Class Association

An Association is a relationship established between two tables and is used to configure and customize the way interconnected records are retrieved.

Abstract
Namespace: Cake\ORM

Constants

string

MANY_TO_MANY ¶
```
'manyToMany'
```
Association type for many to many associations.
string

MANY_TO_ONE ¶
```
'manyToOne'
```
Association type for many to one associations.
string

ONE_TO_MANY ¶
```
'oneToMany'
```
Association type for one to many associations.
string

ONE_TO_ONE ¶
```
'oneToOne'
```
Association type for one to one associations.
string

STRATEGY_JOIN ¶
```
'join'
```
Strategy name to use joins for fetching associated records
string

STRATEGY_SELECT ¶
```
'select'
```
Strategy name to use a select for fetching associated records
string

STRATEGY_SUBQUERY ¶
```
'subquery'
```
Strategy name to use a subquery for fetching associated records

Property Summary

$_bindingKey protected

string|array

The field name in the owning side table that is used to match with the foreignKey
$_cascadeCallbacks protected

bool

Whether or not cascaded deletes should also fire callbacks.
$_className protected

string

The class name of the target table object
$_conditions protected

array

A list of conditions to be always included when fetching records from the target association
$_dependent protected

bool

Whether the records on the target table are dependent on the source table, often used to indicate that records should be removed if the owning record in the source table is deleted.
$_finder protected

string

The default finder name to use for fetching rows from the target table
$_foreignKey protected

string|array

The name of the field representing the foreign key to the table to load
$_joinType protected

string

The type of join to be used when adding the association to a query
$_name protected

string

Name given to the association, it usually represents the alias assigned to the target associated table
$_propertyName protected

string

The property name that should be filled with data from the target table in the source table record.
$_sourceTable protected

Cake\ORM\Table

Source table instance
$_strategy protected

string

The strategy name to be used to fetch associated records. Some association types might not implement but one strategy to fetch records.
$_tableLocator protected

Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface

Table locator instance
$_targetTable protected

Cake\ORM\Table

Target table instance
$_validStrategies protected

array

Valid strategies for this association. Subclasses can narrow this down.

Method Summary

__call() public

Proxies method calls to the target table.
__construct() public

Constructor. Subclasses can override _options function to get the original list of passed options if expecting any other special key
__get() public

Proxies property retrieval to the target table. This is handy for getting this association's associations
__isset() public

Proxies the isset call to the target table. This is handy to check if the target table has another association with the passed name
_appendFields() protected

Helper function used to conditionally append fields to the select clause of a query from the fields found in another query object.
_appendNotMatching() protected

Conditionally adds a condition to the passed Query that will make it find records where there is no match with this association.
_bindNewAssociations() protected

Applies all attachable associations to $query out of the containments found in the $surrogate query.
_camelize() protected

Creates a camelized version of $name
_dispatchBeforeFind() protected

Triggers beforeFind on the target table for the query this association is attaching to
_entityName() protected

Creates the proper entity name (singular) for the specified name
_extractFinder() protected

Helper method to infer the requested finder and its options.
_fixtureName() protected

Creates a fixture name
_formatAssociationResults() protected

Adds a formatter function to the passed $query if the $surrogate query declares any other formatter. Since the $surrogate query correspond to the associated target table, the resulting formatter will be the result of applying the surrogate formatters to only the property corresponding to such table.
_joinCondition() protected

Returns a single or multiple conditions to be appended to the generated join clause for getting the results on the target table.
_modelKey() protected

Creates the proper underscored model key for associations
_modelNameFromKey() protected

Creates the proper model name from a foreign key
_options() protected

Override this function to initialize any concrete association class, it will get passed the original list of options used in the constructor
_pluginNamespace() protected

Return plugin's namespace
_pluginPath() protected

Find the correct path for a plugin. Scans $pluginPaths for the plugin you want.
_pluralHumanName() protected

Creates the plural human name used in views
_propertyName() protected

Returns default property name based on association name.
_singularHumanName() protected

Creates the singular human name used in views
_singularName() protected

Creates the singular name for use in views.
_variableName() protected

Creates the plural variable name for views
attachTo() public

Alters a Query object to include the associated target table data in the final result
bindingKey() public

Sets the name of the field representing the binding field with the target table. When not manually specified the primary key of the owning side table is used.
canBeJoined() public

Whether this association can be expressed directly in a query join
cascadeCallbacks() public

Sets whether or not cascaded deletes should also fire callbacks. If no arguments are passed, the current configured value is returned
cascadeDelete() abstract public

