Can't get formhelper to pre-populate multiple records

Question

I have a model called Category which hasMany Expense. I am trying to generate an accordion type interface where a user can expand a category and edit the expenses. I can generate the input fields but they don't seem to be in "edit" mode because they are not pre-populated.

I've searched online and found a few related articles such as this one CakePHP: How to update multiple records at the same time with the Form helper and also this one CakePHP: Form helper with saveMany() to edit multiple rows at once. I have tried to emulate their code but with no success.

My CategoriesController Index function looks like this ...

public function index($project_id) {

    $data = $this->Category->find('all', array(
        'conditions'=>array('Category.project_id' => $project_id),
        'order'=>array('Category.category_name')
    ));
    $this->set('categories', $data);
    $this->request->data = $data;
}

I have read that cakephp2 requires $this->request->data to be set for FormHelper to work. But in the examples I have found online everyone seems to use the plural of the model name so I tried that as well.

My Categories\index.ctp looks like this. I'm not at the "accordion" stage yet. I'm just trying to get input boxes on the screen that are pre-populated.

$i=0;
foreach ($categories as $category)
{
    echo $this->Form->input("Category.$i.category_id");
    echo $this->Form->input("Category.$i.category_name");
    $j=0;
    foreach($category['Expense'] as $expense)
    {
        echo $this->Form->input('Expense.' . $j . '.expense_id');
        echo $this->Form->input('Expense.' . $j . '.expense_name');
        echo $this->Form->input('Expense.' . $j . '.dollar_amount');
        echo $this->Form->input('Expense.' . $j . '.sqft_amount');
        $j++;
    }
    $i++;
}

This code seems to be iterating properly because it spits out the correct input fields. The big problem right now is just getting the fields to pre-populate. It doesn't seem to be in "edit" mode and I'm worried that that will be a problem down the road when I try to save the data.

Also, I have tried it with and without $this->form->create('Category') at the top. It doesn't seem to make a difference.

The $categories array looks like this ...

array(
    (int) 0 => array(
        'Category' => array(
            'category_id' => '1',
            'category_name' => 'Category 1',
            'category_index' => '1',
            'project_id' => '1'
        ),
        'Project' => array(
            'project_id' => '1',
            'project_name' => '131 Anndale Dr',
            'project_sqft' => '1700',
            'project_cost' => '318',
            'project_cost_per_sqft' => '0'
        ),
        'Expense' => array(
            (int) 0 => array(
                'expense_id' => '2',
                'expense_name' => 'Nails',
                'category_id' => '1',
                'dollar_amount' => '50',
                'sqft_amount' => '1',
                'expense_index' => '2'
            ),
            (int) 1 => array(
                'expense_id' => '1',
                'expense_name' => 'Wood',
                'category_id' => '1',
                'dollar_amount' => '99',
                'sqft_amount' => '1',
                'expense_index' => '1'
            )
        )
    ),
    (int) 1 => array(
        'Category' => array(
            'category_id' => '3',
            'category_name' => 'Category 2',
            'category_index' => '2',
            'project_id' => '1'
        ),
        'Project' => array(
            'project_id' => '1',
            'project_name' => '131 Anndale Dr',
            'project_sqft' => '1700',
            'project_cost' => '318',
            'project_cost_per_sqft' => '0'
        ),
        'Expense' => array(
            (int) 0 => array(
                'expense_id' => '3',
                'expense_name' => 'Bed',
                'category_id' => '3',
                'dollar_amount' => '99',
                'sqft_amount' => '2',
                'expense_index' => '1'
            ),
            (int) 1 => array(
                'expense_id' => '4',
                'expense_name' => 'Chair',
                'category_id' => '3',
                'dollar_amount' => '70',
                'sqft_amount' => '1',
                'expense_index' => '2'
            )
        )
    )
)

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

Answer 1

Coincidentally, I've been doing almost exactly the same thing today.

In order to automatically populate the form, you need to have your data in $this->data in the view. You can do this by assigning to $this->request->data in your controller.

Then you need to have your field names reflect the structure of that array exactly. So using your example, you might have:

echo $this->Form->input("$i.Category.category_name");

for the category fields, and

echo $this->Form->input("$i.Expense.$j.expense_id");

for your expense fields.