Updated documentation on chosing inverse-owning side for many-to-many associations and came up with a significantly enhanced example for the working with associations chapter
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Benjamin Eberlei
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@ -573,6 +573,46 @@ Here is a similar many-to-many relationship as above except this one is bidirect
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The MySQL schema is exactly the same as for the Many-To-Many uni-directional case above.
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+++ Picking the Owning and Inverse Side
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For Many-To-Many associations you can chose which entity is the owning and which the inverse side. There is
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a very simple semantic rule to decide which side is more suitable to be the owning side from a developers perspective.
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You only have to ask yourself, which entity is responsible for the connection management and pick that as the owning side.
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Take an example of two entities `Article` and `Tag`. Whenever you want to connect an Article to a Tag and vice-versa, it is mostly
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the Article that is responsible for this relation. Whenever you add a new article, you want to connect it with existing or new tags.
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Your create Article form will probably support this notion and allow to specify the tags directly. This is why you should
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pick the Article as owning side, as it makes the code more understandable:
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[php]
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class Article
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{
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private $tags;
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public function addTag(Tag $tag)
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{
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$tag->addArticle($this); // synchronously updating inverse side
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$this->tags[] = $tag;
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}
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}
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class Tag
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{
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private $articles;
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public function addArticle(Article $article)
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{
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$this->articles[] = $article;
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}
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}
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This allows to group the tag adding on the `Article` side of the association:
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[php]
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$article = new Article();
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$article->addTag($tagA);
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$article->addTag($tagB);
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++ Many-To-Many, Self-referencing
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You can even have a self-referencing many-to-many association. A common scenario is where a `User` has friends and the target entity of that relationship is a `User` so it is self referencing. In this example it is bidirectional so `User` has a field named `$friendsWithMe` and `$myFriends`.
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@ -180,29 +180,168 @@ and you want to modify and persist such an entity.
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Associations between entities are represented just like in regular object-oriented PHP, with references to other objects or collections of objects. When it comes to persistence, it is important to understand three main things:
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* The concept of owning and inverse sides in bidirectional associations as described [here](http://www.doctrine-project.org/documentation/manual/2_0/en/association-mapping#owning-side-and-inverse-side).
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* A collection of entities always only represents the association to the containing entities. If an entity is removed from a collection, the association is removed, not the entity itself.
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* Collection-valued persistent fields and properties must be defined in terms of the Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection interface. [See here](http://www.doctrine-project.org/documentation/manual/2_0/en/architecture#entities:persistent-fields) for more details.
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* If an entity is removed from a collection, the association is removed, not the entity itself. A collection of entities always only represents the association to the containing entities, not the entity itself.
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* Collection-valued persistent fields have to be instances of the `Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection` interface. [See here](http://www.doctrine-project.org/documentation/manual/2_0/en/architecture#entities:persistent-fields) for more details.
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+++ Example Associations
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We will use a simple comment system with Users and Comments as entity to show examples of association management:
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[php]
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/** @Entity */
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class User
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{
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/** @Id @GeneratedValue @Column(type="string") */
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private $id;
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/**
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* Bidirectional - Many users have Many favorite comments (OWNING SIDE)
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*
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* @ManyToMany(targetEntity="Comment", inversedBy="userFavorites")
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* @JoinTable(name="user_favorite_comments",
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* joinColumns={@JoinColumn(name="user_id", referencedColumnName="id")},
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* inverseJoinColumns={@JoinColumn(name="favorite_comment_id", referencedColumnName="id")}
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* )
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*/
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private $favorites;
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/**
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* Unidirectional - Many users have marked many comments as read
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*
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* @ManyToMany(targetEntity="Comment")
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* @JoinTable(name="user_read_comments",
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* joinColumns={@JoinColumn(name="user_id", referencedColumnName="id")},
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* inverseJoinColumns={@JoinColumn(name="comment_id", referencedColumnName="id")}
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* )
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*/
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private $commentsRead;
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/**
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* Bidirectional - One-To-Many (INVERSE SIDE)
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*
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* @OneToMany(targetEntity="Comment", mappedBy="author")
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*/
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private $commentsAuthored;
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/**
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* Unidirectional - Many-To-One
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*
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* @ManyToOne(targetEntity="Comment")
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*/
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private $firstComment;
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}
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/** @Entity */
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class Comment
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{
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/** @Id @GeneratedValue @Column(type="string") */
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private $id;
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/**
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* Bidirectional - Many comments are favorited by many users (INVERSE SIDE)
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*
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* @ManyToMany(targetEntity="User", mappedBy="favorites")
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*/
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private $userFavorites;
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/**
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* Bidirectional - Many Comments are authored by one user (OWNING SIDE)
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*
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* @ManyToOne(targetEntity="User", inversedBy="authoredComments")
