cakephp find list

Question

Hi I want to be able to generate a list using find so that I can use in select helper. but there is a problem. i want too fetch id,name(first + last). so how can I achieve it. I want first_name and last_name to be joined as name . How can I achieve it.

$this->User->find('all',array('fields' => array('first_name','last_name','id')));

I can't use model filters and callback Please suggest me how can I do it in controllers itself.

EDIT

I am using cakephp 1.2

Answer 1

I think this can be done using the virtualFields and displayField var in your model.

In your model, define a virtual field for the full name like this:

var $virtualFields = array(
    'full_name' => 'CONCAT(User.first_name, " ", User.last_name)'
);

If you now set displayField to full_name you should be able to get a list of your users with the $this->User->find('list') method which you can use without problems with the Form-helper.

var $displayField = 'full_name';

The id is fetched automatically.

Answer 2

Another solution is to use Cake's Set::combine to build what you need...

$users = $this->User->find('all',array('fields' => array('first_name','last_name','id')));

$user_list = Set::combine($users, '{n}.User.id', array('{0} {1}', '{n}.User.first_name', '{n}.User.last_name'));

Result will look something like:

array(
 [2] => 'First Last',
 [5] => 'Bob Jones'
)

Here's the documentation link:

http://book.cakephp.org/view/662/combine

Answer 3

+1 on Tim's answer, however, if you need an alternative, teknoid wrote a nice article about this a long time ago:

http://nuts-and-bolts-of-cakephp.com/2008/09/04/findlist-with-three-or-combined-fields/