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<string, bool>

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

array<string, array<string, array<string, string>>>

Holds a cached list of getters/setters per class
$_dirty protected

array<string, bool>

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

array<string, mixed>

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

array<string, mixed>

Holds all fields and their values for this entity.
$_hasBeenVisited protected

bool

Storing the current visitation status while recursing through entities getting errors.
$_hidden protected

list<string>

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

array<string, mixed>

List of invalid fields and their data for errors upon validation/patching.
$_new protected

bool

Indicates whether 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<string, mixed>

Holds all fields that have been changed and their original values for this entity.
$_originalFields protected

list<string>

Holds all fields that have been initially set on instantiation, or after marking as clean
$_registryAlias protected

string

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

list<string>

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.
$id public @property

mixed

Alias for commonly used primary key.
$requireFieldPresence protected

bool

Whether the presence of a field is checked when accessing a property.

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 fields that have been set in this entity
__isset() public

Returns whether this entity contains a field named $field and is not set to null.
__set() public

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

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

Removes a field from this entity
_accessor() protected static

Fetch accessor method name Accessor methods (available or not) are cached in $_accessors
_nestedErrors() protected

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

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

Reads if there are errors for one or many objects.
clean() public

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

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

Returns an array with the requested original fields stored in this entity, indexed by field name, if they exist.
extractOriginalChanged() public

Returns an array with only the original fields stored in this entity, indexed by field name, if they exist.
get() public

Returns the value of a field by name
getAccessible() public

Returns the raw accessible configuration for this entity. The * wildcard refers to all fields.
getDirty() public

Gets the dirty fields.
getError() public

Returns validation errors of a field
getErrors() public

Returns all validation errors.
getHidden() public

Gets the hidden fields.
getInvalid() public

Get a list of invalid fields and their data for errors upon validation/patching
getInvalidField() public

Get a single value of an invalid field. Returns null if not set.
getOriginal() public

Returns the value of an original field by name
getOriginalFields() public

Returns an array of original fields. Original fields are those that the entity was initialized with.
getOriginalValues() public

Gets all original values of the entity.
getSource() public

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

Gets the virtual fields on this entity.
getVisible() public

Gets the list of visible fields.
has() public

Returns whether this entity contains a field named $field.
hasErrors() public

Returns whether this entity has errors.
hasOriginal() public

Returns whether a field has an original value
hasValue() public

Checks that a field has a value.
isAccessible() public

Checks if a field is accessible
isDirty() public

Checks if the entity is dirty or if a single field of it is dirty.
isEmpty() public

Checks that a field is empty
isNew() public

Returns whether this entity has already been persisted.
isOriginalField() public

Returns whether a field is an original one
jsonSerialize() public

Returns the fields 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]);
requireFieldPresence() public

Enable/disable field presence check when accessing a property.
set() public

Sets a single field inside this entity.
setAccess() public

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

Sets the dirty status of a single field.
setError() public

Sets errors for a single field
setErrors() public

Sets error messages to the entity
setHidden() public

Sets hidden fields.
setInvalid() public

Set fields as invalid and not patchable into the entity.
setInvalidField() public

Sets a field as invalid and not patchable into the entity.
setNew() public

Set the status of this entity.
setOriginalField() protected

Sets the given field or a list of fields to as original. Normally there is no need to call this method manually.
setSource() public

Sets the source alias
setVirtual() public

Sets the virtual fields on this entity.
toArray() public

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

Removes a field or list of fields from this entity

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

__construct(array<string, mixed> $properties = [], array<string, mixed> $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<string, mixed> $properties optional: hash of properties to set in this entity
array<string, mixed> $options optional: list of options to use when creating this entity

__debugInfo() ¶ public

__debugInfo(): array<string, mixed>

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

Returns

array<string, mixed>

__get() ¶ public

__get(string $field): mixed

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

Parameters

string $field: Name of the field to access

Returns

mixed

__isset() ¶ public

__isset(string $field): bool

Returns whether this entity contains a field named $field and is not set to null.

Parameters

string $field: The field to check.

Returns

bool

__set() ¶ public

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

Magic setter to add or edit a field in this entity

Parameters

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

Returns

void

__toString() ¶ public

__toString(): string

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

Returns

string

__unset() ¶ public

__unset(string $field): void

Removes a field from this entity

Parameters

string $field: The field to unset

Returns

void

_accessor() ¶ protected static

_accessor(string $property, string $type): string

Fetch accessor method name Accessor methods (available or not) are cached in $_accessors

Parameters

string $property: the field name to derive getter name from
string $type: the accessor type ('get' or 'set')

Returns

string

_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(Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface|iterable $object, string|null $path = null): array

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

Parameters

Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface|iterable $object: The object to read errors from.
string|null $path optional: The field name for errors.