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*/
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private $author;
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}
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This two entities generate the following MySQL Schema (Foreign Key definitions omitted):
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[sql]
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CREATE TABLE User (
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id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
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firstComment_id VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL,
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PRIMARY KEY(id)
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) ENGINE = InnoDB;
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CREATE TABLE Comment (
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id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
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author_id VARCHAR(255) DEFAULT NULL,
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PRIMARY KEY(id)
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) ENGINE = InnoDB;
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CREATE TABLE user_favorite_comments (
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user_id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
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favorite_comment_id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
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PRIMARY KEY(user_id, favorite_comment_id)
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) ENGINE = InnoDB;
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CREATE TABLE user_read_comments (
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user_id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
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comment_id VARCHAR(255) NOT NULL,
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PRIMARY KEY(user_id, comment_id)
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) ENGINE = InnoDB;
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++ Establishing Associations
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Establishing an association between two entities is straight-forward. Here are some examples:
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Establishing an association between two entities is straight-forward. Here are some examples for the unidirectional
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relations of the `User`:
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[php]
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// Article <- one-to-many -> Comment
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$article->getComments()->add($comment);
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$comment->setArticle($article);
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class User
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{
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// ...
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public function getReadComments() {
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return $this->commentsRead;
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}
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// User <- many-to-many -> Groups
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$user->getGroups()->add($group);
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$group->getUsers()->add($user);
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public function setFirstComment(Comment $c) {
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$this->firstComment = $c;
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}
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}
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// User <- one-to-one -> Address
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$user->setAddress($address);
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$address->setUser($user);
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// unidirectional many to many
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$user->getReadComments()->add($comment);
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// unidirectional many to one
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$user->setFirstComment($myFirstComment);
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In the case of bi-directional associations you have to update the fields on both sides:
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[php]
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class User
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{
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// ..
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public function getAuthoredComments() {
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return $this->commentsAuthored;
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}
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public function getFavoriteComments() {
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return $this->favorites;
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}
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}
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class Comment
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{
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// ...
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public function getUserFavorites() {
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return $this->userFavorites;
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}
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public function setAuthor(User $author = null) {
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$this->author = $author;
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}
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}
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// Many-to-Many
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$user->getFavorites()->add($favoriteComment);
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$favoriteComment->getUserFavorites()->add($user);
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// Many-To-One / One-To-Many Bidirectional
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$user->getAuthoredComments()->add($newComment);
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$newComment->setAuthor($user);
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Notice how always both sides of the bidirectional association are updated. Unidirectional associations are consequently simpler to handle.
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Notice how always both sides of the bidirectional association are updated. The previous unidirectional associations were simpler to handle.
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++ Removing Associations
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@ -211,30 +350,31 @@ to do so, by key and by element. Here are some examples:
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[php]
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// Remove by Elements
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// Article <- one-to-many -> Comment
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$article->getComments()->removeElement($comment);
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$comment->setArticle(null);
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$user->getComments()->removeElement($comment);
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$comment->setAuthor(null);
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// User <- many-to-many -> Group
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$user->getGroups()->removeElement($group);
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$group->getUsers()->removeElement($user);
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$user->getFavorites()->removeElement($comment);
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$comment->getUserFavorites()->removeElement($user);
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// Remove by key
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$article->getComments()->remove($ithComment);
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$comment->setArticle(null);
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// Remove by Key
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$user->getComments()->removeElement($ithComment);
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$comment->setAuthor(null);
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// User <- one-to-one -> Address
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$user->setAddress(null);
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$address->setUser(null);
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Notice how both sides of the bidirectional association are always updated. Unidirectional associations are consequently simpler to handle. Also note that if you type-hint your methods, i.e. `setAddress(Address $address)`, then PHP does not allow null values and setAddress(null) will fail for removing the association. If you insist on type-hinting a typical way to deal with this is to provide a special method, like `removeAddress()`. This can also provide better encapsulation as it hides the internal meaning of not having an address.
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Notice how both sides of the bidirectional association are always updated. Unidirectional associations are consequently
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simpler to handle. Also note that if you type-hint your methods, i.e. `setAddress(Address $address)`, then PHP does only
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allows null values if `null` is set as default value. Otherwise setAddress(null) will fail for removing the association.
