Class Entity

An entity represents a single result row from a repository. It exposes the methods for retrieving and storing properties associated in this row.

Namespace: Cake\ORM

Property Summary

$_accessible protected

array

Map of properties in this entity that can be safely assigned, each property name points to a boolean indicating its status. An empty array means no properties are accessible
$_accessors protected static

array

Holds a cached list of methods that exist in the instanced class
$_className protected

string

Holds the name of the class for the instance object
$_dirty protected

array

Holds a list of the properties that were modified or added after this object was originally created.
$_errors protected

array

List of errors per field as stored in this object
$_hidden protected

array

List of property names that should not be included in JSON or Array representations of this Entity.
$_new protected

bool

Indicates whether or not this entity is yet to be persisted. Entities default to assuming they are new. You can use Table::persisted() to set the new flag on an entity based on records in the database.
$_original protected

array

Holds all properties that have been changed and their original values for this entity
$_properties protected

array

Holds all properties and their values for this entity
$_registryAlias protected

string

The alias of the repository this entity came from
$_virtual protected

array

List of computed or virtual fields that should be included in JSON or array representations of this Entity. If a field is present in both _hidden and _virtual the field will not be in the array/json versions of the entity.

Method Summary

__construct() public

Initializes the internal properties of this entity out of the keys in an array. The following list of options can be used:
__debugInfo() public

Returns an array that can be used to describe the internal state of this object.
__get() public

Magic getter to access properties that have been set in this entity
__isset() public

Returns whether this entity contains a property named $property regardless of if it is empty.
__set() public

Magic setter to add or edit a property in this entity
__toString() public

Returns a string representation of this object in a human readable format.
__unset() public

Removes a property from this entity
_methodExists() protected

Determines whether a method exists in this class
_nestedErrors() protected

Auxiliary method for getting errors in nested entities
_readError() protected

Read the error(s) from one or many objects.
accessible() public

Stores whether or not a property value can be changed or set in this entity. The special property * can also be marked as accessible or protected, meaning that any other property specified before will take its value. For example $entity->accessible('*', true) means that any property not specified already will be accessible by default.
clean() public

Sets the entire entity as clean, which means that it will appear as no properties being modified or added at all. This is an useful call for an initial object hydration
dirty() public

Sets the dirty status of a single property. If called with no second argument, it will return whether the property was modified or not after the object creation.
errors() public

Sets the error messages for a field or a list of fields. When called without the second argument it returns the validation errors for the specified fields. If called with no arguments it returns all the validation error messages stored in this entity and any other nested entity.
extract() public

Returns an array with the requested properties stored in this entity, indexed by property name
extractOriginal() public

Returns an array with the requested original properties stored in this entity, indexed by property name.
extractOriginalChanged() public

Returns an array with only the original properties stored in this entity, indexed by property name.
get() public

Returns the value of a property by name
getOriginal() public

Returns the value of an original property by name
has() public

Returns whether this entity contains a property named $property regardless of if it is empty.
hiddenProperties() public

Get/Set the hidden properties on this entity.
isNew() public

Returns whether or not this entity has already been persisted. This method can return null in the case there is no prior information on the status of this entity.
jsonSerialize() public

Returns the properties that will be serialized as JSON
offsetExists() public

Implements isset($entity);
offsetGet() public

Implements $entity[$offset];
offsetSet() public

Implements $entity[$offset] = $value;
offsetUnset() public

Implements unset($result[$offset);
set() public

Sets a single property inside this entity.
source() public

Returns the alias of the repository from which this entity came from.
toArray() public

Returns an array with all the properties that have been set to this entity
unsetProperty() public

Removes a property or list of properties from this entity
virtualProperties() public

Get/Set the virtual properties on this entity.
visibleProperties() public

Get the list of visible properties.

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

__construct(array $properties = [], array $options = [])

Initializes the internal properties of this entity out of the keys in an array. The following list of options can be used:

useSetters: whether use internal setters for properties or not
markClean: whether to mark all properties as clean after setting them
markNew: whether this instance has not yet been persisted
guard: whether to prevent inaccessible properties from being set (default: false)
source: A string representing the alias of the repository this entity came from

Example:

 $entity = new Entity(['id' => 1, 'name' => 'Andrew'])

Parameters

array $properties optional: hash of properties to set in this entity
array $options optional: list of options to use when creating this entity

__debugInfo() ¶ public

__debugInfo(): array

Returns an array that can be used to describe the internal state of this object.

Returns

array

__get() ¶ public

__get(string $property): mixed

Magic getter to access properties that have been set in this entity

Parameters

string $property: Name of the property to access

Returns

mixed

__isset() ¶ public

__isset(string $property): bool

Returns whether this entity contains a property named $property regardless of if it is empty.

Parameters

string $property: The property to check.

Returns

bool

__set() ¶ public

__set(string $property, mixed $value): void

Magic setter to add or edit a property in this entity

Parameters

string $property: The name of the property to set
mixed $value: The value to set to the property

Returns

void

__toString() ¶ public

__toString(): string

Returns a string representation of this object in a human readable format.