Returns

array

_readHasErrors() ¶ protected

_readHasErrors(Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface|array $object): bool

Reads if there are errors for one or many objects.

Parameters

Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface|array $object: The object to read errors from.

Returns

bool

clean() ¶ public

clean(): void

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

Returns

void

extract() ¶ public

extract(list<string> $fields, bool $onlyDirty = false): array<string, mixed>

Returns an array with the requested fields stored in this entity, indexed by field name

Parameters

list<string> $fields: list of fields to be returned
bool $onlyDirty optional: Return the requested field only if it is dirty

Returns

array<string, mixed>

extractOriginal() ¶ public

extractOriginal(list<string> $fields): array<string, mixed>

Returns an array with the requested original fields stored in this entity, indexed by field name, if they exist.

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

Parameters

list<string> $fields: List of fields to be returned

Returns

array<string, mixed>

extractOriginalChanged() ¶ public

extractOriginalChanged(list<string> $fields): array<string, mixed>

Returns an array with only the original fields stored in this entity, indexed by field name, if they exist.

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

Parameters

list<string> $fields: List of fields to be returned

Returns

array<string, mixed>

get() ¶ public

get(string $field): mixed

Returns the value of a field by name

Parameters

string $field: the name of the field to retrieve

Returns

mixed

Throws

InvalidArgumentException
if an empty field name is passed

getAccessible() ¶ public

getAccessible(): array<bool>

Returns the raw accessible configuration for this entity. The * wildcard refers to all fields.

Returns

array<bool>

getDirty() ¶ public

getDirty(): list<string>

Gets the dirty fields.

Returns

list<string>

getError() ¶ public

getError(string $field): array

Returns validation errors of a field

Parameters

string $field: Field name to get the errors from

Returns

array

getErrors() ¶ public

getErrors(): array

Returns all validation errors.

Returns

array

getHidden() ¶ public

getHidden(): list<string>

Gets the hidden fields.

Returns

list<string>

getInvalid() ¶ public

getInvalid(): array<string, mixed>

Get a list of invalid fields and their data for errors upon validation/patching

Returns

array<string, mixed>

getInvalidField() ¶ public

getInvalidField(string $field): mixed|null

Get a single value of an invalid field. Returns null if not set.

Parameters

string $field: The name of the field.

Returns

mixed|null

getOriginal() ¶ public

getOriginal(string $field, bool $allowFallback = true): mixed

Returns the value of an original field by name

Parameters

string $field: the name of the field for which original value is retrieved.
bool $allowFallback optional: whether to allow falling back to the current field value if no original exists

Returns

mixed

Throws

InvalidArgumentException
if an empty field name is passed.

getOriginalFields() ¶ public

getOriginalFields(): list<string>

Returns an array of original fields. Original fields are those that the entity was initialized with.

Returns

list<string>

getOriginalValues() ¶ public

getOriginalValues(): array

Gets all original values of the entity.

Returns

array

getSource() ¶ public

getSource(): string

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

Returns

string

getVirtual() ¶ public

getVirtual(): list<string>

Gets the virtual fields on this entity.

Returns

list<string>

getVisible() ¶ public

getVisible(): list<string>

Gets the list of visible fields.

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

Returns

list<string>

has() ¶ public

has(list<string>|string $field): bool

Returns whether this entity contains a field named $field.

It will return true even for fields set to null.

Example:

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

You can check multiple fields by passing an array:

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

When checking multiple fields all fields must have a value (even null) present for the method to return true.

Parameters

list<string>|string $field: The field or fields to check.

Returns

bool

hasErrors() ¶ public

hasErrors(bool $includeNested = true): bool

Returns whether this entity has errors.

Parameters

bool $includeNested optional: true will check nested entities for hasErrors()

Returns

bool

hasOriginal() ¶ public

hasOriginal(string $field): bool

Returns whether a field has an original value

Parameters

string $field

Returns

bool

hasValue() ¶ public

hasValue(string $field): bool

Checks that a field has a value.

This method will return true for

Non-empty strings
Non-empty arrays
Any object
Integer, even 0
Float, even 0.0

and false in all other cases.

Parameters

string $field: The field to check.

