Can a CakePHP model change its table without being

Question

I'm working with an unchangeable legacy database schema where each instance of an object has its own table in the database with associated records. I need to change a model's useTable every time the model is instantiated, but retain Cake's nice caching and what not.

Say I have many pad objects, which each have several note objects (Note belongsTo Pad, Pad hasMany Note). Each pad has a record in the pads table, however every note has it's own table in a database (say entitled 'pad_{id}'). This schema is fixed and I must use it.

Right now I don't have to do any saving, so I do this in the model's before find to support reading:

function beforeFind($query_data) {
    if(empty($query_data['pad_id'])) {
        return false;
    } else {
        $this->useTable = $query_data['pad_id'];
        parent::__construct();
        return $query_data;
    }

}

This changes the model's table used in the database, and works fine when Core::debug > 0. However, when it's zero, I think CakePHP caches the model code and doesn't properly change the table. In any case, I get a 404 error when I visit /pads/view/{pad_id} or whatever action dynamically changes this table. I can't quite figure out what the exact error is, because it works fine when I turn debug on. So any pointers on debuging this issue would help also.

Thanks!

Answer 1

You should be able to use setSource() to change the table the Model is using. $this->setSource('pad_x') will set the table to 'pad_x' and reset the model's schema. API reference

Answer 2

Try var $persistModel = false; in your controller or in the AppController.

See: http://www.pseudocoder.com/archives/2009/03/17/8-ways-to-speed-up-cakephp-apps/