Returns

string

__unset() ¶ public

__unset(string $property): void

Removes a property from this entity

Parameters

string $property: The property to unset

Returns

void

_methodExists() ¶ protected

_methodExists(string $method): bool

Determines whether a method exists in this class

Parameters

string $method: the method to check for existence

Returns

bool

_nestedErrors() ¶ protected

_nestedErrors(string $field): array

Auxiliary method for getting errors in nested entities

Parameters

string $field: the field in this entity to check for errors

Returns

array

_readError() ¶ protected

_readError(array|Cake\Datasource\EntityTrait $object, string $path = null): array

Read the error(s) from one or many objects.

Parameters

array|Cake\Datasource\EntityTrait $object: The object to read errors from.
string $path optional: The field name for errors.

Returns

array

accessible() ¶ public

accessible(string|array $property, bool|null $set = null): $this|bool

Stores whether or not a property value can be changed or set in this entity. The special property * can also be marked as accessible or protected, meaning that any other property specified before will take its value. For example $entity->accessible('*', true) means that any property not specified already will be accessible by default.

You can also call this method with an array of properties, in which case they will each take the accessibility value specified in the second argument.

Example:

$entity->accessible('id', true); // Mark id as not protected
$entity->accessible('author_id', false); // Mark author_id as protected
$entity->accessible(['id', 'user_id'], true); // Mark both properties as accessible
$entity->accessible('*', false); // Mark all properties as protected

When called without the second param it will return whether or not the property can be set.

Example:

$entity->accessible('id'); // Returns whether it can be set or not

Parameters

string|array $property: single or list of properties to change its accessibility
bool|null $set optional: true marks the property as accessible, false will mark it as protected.

Returns

$this|bool

clean() ¶ public

clean(): void

Sets the entire entity as clean, which means that it will appear as no properties being modified or added at all. This is an useful call for an initial object hydration

Returns

void

dirty() ¶ public

dirty(string $property = null, null|bool $isDirty = null): bool

Sets the dirty status of a single property. If called with no second argument, it will return whether the property was modified or not after the object creation.

When called with no arguments it will return whether or not there are any dirty property in the entity

Parameters

string $property optional: the field to set or check status for
null|bool $isDirty optional: true means the property was changed, false means it was not changed and null will make the function return current state for that property

Returns

bool

errors() ¶ public

errors(string|array $field = null, string|array|null $errors = null, bool $overwrite = false): array|$this

Sets the error messages for a field or a list of fields. When called without the second argument it returns the validation errors for the specified fields. If called with no arguments it returns all the validation error messages stored in this entity and any other nested entity.

Example

// Sets the error messages for a single field
$entity->errors('salary', ['must be numeric', 'must be a positive number']);

// Returns the error messages for a single field
$entity->errors('salary');

// Returns all error messages indexed by field name
$entity->errors();

// Sets the error messages for multiple fields at once
$entity->errors(['salary' => ['message'], 'name' => ['another message']);

When used as a setter, this method will return this entity instance for method chaining.

Parameters

string|array $field optional: The field to get errors for, or the array of errors to set.
string|array|null $errors optional: The errors to be set for $field
bool $overwrite optional: Whether or not to overwrite pre-existing errors for $field

Returns

array|$this

extract() ¶ public

extract(array $properties, bool $onlyDirty = false): array

Returns an array with the requested properties stored in this entity, indexed by property name

Parameters

array $properties: list of properties to be returned
bool $onlyDirty optional: Return the requested property only if it is dirty

Returns

array

extractOriginal() ¶ public

extractOriginal(array $properties): array

Returns an array with the requested original properties stored in this entity, indexed by property name.

Properties that are unchanged from their original value will be included in the return of this method.

Parameters

array $properties: List of properties to be returned

Returns

array

extractOriginalChanged() ¶ public

extractOriginalChanged(array $properties): array

Returns an array with only the original properties stored in this entity, indexed by property name.

This method will only return properties that have been modified since the entity was built. Unchanged properties will be omitted.

Parameters

array $properties: List of properties to be returned

Returns

array

get() ¶ public

get(string $property): mixed

Returns the value of a property by name

Parameters

string $property: the name of the property to retrieve

Returns

mixed

Throws

InvalidArgumentException
if an empty property name is passed

getOriginal() ¶ public

getOriginal(string $property): mixed

Returns the value of an original property by name

Parameters

string $property: the name of the property for which original value is retrieved.

Returns

mixed

Throws

InvalidArgumentException
if an empty property name is passed.

has() ¶ public

has(string $property): bool

Returns whether this entity contains a property named $property regardless of if it is empty.

Example:

$entity = new Entity(['id' => 1, 'name' => null]);
$entity->has('id'); // true
$entity->has('name'); // false
$entity->has('last_name'); // false

When checking multiple properties. All properties must not be null in order for true to be returned.

Parameters

string $property: The property or properties to check.

Returns

bool

hiddenProperties() ¶ public

hiddenProperties(null|array $properties = null): array|$this

Get/Set the hidden properties on this entity.