Handles cascading a delete from an associated model.
className() public

The class name of the target table object
conditions() public

Sets a list of conditions to be always included when fetching records from the target association. If no parameters are passed the current list is returned
defaultRowValue() public

Returns a modified row after appending a property for this association with the default empty value according to whether the association was joined or fetched externally.
deleteAll() public

Proxies the delete operation to the target table's deleteAll method
dependent() public

Sets whether the records on the target table are dependent on the source table.
eagerLoader() abstract public

Eager loads a list of records in the target table that are related to another set of records in the source table. Source records can specified in two ways: first one is by passing a Query object setup to find on the source table and the other way is by explicitly passing an array of primary key values from the source table.
find() public

Proxies the finding operation to the target table's find method and modifies the query accordingly based of this association configuration
finder() public

Sets the default finder to use for fetching rows from the target table. If no parameters are passed, it will return the currently configured finder name.
foreignKey() public

Sets the name of the field representing the foreign key to the target table. If no parameters are passed the current field is returned
isOwningSide() abstract public

Returns whether or not the passed table is the owning side for this association. This means that rows in the 'target' table would miss important or required information if the row in 'source' did not exist.
joinType() public

Sets the type of join to be used when adding the association to a query. If no arguments are passed, the currently configured type is returned.
name() public

Sets the name for this association. If no argument is passed then the current configured name will be returned
property() public

Sets the property name that should be filled with data from the target table in the source table record. If no arguments are passed, the currently configured type is returned.
saveAssociated() abstract public

Extract the target's association data our from the passed entity and proxies the saving operation to the target table.
source() public

Sets the table instance for the source side of the association. If no arguments are passed, the current configured table instance is returned
strategy() public

Sets the strategy name to be used to fetch associated records. Keep in mind that some association types might not implement but a default strategy, rendering any changes to this setting void. If no arguments are passed, the currently configured strategy is returned.
tableLocator() public

Sets the table locator. If no parameters are passed, it will return the currently used locator.
target() public

Sets the table instance for the target side of the association. If no arguments are passed, the current configured table instance is returned
transformRow() public

Correctly nests a result row associated values into the correct array keys inside the source results.
type() abstract public

Get the relationship type.
updateAll() public

Proxies the update operation to the target table's updateAll method

Method Detail

__call() ¶ public

__call(string $method, array $argument): mixed

Proxies method calls to the target table.

Parameters

string $method: name of the method to be invoked
array $argument: List of arguments passed to the function

Returns

mixed

Throws

BadMethodCallException

__construct() ¶ public

__construct(string $alias, array $options = [])

Constructor. Subclasses can override _options function to get the original list of passed options if expecting any other special key

Parameters

string $alias: The name given to the association
array $options optional: A list of properties to be set on this object

__get() ¶ public

__get(string $property): Cake\ORM\Association

Proxies property retrieval to the target table. This is handy for getting this association's associations

Parameters

string $property: the property name

Returns

Cake\ORM\Association

Throws

RuntimeException
if no association with such name exists

__isset() ¶ public

__isset(string $property): bool

Proxies the isset call to the target table. This is handy to check if the target table has another association with the passed name

Parameters

string $property: the property name

Returns

bool

_appendFields() ¶ protected

_appendFields(Cake\ORM\Query $query, Cake\ORM\Query $surrogate, array $options): void

Helper function used to conditionally append fields to the select clause of a query from the fields found in another query object.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Query $query: the query that will get the fields appended to
Cake\ORM\Query $surrogate: the query having the fields to be copied from
array $options: options passed to the method attachTo

Returns

void

_appendNotMatching() ¶ protected

_appendNotMatching(Cake\Database\Query $query, array $options): void

Conditionally adds a condition to the passed Query that will make it find records where there is no match with this association.

Parameters

Cake\Database\Query $query: The query to modify
array $options: Options array containing the negateMatch key.

Returns

void

_bindNewAssociations() ¶ protected

_bindNewAssociations(Cake\ORM\Query $query, Cake\ORM\Query $surrogate, array $options): void

Applies all attachable associations to $query out of the containments found in the $surrogate query.

