => EvTestSource [pdfloc] => EvTestPdfloc [author] => EvTestAuthor [authorcred] => EvTestAuthorcred [user_id] => 1 ) [Remark] => Array ( [remark] => ReTestRemark ) [Project] => Array ( [id] => 2 ) )

All other associations with projects, evidences, and users work. How do I get the data from remarks to save to its appropriate association?

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

Answer 1

You have overridden $hasAndBelongsToMany properties in your Project model (also in Remark.php).

Try:

public $hasAndBelongsToMany = array(
    'Evidence' => array(
        'className' => 'Evidence',
        'joinTable' => 'evidences_projects',
        'foreignKey' => 'project_id',
        'associationForeignKey' => 'evidence_id',
        'unique' => 'keepExisting',
        'conditions' => '',
        'fields' => '',
        'order' => '',
        'limit' => '',
        'offset' => '',
        'finderQuery' => '',
    ),
    'Project' => array(
        'className' => 'Project',
        'joinTable' => 'evidences_projects',
        'foreignKey' => 'evidence_id',
        'associationForeignKey' => 'project_id',
        'unique' => 'keepExisting',
        'conditions' => '',
        'fields' => '',
        'order' => '',
        'limit' => '',
        'offset' => '',
        'finderQuery' => '',
    )
);

Answer 2

I had to slice the array to get the results I wanted here is my code:

EvidencesController.php

public function add(){
    $projectid  = isset($this->request->query['projectid']) ? $this->request->query['projectid']    :null;
    $projectData = $this->Evidence->Project->findById($projectid);
    $this->set('project',$projectData);
    $userData = $this->Evidence->User->findById(Authcomponent::user('id'));
    $this->set('user',$userData);
    if($this->request->is('post')){
        $this->Evidence->create();
        $this->request->data['Evidence']['user_id'] = Authcomponent::user('id');
        $RemarksArray = array_slice($this->request->data, 1);
        $EvidenceArray1 = array_slice($this->request->data, 0,1);
        $EvidenceArray2 = array_slice($this->request->data, 2);
        $EvidenceArray = array_merge($EvidenceArray1,$EvidenceArray2);

        if($this->Evidence->saveAll($EvidenceArray)){
            $RemarksArray1 = array_slice($this->request->data, 1);
            $RemarksArray = array_merge($RemarksArray1,array('Evidence'=>array('id'=>$this->Evidence->getLastInsertId())));
            if(strlen(trim($this->request->data['Remark']['remark'])) >0){
                $this->Evidence->Remark->saveAll($RemarksArray);
            }
            $this->Session->setFlash('The Evidence has been created With Remark length: '.strlen(trim($this->request->data['Remark']['remark'])));
            $this->redirect(array('controller' => 'projects', 'action'=> 'view', $projectid));
        }
    }
}

Not sure if it is best practices, but I works for me.