Aliases for table fields in CakePHP4

Question

In my DB I have a table page_content with a column which is a reserved MySQL 8 word, row. Due to constraints mandated by my hosting system, I need to rename the column to something that isn't a reserved word (my idea is to rename it to sort_row).

This row field is however, exposed by an API that my software is implementing and exposing. This API serializes the CakePHP ORM objects as JSON to expose them, which means, if I change the name of a field in my model class it will then also change accordingly in the JSON output of my API. But I don't want to rename the field in the API, because this would mean having to check and update every system which uses it.

The project is implemented with PHP8 and CakePHP 4.4. I have an entity class for the table:

<?php

namespace App\Model\Entity;

class PageContent extends Entity
{
    protected $_accessible = [
        '*' => true,
        'id' => false
    ];

    protected $_virtual = ['content'];

    protected $_hidden = [
        'is_visible',
        'visible_from',
        'visible_to',
        'is_deleted',
        'created',
        'modified',
        'created_user',
        'modified_user',
    ];

    protected function _getContent()
    {
        // method logic here
    }

    // more stuff here....
}

Is there any way I can specify an "alias" or something similar for my CakePHP model, so that while the MySQL field is called sort_row, as far as CakePHP is concerned (in ORM queries and so on) the field is still called row? The documentation doesn't really mention anything like that. Can I use a virtual field to achieve what I need?

In other words, I know I can use $this->setTable() on a table class to customize the link between a class and a MySQL table if they don't match the naming convention. I was wondering if there was something similar for column names.

How are you generating your API output for this table? Is the row an input to anything in the API (e.g. through write operations, sorting, deleting, etc.)? The short answer is that no, you can't fully alias a field, but depending on the answers to these questions, you might be able to do something close enough. — Greg Schmidt
– Greg Schmidt, Commented Oct 8, 2024 at 13:33
@GregSchmidt the output is generated by querying the table, calling toArray() and then $this->viewBuilder()->setOption('serialize', ['data']) on the result in my controller. So I'm letting CakePHP take care of the serialization of my ORM data. The field is not an input anywhere in my API, but it is a field that can be modified on the UI by the users (the UI of the project does not use this API but "standard" CakePHP controllers and templates). — mrodo
– mrodo, Commented Oct 8, 2024 at 14:03

Greg Schmidt · Accepted Answer · 2024-10-08 16:22:41Z

1

It sounds like you're in a good position to be able to change the name of the column everywhere except in the API, and that the API is read-only. Given that, I think you could:

Add a virtual field called row with protected function _getRow(): int { return $this->sort_row; }
Add 'row' to your $_virtual.
Add 'sort_row' to your $_hidden.

Together, this should keep the name of the field as "row" in your serialized JSON output.

answered Oct 8, 2024 at 16:22

Greg Schmidt

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