[FIXED] Saving multiple Entities for one Customer

Issue

I created a form which saves the Date and the Menu a Customer ordered. Thanks to this question: cakephp 3.x saving multiple entities - newEntities I made my own form work.

The Problem that I have now is that i need to pick for every Date and Menu a Customer. Is there way to choose the Customer only one time for all new Dates and Menus?

First my Code which is very similar to the answer i linked:

OrdersController.php

{   
        $order = $this->Orders->newEntity();
        if ($this->request->is('post')) {
            $orders = $this->Orders->newEntities($this->request->getData());

            debug($order);
            foreach ($orders as $order)
            {
                $this->Orders->save($order);
            }
                $this->Flash->success(__('The order has been saved.'));

                return $this->redirect(['action' => 'index']);

            $this->Flash->error(__('The order could not be saved. Please, try again.'));
        }
        $customers = $this->Orders->Customers->find('list', ['limit' => 200]);
        $menuItems = $this->Orders->MenuItems->find('list', ['limit' => 200]);
        $this->set(compact('order', 'customers', 'menuItems'));
    }

add.ctp

<fieldset>
        <legend><?= __('Neue Bestellung') ?></legend>
        <?php
            echo $this->Form->control('0.customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));     
            echo $this->Form->control('0.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('0.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));

            echo $this->Form->control('1.customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));    
            echo $this->Form->control('1.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('1.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
        ?>
    </fieldset>

I know that i need to change this

echo $this->Form->control('0.customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));

echo $this->Form->control('1.customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));  

but i dont know into what. I first thought if i use customer_id without a number

echo $this->Form->control('customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));  

or like this

echo $this->Form->control('0.1.customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));  

it would work but i doesn't. Propably because it doesnt know where to save it cause its missing the index number in the first example and in he second example I created a new Index? I am a beginner in coding so maybe im completly wrong with that but I think thats why it doesnt work.

If I do it like I explained above, it doesnt save a value into customer. How can i choose a Customer and save multiple Dates and Menus for him?

EDIT

Because I didn't explain it precisely I try again.

My Goal is to create a Form which should save multiple Dates and Menus for a Customer. Inside the Form I want to choose 1 Customer, which I get with the customer_id. After that I want to choose multiple Dates (date) and Menus (menu_item_id) for that chosen Customer. If I press submit I want to get multiple Orders for the Customer I choose.

Example: I choose a customer (John Sample), and now I pick for him the Date (01.01.2019) and the Menu 7. After that I pick the Date (02.02.2019) and the Menu 6. After that I pick the Date (03.02.2019) and the Menu 2.

If I save now, I want to see that the Customer I choose (John Sample) has ordered on the Dates 01.01.2019, 02.01.2019, 03.01.2019 and which menus he ordered for the Date.

Example:

Customer: John Sample | Date: 01.01.2019 | Menu: 7

Customer: John Sample | Date: 02.01.2019 | Menu: 6

Customer: John Sample | Date: 03.01.2019 | Menu: 2

The Problem that I have now is I don't know how to do that. I know that I could just pick a new Customer for every Date and Menu, like this:

<fieldset>
        <legend><?= __('Neue Bestellung') ?></legend>
        <?php
            echo $this->Form->control('0.customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));     
            echo $this->Form->control('0.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('0.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));

            echo $this->Form->control('1.customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));    
            echo $this->Form->control('1.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('1.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));

        ?>
    </fieldset>

but that is not what I want to do. Because at the End I want to save up to 7 Orders and i dont want to choose the customer every time.

This brings me back to my Question how can I save one Customer, I pick in the form, and save multiple Dates and Menus for him?

I hope this made my Question a little clearer.