Copies all contained associations from the $surrogate query into the passed $query. Containments are altered so that they respect the associations chain from which they originated.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Query $query: the query that will get the associations attached to
Cake\ORM\Query $surrogate: the query having the containments to be attached
array $options: options passed to the method attachTo

Returns

void

_camelize() ¶ protected

_camelize(string $name): string

Creates a camelized version of $name

Parameters

string $name: name

Returns

string

_dispatchBeforeFind() ¶ protected

_dispatchBeforeFind(Cake\ORM\Query $query): void

Triggers beforeFind on the target table for the query this association is attaching to

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Query $query: the query this association is attaching itself to

Returns

void

_entityName() ¶ protected

_entityName(string $name): string

Creates the proper entity name (singular) for the specified name

Parameters

string $name: Name

Returns

string

_extractFinder() ¶ protected

_extractFinder(string|array $finderData): array

Helper method to infer the requested finder and its options.

Returns the inferred options from the finder $type.

Examples:

The following will call the finder 'translations' with the value of the finder as its options: $query->contain(['Comments' => ['finder' => ['translations']]]); $query->contain(['Comments' => ['finder' => ['translations' => []]]]); $query->contain(['Comments' => ['finder' => ['translations' => ['locales' => ['en_US']]]]]);

Parameters

string|array $finderData: The finder name or an array having the name as key and options as value.

Returns

array

_fixtureName() ¶ protected

_fixtureName(string $name): string

Creates a fixture name

Parameters

string $name: Model class name

Returns

string

_formatAssociationResults() ¶ protected

_formatAssociationResults(Cake\ORM\Query $query, Cake\ORM\Query $surrogate, array $options): void

Adds a formatter function to the passed $query if the $surrogate query declares any other formatter. Since the $surrogate query correspond to the associated target table, the resulting formatter will be the result of applying the surrogate formatters to only the property corresponding to such table.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Query $query: the query that will get the formatter applied to
Cake\ORM\Query $surrogate: the query having formatters for the associated target table.
array $options: options passed to the method attachTo

Returns

void

_joinCondition() ¶ protected

_joinCondition(array $options): array

Returns a single or multiple conditions to be appended to the generated join clause for getting the results on the target table.

Parameters

array $options: list of options passed to attachTo method

Returns

array

Throws

RuntimeException
if the number of columns in the foreignKey do not match the number of columns in the source table primaryKey

_modelKey() ¶ protected

_modelKey(string $name): string

Creates the proper underscored model key for associations

If the input contains a dot, assume that the right side is the real table name.

Parameters

string $name: Model class name

Returns

string

_modelNameFromKey() ¶ protected

_modelNameFromKey(string $key): string

Creates the proper model name from a foreign key

Parameters

string $key: Foreign key

Returns

string

_options() ¶ protected

_options(array $options): void

Override this function to initialize any concrete association class, it will get passed the original list of options used in the constructor

Parameters

array $options: List of options used for initialization

Returns

void

_pluginNamespace() ¶ protected

_pluginNamespace(string $pluginName): string

Return plugin's namespace

Parameters

string $pluginName: Plugin name

Returns

string

_pluginPath() ¶ protected

_pluginPath(string $pluginName): string

Find the correct path for a plugin. Scans $pluginPaths for the plugin you want.

Parameters

string $pluginName: Name of the plugin you want ie. DebugKit

Returns

string

_pluralHumanName() ¶ protected

_pluralHumanName(string $name): string

Creates the plural human name used in views

Parameters

string $name: Controller name

Returns

string

_propertyName() ¶ protected

_propertyName(): string

Returns default property name based on association name.

Returns

string

_singularHumanName() ¶ protected

_singularHumanName(string $name): string

Creates the singular human name used in views

Parameters

string $name: Controller name

Returns

string

_singularName() ¶ protected

_singularName(string $name): string

Creates the singular name for use in views.

Parameters

string $name: Name to use

Returns

string

_variableName() ¶ protected

_variableName(string $name): string

Creates the plural variable name for views

Parameters

string $name: Name to use

Returns

string

attachTo() ¶ public

attachTo(Cake\ORM\Query $query, array $options = []): void

Alters a Query object to include the associated target table data in the final result

The options array accept the following keys:

includeFields: Whether to include target model fields in the result or not
foreignKey: The name of the field to use as foreign key, if false none will be used
conditions: array with a list of conditions to filter the join with, this will be merged with any conditions originally configured for this association
fields: a list of fields in the target table to include in the result
type: The type of join to be used (e.g. INNER) the records found on this association
aliasPath: A dot separated string representing the path of association names followed from the passed query main table to this association.
propertyPath: A dot separated string representing the path of association properties to be followed from the passed query main entity to this association
joinType: The SQL join type to use in the query.
negateMatch: Will append a condition to the passed query for excluding matches. with this association.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Query $query: the query to be altered to include the target table data
array $options optional: Any extra options or overrides to be taken in account

Returns

void

Throws

RuntimeException
if the query builder passed does not return a query object

bindingKey() ¶ public

bindingKey(string|null $key = null): string|array

Sets the name of the field representing the binding field with the target table. When not manually specified the primary key of the owning side table is used.