Returns

bool

isAccessible() ¶ public

isAccessible(string $field): bool

Checks if a field is accessible

Example:

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

Parameters

string $field: Field name to check

Returns

bool

isDirty() ¶ public

isDirty(string|null $field = null): bool

Checks if the entity is dirty or if a single field of it is dirty.

Parameters

string|null $field optional: The field to check the status for. Null for the whole entity.

Returns

bool

isEmpty() ¶ public

isEmpty(string $field): bool

Checks that a field is empty

This is not working like the PHP empty() function. The method will return true for:

'' (empty string)
null
[]

and false in all other cases.

Parameters

string $field: The field to check.

Returns

bool

isNew() ¶ public

isNew(): bool

Returns whether this entity has already been persisted.

Returns

bool

isOriginalField() ¶ public

isOriginalField(string $name): bool

Returns whether a field is an original one

Parameters

string $name

Returns

bool

jsonSerialize() ¶ public

jsonSerialize(): array<string, mixed>

Returns the fields that will be serialized as JSON

Returns

array<string, mixed>

offsetExists() ¶ public

offsetExists(string $offset): bool

Implements isset($entity);

Parameters

string $offset: The offset to check.

Returns

bool

offsetGet() ¶ public

offsetGet(string $offset): mixed

Implements $entity[$offset];

Parameters

string $offset: The offset to get.

Returns

mixed

offsetSet() ¶ public

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

Implements $entity[$offset] = $value;

Parameters

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

Returns

void

offsetUnset() ¶ public

offsetUnset(string $offset): void

Implements unset($result[$offset]);

Parameters

string $offset: The offset to remove.

Returns

void

requireFieldPresence() ¶ public

requireFieldPresence(bool $value = true): void

Enable/disable field presence check when accessing a property.

If enabled an exception will be thrown when trying to access a non-existent property.

Parameters

bool $value optional: true to enable, false to disable.

Returns

void

set() ¶ public

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

Sets a single field inside this entity.

Example:

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

It is also possible to mass-assign multiple fields to this entity with one call by passing a hashed array as fields in the form of field => 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 fields. 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 fields 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' => false]);

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

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

You can use the asOriginal option to set the given field as original, if it wasn't present when the entity was instantiated.

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

$entity->set('phone_number', '555-0134');
print_r($entity->getOriginalFields()) // prints ['name', 'id']

$entity->set('phone_number', '555-0134', ['asOriginal' => true]);
print_r($entity->getOriginalFields()) // prints ['name', 'id', 'phone_number']

Parameters

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

Returns

$this

Throws

InvalidArgumentException

setAccess() ¶ public

setAccess(list<string>|string $field, bool $set): $this

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

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

Example:

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

Parameters

list<string>|string $field: Single or list of fields to change its accessibility
bool $set: True marks the field as accessible, false will mark it as protected.

Returns

$this

setDirty() ¶ public

setDirty(string $field, bool $isDirty = true): $this

Sets the dirty status of a single field.

Parameters

string $field: the field to set or check status for
bool $isDirty optional: true means the field was changed, false means it was not changed. Defaults to true.

Returns

$this

setError() ¶ public

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

Sets errors for a single field

Example

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

Parameters

string $field: The field to get errors for, or the array of errors to set.
array|string $errors: The errors to be set for $field
bool $overwrite optional: Whether to overwrite pre-existing errors for $field

Returns

$this

setErrors() ¶ public

setErrors(array $errors, bool $overwrite = false): $this

Sets error messages to the entity

Example

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

Parameters

array $errors: The array of errors to set.
bool $overwrite optional: Whether to overwrite pre-existing errors for $fields

Returns

$this

setHidden() ¶ public

setHidden(list<string> $fields, bool $merge = false): $this

Sets hidden fields.

Parameters

list<string> $fields: An array of fields to hide from array exports.
bool $merge optional: Merge the new fields with the existing. By default false.

Returns

$this

setInvalid() ¶ public

setInvalid(array<string, mixed> $fields, bool $overwrite = false): $this

Set fields as invalid and not patchable into the entity.

This is useful for batch operations when one needs to get the original value for an error message after patching. This value could not be patched into the entity and is simply copied into the _invalid property for debugging purposes or to be able to log it away.

Parameters

array<string, mixed> $fields: The values to set.
bool $overwrite optional: Whether to overwrite pre-existing values for $field.

Returns

$this

setInvalidField() ¶ public

setInvalidField(string $field, mixed $value): $this

Sets a field as invalid and not patchable into the entity.

Parameters

string $field: The value to set.
mixed $value: The invalid value to be set for $field.