If the properties argument is null, the currently hidden properties will be returned. Otherwise the hidden properties will be set.

Parameters

null|array $properties optional: Either an array of properties to hide or null to get properties

Returns

array|$this

isNew() ¶ public

isNew(bool|null $new = null): bool

Returns whether or not this entity has already been persisted. This method can return null in the case there is no prior information on the status of this entity.

If called with a boolean it will set the known status of this instance, true means that the instance is not yet persisted in the database, false that it already is.

Parameters

bool|null $new optional: true if it is known this instance was persisted

Returns

bool

jsonSerialize() ¶ public

jsonSerialize(): array

Returns the properties that will be serialized as JSON

Returns

array

offsetExists() ¶ public

offsetExists(mixed $offset): bool

Implements isset($entity);

Parameters

mixed $offset: The offset to check.

Returns

bool

offsetGet() ¶ public

offsetGet(mixed $offset): mixed

Implements $entity[$offset];

Parameters

mixed $offset: The offset to get.

Returns

mixed

offsetSet() ¶ public

offsetSet(mixed $offset, mixed $value): void

Implements $entity[$offset] = $value;

Parameters

mixed $offset: The offset to set.
mixed $value: The value to set.

Returns

void

offsetUnset() ¶ public

offsetUnset(mixed $offset): void

Implements unset($result[$offset);

Parameters

mixed $offset: The offset to remove.

Returns

void

set() ¶ public

set(string|array $property, mixed $value = null, array $options = []): $this

Sets a single property inside this entity.

Example:

$entity->set('name', 'Andrew');

It is also possible to mass-assign multiple properties to this entity with one call by passing a hashed array as properties in the form of property => value pairs

Example:

$entity->set(['name' => 'andrew', 'id' => 1]);
echo $entity->name // prints andrew
echo $entity->id // prints 1

Some times it is handy to bypass setter functions in this entity when assigning properties. You can achieve this by disabling the setter option using the $options parameter:

$entity->set('name', 'Andrew', ['setter' => false]);
$entity->set(['name' => 'Andrew', 'id' => 1], ['setter' => false]);

Mass assignment should be treated carefully when accepting user input, by default entities will guard all fields when properties are assigned in bulk. You can disable the guarding for a single set call with the guard option:

$entity->set(['name' => 'Andrew', 'id' => 1], ['guard' => true]);

You do not need to use the guard option when assigning properties individually:

// No need to use the guard option.
$entity->set('name', 'Andrew');

Parameters

string|array $property: the name of property to set or a list of properties with their respective values
mixed $value optional: The value to set to the property or an array if the first argument is also an array, in which case will be treated as $options
array $options optional: options to be used for setting the property. Allowed option keys are setter and guard

Returns

$this

Throws

InvalidArgumentException

source() ¶ public

source(string $alias = null): string|$this

Returns the alias of the repository from which this entity came from.

If called with no arguments, it returns the alias of the repository this entity came from if it is known.

Parameters

string $alias optional: the alias of the repository

Returns

string|$this

toArray() ¶ public

toArray(): array

Returns an array with all the properties that have been set to this entity

This method will recursively transform entities assigned to properties into arrays as well.

Returns

array

unsetProperty() ¶ public

unsetProperty(string|array $property): $this

Removes a property or list of properties from this entity

Examples:

$entity->unsetProperty('name');
$entity->unsetProperty(['name', 'last_name']);

Parameters

string|array $property: The property to unset.

Returns

$this

virtualProperties() ¶ public

virtualProperties(null|array $properties = null): array|$this

Get/Set the virtual properties on this entity.

If the properties argument is null, the currently virtual properties will be returned. Otherwise the virtual properties will be set.

Parameters

null|array $properties optional: Either an array of properties to treat as virtual or null to get properties

Returns

array|$this

visibleProperties() ¶ public

visibleProperties(): array

Get the list of visible properties.

The list of visible properties is all standard properties plus virtual properties minus hidden properties.

Returns

array

Property Detail

`$_accessible` ¶ protected

Type

array

Namespaces

Class Entity

Property Summary

Method Summary

__construct() public

__debugInfo() public

__get() public

__isset() public

__set() public

__toString() public

__unset() public

_methodExists() protected

_nestedErrors() protected

_readError() protected

accessible() public

clean() public

dirty() public

errors() public

extract() public

extractOriginal() public

extractOriginalChanged() public

get() public

getOriginal() public

has() public

hiddenProperties() public

isNew() public

jsonSerialize() public

offsetExists() public

offsetGet() public

offsetSet() public

offsetUnset() public

set() public

source() public

toArray() public

unsetProperty() public

virtualProperties() public

visibleProperties() public

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

Example:

Parameters

__debugInfo() ¶ public

Returns

__get() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

__isset() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

See Also

__set() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

__toString() ¶ public

Returns

__unset() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

_methodExists() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_nestedErrors() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_readError() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

accessible() ¶ public

Example:

Example:

Parameters

Returns

clean() ¶ public

Returns

dirty() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

errors() ¶ public

Example

Parameters

`$_accessible` ¶ protected

`$_accessors` ¶ protected static