If no parameters are passed the current field is returned

Parameters

string|null $key optional: the table field to be used to link both tables together

Returns

string|array

canBeJoined() ¶ public

canBeJoined(array $options = []): bool

Whether this association can be expressed directly in a query join

Parameters

array $options optional: custom options key that could alter the return value

Returns

bool

cascadeCallbacks() ¶ public

cascadeCallbacks(bool|null $cascadeCallbacks = null): bool

Sets whether or not cascaded deletes should also fire callbacks. If no arguments are passed, the current configured value is returned

Parameters

bool|null $cascadeCallbacks optional: cascade callbacks switch value

Returns

bool

cascadeDelete() ¶ abstract public

cascadeDelete(Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface $entity, array $options = []): bool

Handles cascading a delete from an associated model.

Each implementing class should handle the cascaded delete as required.

Parameters

Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface $entity: The entity that started the cascaded delete.
array $options optional: The options for the original delete.

Returns

bool

className() ¶ public

className(): string

The class name of the target table object

Returns

string

conditions() ¶ public

conditions(array|null $conditions = null): array

Sets a list of conditions to be always included when fetching records from the target association. If no parameters are passed the current list is returned

Parameters

array|null $conditions optional: list of conditions to be used

Returns

array

defaultRowValue() ¶ public

defaultRowValue(array $row, bool $joined): array

Returns a modified row after appending a property for this association with the default empty value according to whether the association was joined or fetched externally.

Parameters

array $row: The row to set a default on.
bool $joined: Whether or not the row is a result of a direct join with this association

Returns

array

deleteAll() ¶ public

deleteAll(mixed $conditions): bool

Proxies the delete operation to the target table's deleteAll method

Parameters

mixed $conditions: Conditions to be used, accepts anything Query::where() can take.

Returns

bool

dependent() ¶ public

dependent(bool|null $dependent = null): bool

Sets whether the records on the target table are dependent on the source table.

This is primarily used to indicate that records should be removed if the owning record in the source table is deleted.

If no parameters are passed the current setting is returned.

Parameters

bool|null $dependent optional: Set the dependent mode. Use null to read the current state.

Returns

bool

eagerLoader() ¶ abstract public

eagerLoader(array $options): Closure

Eager loads a list of records in the target table that are related to another set of records in the source table. Source records can specified in two ways: first one is by passing a Query object setup to find on the source table and the other way is by explicitly passing an array of primary key values from the source table.

The required way of passing related source records is controlled by "strategy" When the subquery strategy is used it will require a query on the source table. When using the select strategy, the list of primary keys will be used.

Returns a closure that should be run for each record returned in a specific Query. This callable will be responsible for injecting the fields that are related to each specific passed row.

Options array accepts the following keys:

query: Query object setup to find the source table records
keys: List of primary key values from the source table
foreignKey: The name of the field used to relate both tables
conditions: List of conditions to be passed to the query where() method
sort: The direction in which the records should be returned
fields: List of fields to select from the target table
contain: List of related tables to eager load associated to the target table
strategy: The name of strategy to use for finding target table records
nestKey: The array key under which results will be found when transforming the row

Parameters

array $options: The options for eager loading.

Returns

Closure

find() ¶ public

find(string|array|null $type = null, array $options = []): Cake\ORM\Query

Proxies the finding operation to the target table's find method and modifies the query accordingly based of this association configuration

Parameters

string|array|null $type optional: the type of query to perform, if an array is passed, it will be interpreted as the $options parameter
array $options optional: The options to for the find

Returns

Cake\ORM\Query

finder() ¶ public

finder(string|null $finder = null): string

Sets the default finder to use for fetching rows from the target table. If no parameters are passed, it will return the currently configured finder name.

Parameters

string|null $finder optional: the finder name to use

Returns

string

foreignKey() ¶ public

foreignKey(string|null $key = null): string|array

Sets the name of the field representing the foreign key to the target table. If no parameters are passed the current field is returned

Parameters

string|null $key optional: the key to be used to link both tables together

Returns

string|array

isOwningSide() ¶ abstract public

isOwningSide(Cake\ORM\Table $side): bool

Returns whether or not the passed table is the owning side for this association. This means that rows in the 'target' table would miss important or required information if the row in 'source' did not exist.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Table $side: The potential Table with ownership

Returns

bool

joinType() ¶ public

joinType(string|null $type = null): string

Sets the type of join to be used when adding the association to a query. If no arguments are passed, the currently configured type is returned.