Returns

$this

setNew() ¶ public

setNew(bool $new): $this

Set the status of this entity.

Using true means that the entity has not been persisted in the database, false that it already is.

Parameters

bool $new: Indicate whether this entity has been persisted.

Returns

$this

setOriginalField() ¶ protected

setOriginalField(list<string>|string $field, bool $merge = true): $this

Sets the given field or a list of fields to as original. Normally there is no need to call this method manually.

Parameters

list<string>|string $field: the name of a field or a list of fields to set as original
bool $merge optional

Returns

$this

setSource() ¶ public

setSource(string $alias): $this

Sets the source alias

Parameters

string $alias: the alias of the repository

Returns

$this

setVirtual() ¶ public

setVirtual(list<string> $fields, bool $merge = false): $this

Sets the virtual fields on this entity.

Parameters

list<string> $fields: An array of fields to treat as virtual.
bool $merge optional: Merge the new fields with the existing. By default false.

Returns

$this

toArray() ¶ public

toArray(): array<string, mixed>

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

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

Returns

array<string, mixed>

unset() ¶ public

unset(list<string>|string $field): $this

Removes a field or list of fields from this entity

Examples:

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

Parameters

list<string>|string $field: The field to unset.

Returns

$this

Property Detail

`$_accessible` ¶ protected

Map of fields in this entity that can be safely mass assigned, each field name points to a boolean indicating its status. An empty array means no fields are accessible for mass assigment.

The special field '*' can also be mapped, meaning that any other field not defined in the map will take its value. For example, '*' => true means that any field not defined in the map will be accessible for mass assignment by default.

Type

array<string, bool>

`$_accessors` ¶ protected static

Holds a cached list of getters/setters per class

Type

array<string, array<string, array<string, string>>>

`$_dirty` ¶ protected

Holds a list of the fields that were modified or added after this object was originally created.

Type

array<string, bool>

`$_errors` ¶ protected

List of errors per field as stored in this object.

Type

array<string, mixed>

`$_fields` ¶ protected

Holds all fields and their values for this entity.

Type

array<string, mixed>

`$_hasBeenVisited` ¶ protected

Storing the current visitation status while recursing through entities getting errors.

Type

bool

`$_hidden` ¶ protected

List of field names that should not be included in JSON or Array representations of this Entity.

Type

list<string>

`$_invalid` ¶ protected

List of invalid fields and their data for errors upon validation/patching.

Type

array<string, mixed>

`$_new` ¶ protected

Indicates whether 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.

Type

bool

`$_original` ¶ protected

Holds all fields that have been changed and their original values for this entity.

Type

array<string, mixed>

`$_originalFields` ¶ protected

Holds all fields that have been initially set on instantiation, or after marking as clean

Type

list<string>

`$_registryAlias` ¶ protected

The alias of the repository this entity came from

Type

string

`$_virtual` ¶ protected

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.

Type

list<string>

`$id` ¶ public @property

Alias for commonly used primary key.

Type

mixed

`$requireFieldPresence` ¶ protected

Whether the presence of a field is checked when accessing a property.

If enabled an exception will be thrown when trying to access a non-existent property.

Type

bool

Namespaces

Class Entity

Property Summary

Method Summary

__construct() public

__debugInfo() public

__get() public

__isset() public

__set() public

__toString() public

__unset() public

_accessor() protected static

_nestedErrors() protected

_readError() protected

_readHasErrors() protected

clean() public

extract() public

extractOriginal() public

extractOriginalChanged() public

get() public

getAccessible() public

getDirty() public

getError() public

getErrors() public

getHidden() public

getInvalid() public

getInvalidField() public

getOriginal() public

getOriginalFields() public

getOriginalValues() public

getSource() public

getVirtual() public

getVisible() public

has() public

hasErrors() public

hasOriginal() public

hasValue() public

isAccessible() public

isDirty() public

isEmpty() public

isNew() public

isOriginalField() public

jsonSerialize() public

offsetExists() public

offsetGet() public

offsetSet() public

offsetUnset() public

requireFieldPresence() public

set() public

setAccess() public

setDirty() public

setError() public

setErrors() public

setHidden() public

setInvalid() public

setInvalidField() public

setNew() public

setOriginalField() protected

setSource() public

setVirtual() public

toArray() public

unset() public

Method Detail

__construct() ¶ public

Example:

Parameters

__debugInfo() ¶ public

Returns

__get() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

__isset() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

__set() ¶ public

Parameters

Returns

__toString() ¶ public

Returns

__unset() ¶ public