[FIXED] How to implement a self referencing (parent_id) model in cakephp

Issue

I have a table called categories. The table holds categories and their sub(subsub)categories...

Its an easy table:

• id
• parent_id
• title

This way I can make categories with endless depth... I kinda hoped that cakephp would understand parent_id (I also tried category_id, but that makes cakePHP join on itself :D )

What is the right way to tackle this?

NOTE: There is also a 'many to many' table called places. Those places can belong to one or more categories.

Solution

Tree behaviour is overkill for this situation. You just need to set your model up like this:

class Category extends AppModel {

  public $hasMany = array(
    'Children'=>array(
       'className'=>'Category',
       'foreignKey'=>'parent_id'
    )
  );

  public $belongsTo = array(
    'Parent'=>array(
       'className'=>'Category',
       'foreignKey'=>'parent_id'
    )
  );

}

Now, when you do a find() on Category, you'll get two additional Models called Parent (which points to the parent id) and Children (which lists it's children).

Answered By - RichardAtHome