CakePHP - SQL query Join

Question

Ok, so i'm in a pickle trying to figure a way for how to do this :

I have a live search(using ajax) which allows the user to select a criteria from a dropdown list and then enter a value which will be matched to values inside the database. This is quite trivial stuff, and on direct fields of the main model, i don't have any issues.

I have a Donor Model/table which consists of attributes such as ID, Name, Surname etc, but more importantly it also has FK of other associated models such as blood_group_id, donor_type_id, which map back to the respective models (BloodGroup and DonorType).. These two are already set with the associations and I am beyond that part, as I am already retrieving Donor records with associated model data.

Here is the search method which will hopefully help you in understanding my problem better.

public function search() {
        if($this->request->is('post')){
            if(!empty($this->request->data)){
                $criteria = $this->request->data['criteria'];
                $query = $this->request->data['query'];
                $conditions = array("Donor." .$criteria. " LIKE '". $query . "%'");

The above checks if its a post request and whether data was sent. The criteria and user input are used to construct the query..

This is where my problem arises.. (When the user select search By blood type, as a criteria from the drop down)the above expects the user to enter the id of the blood_group rather than A+ or A- for instance.. So if the input is 1(id of blood group A+), the results are returned as expected. But I want the user to be able to enter A+...

Here is the rest of the method :

$this->Paginator->settings = array(
                'conditions' => $conditions,
                'limit' => 2
            );


 $donors = $this->Paginator->paginate('Donor');
            $this->set('donors', $donors);
            $this->beforeRender();
            $this->layout= 'ajax';
        } 
    }
}

I have tried this approach, setting up the conditions using the Model's name such as

   if($criteria == 'blood_group_id'){
       $conditions = array("BloodGroup.id" . " LIKE '". $query . "%'");
   }elseif($criteria == 'donor_type_id'){
       $conditions = array("DonorType.id" . " LIKE '". $query . "%'");
   }else{
       $this->Paginator->settings = array(
          'conditions' => $conditions,
          'limit' => 2
       );
   }

But this returns all the records irrespective of the input.

I also tried changing the settings for the paginator with no luck

$settings = array(
  'joins' => array(
     'table' => 'blood_groups',
     'alias' => 'BloodGroup',
     'type' => 'LEFT',
     'conditions' => array(
        "BloodGroup.id" => "Donor.blood_group_id",
        "AND" => $conditions
     )
   ),
'limit'=> 2
);

Any help on how to accomplish what I explained above, would greatly be appreciated!

Answer 1

simply:

if($criteria == 'blood_group_id')
    $conditions = array("BloodGroup.name LIKE" => $query.'%');

(assuming bood_types has a 'name' column)

Also let me suggest you to use the CakeDC search plugin (https://github.com/CakeDC/search).