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If you insist on type-hinting a typical way to deal with this is to provide a special method, like `removeAddress()`.
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This can also provide better encapsulation as it hides the internal meaning of not having an address.
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When working with collections, keep in mind that a Collection is essentially an ordered map (just like a PHP array).
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That is why the `remove` operation accepts an index/key. `removeElement` is a separate method
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that has O(n) complexity, where n is the size of the map.
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that has O(n) complexity using `array_search`, where n is the size of the map.
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Since Doctrine always only looks at the owning side of a bidirectional association, it is essentially not necessary that an inverse collection of a bidirectional one-to-many or many-to-many association is updated. This knowledge can often be used to improve performance by avoiding the loading of the inverse collection.
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> **NOTE**
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>
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> Since Doctrine always only looks at the owning side of a bidirectional association for updates, it is not necessary
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> for write operations that an inverse collection of a bidirectional one-to-many or many-to-many association is updated.
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> This knowledge can often be used to improve performance by avoiding the loading of the inverse collection.
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> **NOTE*
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>
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@ -250,38 +390,75 @@ Since Doctrine always only looks at the owning side of a bidirectional associati
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It is generally a good idea to encapsulate proper association management inside the entity classes. This makes it easier to use the class correctly and can encapsulate details about how the association is maintained.
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The following code shows a simple, idiomatic example for a bidirectional one-to-many association between an Article and its Comments.
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The following code shows updates to the previous User and Comment example that encapsulate much of
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the association management code:
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[php]
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// Mappings not shown.
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class Article {
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// The comments of the article.
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private $comments;
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// ... constructor omitted ...
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class User
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{
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//...
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public function markCommentRead(Comment $comment) {
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// Collections implement ArrayAccess
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$this->commentsRead[] = $comment;
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}
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public function addComment(Comment $comment) {
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$this->comments->add($comment);
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$comment->setArticle($this);
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if (count($this->commentsAuthored) == 0) {
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$this->setFirstComment($comment);
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}
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$this->comments[] = $comment;
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$comment->setAuthor($this);
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}
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public function getComments() {
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return $this->comments;
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private function setFirstComment(Comment $c) {
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$this->firstComment = $c;
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}
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}
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class Comment {
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// The article the comment refers to.
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private $article;
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// ... constructor omitted ...
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public function setArticle($article) {
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$this->article = $article;
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public function addFavorite(Comment $comment) {
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$this->favorites->add($comment);
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$comment->addUserFavorite($this);
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}
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public function getArticle() {
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return $this->article;
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public function removeFavorite(Comment $comment) {
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$this->favorites->removeElement($comment);
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$comment->removeUserFavorite($this);
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}
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}
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With the above implementation, it is always ensured that at least the owning side from Doctrine's point of view (Comment) is properly updated. You will notice that `setArticle` does not call `addComment`, thus the bidirectional association is strictly-speaking still incomplete, if a user of the class only invokes `setArticle`. If you naively call `addComment` in `setArticle`, however, you end up with an infinite loop, so more work is needed. As you can see, proper bidirectional association management in plain OOP is a non-trivial task and encapsulating all the details inside the classes can be challenging.
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class Comment
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{
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// ..
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There is no single, best way for association management. It greatly depends on the requirements of your concrete domain model as well as your preferences.
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public function addUserFavorite(User $user) {
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$this->userFavorites[] = $user;
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}
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public function removeUserFavorite(User $user) {
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$this->userFavorites->removeElement($user);
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}
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}
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You will notice that `addUserFavorite` and `removeUserFavorite` do not call `addFavorite` and `removeFavorite`,
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thus the bidirectional association is strictly-speaking still incomplete. However if you would naively add the
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`addFavorite` in `addUserFavorite`, you end up with an infinite loop, so more work is needed.
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As you can see, proper bidirectional association management in plain OOP is a non-trivial task
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and encapsulating all the details inside the classes can be challenging.
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> **NOTE**
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>
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> If you want to make sure that your collections are perfectly encapsulated you should not return
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> them from a `getCollectionName()` method directly, but call `$collection->toArray()`. This way a client programmer
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> for the entity cannot circumvent the logic you implement on your entity for association management. Example:
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>
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> [php]
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> class User {
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> public function getReadComments() {
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> return $this->commentsRead->toArray();
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> }
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> }
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There is no single, best way for association management. It greatly depends on the requirements of your concrete
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domain model as well as your preferences.
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++ Transitive persistence
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