CakePHP 2.2.4: Afterfind Setup

Question

I'm having an issue with afterfind() and none of what I'm reading has solved it. It has to do with the afterfind not working for related models which I am aware many people have brought up but I haven't found a solution. All the posts I see are also from 2009-2010.

User.php Model

function afterFind($results, $primary = false) {
parent::afterFind($results, $primary);

if($primary){
    foreach($results as $key => $val){
        if (isset($val['User']['id'])){    
            $results[$key]['User']['online'] = $this->UsersOnline->find('count',
array('conditions' => array('UsersOnline.user_id =' => $val['User']['id'])));

// THIS WORKS PERFECTLY FOR USER MODEL PAGES     
        }
   }
}
else {
    foreach($results as $key => $val){
       $key['User']['online'] = $this->UsersOnline->find('count',
array('conditions' => array('UsersOnline.user_id =' => 1)));

// THIS IS THE PART THAT IS INCORRECT, AND THIS IS THE "BEST" SOLUTION
// I'VE FOUND ONLINE BUT IT IS NOT WORKING

/**
 * I've also tried these
 *
 * $results[$key]['online']
 * $results[$val]['online']
 * $results[$key][$val]['online']
 * $results['0']['User']['online']
 *
 * and about 5 other things
 */

    }
}

return $results;


} // end afterfind

I have tried many combinations of code in the "else" statement but I get one of three errors which are Uninitialized string offset: 0 , Cannot use string offset as an array or Column User.online not found .

EDIT: Maybe this will provide a little more insight into the issue.

I'm trying to view the ARTICLES VIEW.CTP. It displays the article at the top with $article['User'] information (trying to include $article['User']['online'] ). Below the post are the article comments ( foreach $article['Comment'] as $comment ).

This is my ARTICLES.PHP CONTROLLER

public function view($page = null, $id = null) {

    // $this->Article->recursive = 3;

    $this->Article->id = $id;

    if (!$this->Article->exists()) {

        $this->Session->setFlash('This article does not exist');
        $this->redirect(array('controller'=>'articles', 'action' => 'index'), null, true);
    }

    $this->Article->contain(array(
        'User' => array(
            'fields'=>array('User.username', 'User.signature', 'User.online'),
            'UserAvatar' => array(
                'fields'=>array('UserAvatar.file')
             )
        ),
        'Comment' => array(
            'fields'=>array('Comment.content', 'Comment.created', 'Comment.title'),
             'User' => array(
                'fields'=>array('User.username', 'User.signature', 'User.online'),
                'UserAvatar' => array(
                   'fields'=>array('UserAvatar.file')
                 )
              )
          )
     ));

    $this->set('article',  $this->Article->read(null, $id));

} // end view function

With the code as is (looking at the "contain" conditions, I am returned an error message " Column User.online does not exist ". However, when I remove User.online from the contain on both the Comment array and the User array and INSTEAD set $this->Article->recursive = 3 , I receive no error message. With recursive = 3, if I print_r($article['User']) or print_r($comment['User']) on articles view.ctp, the arrays both show the correct value for online.

The exact print for both $article['User'] and $comment['User'] with recursive = 3 is

Array
(
    [id] => this
    [username] => this
    [password] => ****
    [UserAvatar] => Array
        (
            [id] => this
            [column] => value
            [column] => value
        )
    [OTHER USER RELATED MODELS] => Array
        (
            [column] => value
        )
    [online] => 1
    [type] => 1
)

If I echo $article['User']['online'] with recursive = 3, I get the correct value (3 is needed in order for UserAvatar info to display).

I don't understand why, then, with the contain, does it say that User.online cannot be found? I have actAs = 'Containable' in my AppModel because I use that property on nearly all models.

Here is my most updated USER.PHP MODEL afterfind()

function afterFind($results, $primary = false) {
parent::afterFind($results, $primary);

     if($primary){
          foreach($results as $key => $val){
               if (isset($val['User']['id'])){    
                    $results[$key]['User']['online'] = $this->UsersOnline->find('count', array('conditions' => array('UsersOnline.user_id =' => $val['User']['id'])));
               }
          } // end for each
     } // end if primary
     else{
          foreach($results as $key => $val){
               if(isset($results['0']['User']['id'])){
                    $results['0']['User']['online'] = "1";
                      $results['User']['online'] = $results['0']['User']['online'];
                      $results['0']['User']['type'] = '1';
             }
               elseif(isset($results['User']['id'])){
                    $results['User']['online'] = "1";
                    $results[$key]['User']['online'] = $results['User']['online'];
                    $results['User']['type'] = '2';
               } // end elseif
                 // everything returns as type 1 so this may be irrelevant
          } // end for each
     } // end if not primary

      return $results;

} // end afterfind

POSSIBLE SOLUTION: After tinkering a little bit more I found out that the following works (Articles model) but this is not ideal because it retrieves all data from User and UserAvatar whereas I would like to fetch data only for specified fields. However, when I use the fields option, User.online is not recognized. Any ideas?

$this->Article->contain(array( 
         'User' => array(
            'UserAvatar'
        ),
          'Comment' => array(
             'User' => array(
                'UserAvatar'
              )
          )
     ));

 $this->set('article',  $this->Article->read(null, $id));

Answer 1

Try following foreach

foreach($results as &$val){
    $val['User']['online'] = $this->UsersOnline->find('count', array(
        'conditions' => array('UsersOnline.user_id' => 1)
    ));
}

Please note that this will only return the count where user_id=1