EDIT 2

My Order Table:

OrdersTable.php

class OrdersTable extends Table
{
    /**
     * Initialize method
     *
     * @param array $config The configuration for the Table.
     * @return void
     */
    public function initialize(array $config)
    {
        parent::initialize($config);

        $this->setTable('orders');
        $this->setDisplayField('id');
        $this->setPrimaryKey(['id']);

        $this->belongsTo('Customers', [
            'foreignKey' => 'customer_id',
        ]);
        $this->belongsTo('MenuItems', [
            'foreignKey' => 'menu_item_id',
        ]);
        $this->belongsTo('Bills', [
            'foreignKey' => 'bill_id',
        ]);
    }

    /**
     * Default validation rules.
     *
     * @param \Cake\Validation\Validator $validator Validator instance.
     * @return \Cake\Validation\Validator
     */
    public function validationDefault(Validator $validator)
    {
        $validator
            ->integer('id')
            ->allowEmptyString('id', 'create');

        $validator
            ->date('date')
            ->allowEmptyDate('date');

        $validator
            ->boolean('bestellt')
            ->allowEmptyString('bestellt', false);

        return $validator;
    }

    /**
     * Returns a rules checker object that will be used for validating
     * application integrity.
     *
     * @param \Cake\ORM\RulesChecker $rules The rules object to be modified.
     * @return \Cake\ORM\RulesChecker
     */
    public function buildRules(RulesChecker $rules)
    {
        $rules->add($rules->existsIn(['customer_id'], 'Customers'));
        $rules->add($rules->existsIn(['menu_item_id'], 'MenuItems'));
        $rules->add($rules->existsIn(['bill_id'], 'Bills'));

        return $rules;
    }
}

Solution

I finally found my Solution!
add.ctp

    <?php
        /* Kunden auswählen */
            echo $this->Form->control('customer_id', array('label' => __('Kunde',true)));     
        /* Erster Tag */
            echo $this->Form->control('0.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('0.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
            echo $this->Form->control('0.customer_id',['type' => 'hidden', 'empty' => true]);  
            echo $this->Form->control('0.bestellt');
        /* Zweiter Tag */    
            echo $this->Form->control('1.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('1.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
            echo $this->Form->control('1.customer_id',['type' => 'hidden', 'empty' => true]);      
            echo $this->Form->control('1.bestellt');
        /* Dritter Tag */
            echo $this->Form->control('2.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('2.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
            echo $this->Form->control('2.customer_id',['type' => 'hidden', 'empty' => true]);  
            echo $this->Form->control('2.bestellt');
        /* Vierter Tag */    
            echo $this->Form->control('3.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('3.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
            echo $this->Form->control('3.customer_id',['type' => 'hidden', 'empty' => true]);  
            echo $this->Form->control('3.bestellt');
        /* Fünfter Tag */
            echo $this->Form->control('4.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('4.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
            echo $this->Form->control('4.customer_id',['type' => 'hidden', 'empty' => true]);  
            echo $this->Form->control('4.bestellt');
        /* Sechster Tag */    
            echo $this->Form->control('5.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('5.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
            echo $this->Form->control('5.customer_id',['type' => 'hidden', 'empty' => true]);          
            echo $this->Form->control('5.bestellt');
        /* Letzter Tag */
            echo $this->Form->control('6.date', array('label' => __('Datum',true), ['empty' => true]));
            echo $this->Form->control('6.menu_item_id', array('label' => __('Menü',true), 'empty' => true));
            echo $this->Form->control('6.customer_id',['type' => 'hidden', 'empty' => true]);            
            echo $this->Form->control('6.bestellt');
        ?>

My Javascript

$('#customer-id').change(function() {
    $('#0-customer-id').val($(this).val());
    $('#1-customer-id').val($(this).val());
    $('#2-customer-id').val($(this).val());
    $('#3-customer-id').val($(this).val());
    $('#4-customer-id').val($(this).val());
    $('#5-customer-id').val($(this).val());
    $('#6-customer-id').val($(this).val());
});

Im now copying my customer_id into the hidden fields. That way im finally only need to choose my Customer one time and can create an Order for a Week.

Maybe this isnt the cleanest way to do it but it works!

Answered By - Heldojin