Parameters

string|null $type optional: the join type to be used (e.g. INNER)

Returns

string

name() ¶ public

name(string|null $name = null): string

Sets the name for this association. If no argument is passed then the current configured name will be returned

Parameters

string|null $name optional: Name to be assigned

Returns

string

property() ¶ public

property(string|null $name = null): string

Sets the property name that should be filled with data from the target table in the source table record. If no arguments are passed, the currently configured type is returned.

Parameters

string|null $name optional: The name of the association property. Use null to read the current value.

Returns

string

saveAssociated() ¶ abstract public

saveAssociated(Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface $entity, arrayArrayObject $options = []): boolCake\Datasource\EntityInterface

Extract the target's association data our from the passed entity and proxies the saving operation to the target table.

Parameters

Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface $entity: the data to be saved
arrayArrayObject $options optional: The options for saving associated data.

Returns

boolCake\Datasource\EntityInterface

source() ¶ public

source(Cake\ORM\Table|null $table = null): Cake\ORM\Table

Sets the table instance for the source side of the association. If no arguments are passed, the current configured table instance is returned

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Table|null $table optional: the instance to be assigned as source side

Returns

Cake\ORM\Table

strategy() ¶ public

strategy(string|null $name = null): string

Sets the strategy name to be used to fetch associated records. Keep in mind that some association types might not implement but a default strategy, rendering any changes to this setting void. If no arguments are passed, the currently configured strategy is returned.

Parameters

string|null $name optional: The strategy type. Use null to read the current value.

Returns

string

Throws

InvalidArgumentException
When an invalid strategy is provided.

tableLocator() ¶ public

tableLocator(Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface|null $tableLocator = null): Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface

Sets the table locator. If no parameters are passed, it will return the currently used locator.

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface|null $tableLocator optional: LocatorInterface instance.

Returns

Cake\ORM\Locator\LocatorInterface

target() ¶ public

target(Cake\ORM\Table|null $table = null): Cake\ORM\Table

Sets the table instance for the target side of the association. If no arguments are passed, the current configured table instance is returned

Parameters

Cake\ORM\Table|null $table optional: the instance to be assigned as target side

Returns

Cake\ORM\Table

transformRow() ¶ public

transformRow(array $row, string $nestKey, bool $joined): array

Correctly nests a result row associated values into the correct array keys inside the source results.

Parameters

array $row: The row to transform
string $nestKey: The array key under which the results for this association should be found
bool $joined: Whether or not the row is a result of a direct join with this association

Returns

array

type() ¶ abstract public

type(): string

Get the relationship type.

Returns

string

updateAll() ¶ public

updateAll(array $fields, mixed $conditions): bool

Proxies the update operation to the target table's updateAll method

Parameters

array $fields: A hash of field => new value.
mixed $conditions: Conditions to be used, accepts anything Query::where() can take.

Returns

bool

array

Namespaces

Class Association

Constants

Property Summary

Method Summary

__call() public

__construct() public

__get() public

__isset() public

_appendFields() protected

_appendNotMatching() protected

_bindNewAssociations() protected

_camelize() protected

_dispatchBeforeFind() protected

_entityName() protected

_extractFinder() protected

_fixtureName() protected

_formatAssociationResults() protected

_joinCondition() protected

_modelKey() protected

_modelNameFromKey() protected

_options() protected

_pluginNamespace() protected

_pluginPath() protected

_pluralHumanName() protected

_propertyName() protected

_singularHumanName() protected

_singularName() protected

_variableName() protected

attachTo() public

bindingKey() public

canBeJoined() public

cascadeCallbacks() public

cascadeDelete() abstract public

className() public

conditions() public

defaultRowValue() public

deleteAll() public

dependent() public

eagerLoader() abstract public

find() public

finder() public

foreignKey() public

isOwningSide() abstract public

joinType() public

name() public

property() public

saveAssociated() abstract public

source() public

strategy() public

tableLocator() public

target() public

transformRow() public

type() abstract public

updateAll() public

Method Detail

__call() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

Throws

__construct() ¶ public

Parameters

__get() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

Throws

__isset() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

_appendFields() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_appendNotMatching() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_bindNewAssociations() ¶ protected

Parameters

Returns

_camelize() ¶ protected

Parameters