Order By with a OneToMany

Edit on GitHub

Let's finish this! Ultimately, we need to create the same $notes structure, but with the real data. Above the foreach add a new $notes variable. Inside, add a new entry to that and start populating it with id => $note->getId():

            
            117 lines
            
            src/AppBundle/Controller/GenusController.php
        
                                                    ... lines 1 - 12
                            
            class GenusController extends Controller
        
            {
        
                                                    ... lines 15 - 94
                            
                public function getNotesAction(Genus $genus)
        
                {
        
                    $notes = [];
        
                    foreach ($genus->getNotes() as $note) {
        
                        $notes[] = [
        
                            'id' => $note->getId(),
        
                        ];
        
                    }
        
                                                    ... lines 104 - 114
                            
                }
        
            }

Hey! Where's my autocompletion on that method!? Check out the getNotes() method in Genus. Ah, there's no @return - so PhpStorm has no idea what that returns. Sorry PhpStorm - my bad. Add some PhpDoc with @return ArrayCollection|GenusNote[]:

            
            114 lines
            
            src/AppBundle/Entity/Genus.php
        
                                                    ... lines 1 - 11
                            
            class Genus
        
            {
        
                                                    ... lines 14 - 105
                            
                /**
        
                 * @return ArrayCollection|GenusNote[]
        
                 */
        
                public function getNotes()
        
                {
        
                    return $this->notes;
        
                }
        
            }

This will autocomplete any methods from ArrayCollection and auto-complete from GenusNote if we loop over these results.

Now we get autocompletion for getId(). Next, add username => $note->getUsername() and I'll paste in the other fields: avatarUri, note and createdAt. Ok, delete that hardcoded stuff!

            
            116 lines
            
            src/AppBundle/Controller/GenusController.php
        
                                                    ... lines 1 - 12
                            
            class GenusController extends Controller
        
            {
        
                                                    ... lines 15 - 94
                            
                public function getNotesAction(Genus $genus)
        
                {
        
                    $notes = [];
        
                    foreach ($genus->getNotes() as $note) {
        
                        $notes[] = [
        
                            'id' => $note->getId(),
        
                            'username' => $note->getUsername(),
        
                            'avatarUri' => '/images/'.$note->getUserAvatarFilename(),
        
                            'note' => $note->getNote(),
        
                            'date' => $note->getCreatedAt()->format('M d, Y')
        
                        ];
        
                    }
        
                    $data = [
        
                        'notes' => $notes
        
                    ];
        
                    return new JsonResponse($data);
        
                }
        
            }

Deep breath: moment of truth. Refresh! Ha! There are the 15 beautiful, random notes, courtesy of the AJAX request, Alice and Faker.

Ordering the OneToMany

But wait - the order of the notes is weird: these should really be ordered from newest to oldest. That's the downside of using the $genus->getNotes() shortcut: you can't customize the query - it just happens magically in the background.

Well ok, I'm lying a little bit: you can control the order. Open up Genus and find the $notes property. Add another annotation: @ORM\OrderBy with {"createdAt"="DESC"}:

            
            115 lines
            
            src/AppBundle/Entity/Genus.php
        
                                                    ... lines 1 - 11
                            
            class Genus
        
            {
        
                                                    ... lines 14 - 45
                            
                /**
        
                 * @ORM\OneToMany(targetEntity="GenusNote", mappedBy="genus")
        
                 * @ORM\OrderBy({"createdAt" = "DESC"})
        
                 */
        
                private $notes;
        
                                                    ... lines 51 - 113
                            
            }

I know, the curly-braces and quotes look a little crazy here: just Google this if you can't remember the syntax. I do!

Ok, refresh! Hey! Newest ones on top, oldest ones on the bottom. So we do have some control. But if you need to go further - like only returning the GenusNotes that are less than 30 days old - you'll need to do a little bit more work.

What PHP libraries does this tutorial use?

// composer.json
{
    "require": {
        "php": ">=5.5.9",
        "symfony/symfony": "3.1.*", // v3.1.4
        "doctrine/orm": "^2.5", // v2.7.2
        "doctrine/doctrine-bundle": "^1.6", // 1.6.4
        "doctrine/doctrine-cache-bundle": "^1.2", // 1.3.0
        "symfony/swiftmailer-bundle": "^2.3", // v2.3.11
        "symfony/monolog-bundle": "^2.8", // 2.11.1
        "symfony/polyfill-apcu": "^1.0", // v1.2.0
        "sensio/distribution-bundle": "^5.0", // v5.0.22
        "sensio/framework-extra-bundle": "^3.0.2", // v3.0.16
        "incenteev/composer-parameter-handler": "^2.0", // v2.1.2
        "composer/package-versions-deprecated": "^1.11", // 1.11.99
        "knplabs/knp-markdown-bundle": "^1.4", // 1.4.2
        "doctrine/doctrine-migrations-bundle": "^1.1" // 1.1.1
    },
    "require-dev": {
        "sensio/generator-bundle": "^3.0", // v3.0.7
        "symfony/phpunit-bridge": "^3.0", // v3.1.3
        "nelmio/alice": "^2.1", // 2.1.4
        "doctrine/doctrine-fixtures-bundle": "^2.3" // 2.3.0
    }
}

Edit on GitHub

TRACK

Symfony 3 >

COURSE

Mastering Doctrine Relationships in Symfony 3

Order By with a OneToMany

Keep on Learning!

Ordering the OneToMany

Leave a comment!

What PHP libraries does this tutorial use?

	... lines 1 - 12
	class GenusController extends Controller
	{
	... lines 15 - 94
	public function getNotesAction(Genus $genus)
	{
	$notes = [];

	foreach ($genus->getNotes() as $note) {
	$notes[] = [
	'id' => $note->getId(),
	];
	}
	... lines 104 - 114
	}
	}

	... lines 1 - 11
	class Genus
	{
	... lines 14 - 105
	/**
	* @return ArrayCollection\|GenusNote[]
	*/
	public function getNotes()
	{
	return $this->notes;
	}
	}

	... lines 1 - 11
	class Genus
	{
	... lines 14 - 45
	/**
	* @ORM\OneToMany(targetEntity="GenusNote", mappedBy="genus")
	* @ORM\OrderBy({"createdAt" = "DESC"})
	*/
	private $notes;
	... lines 51 - 113
	}