symfony2 Entity Object vs. integer crashes - symfony

Question

I have defined a entity like :
/**
* #ORM\ManyToOne(targetEntity="Pr\UserBundle\Entity\Client")
* #ORM\JoinColumn(name="client_id", referencedColumnName="id")
*/
private $client_id;
.....
public function setClientId($clientId = null)
{
$this->client_id = $clientId;
return $this;
}
There are two controllers with which I can create a new db entry. the first one is "admin-only" where the admin can create a db entry with a client id of his choice:
->add('client_id', 'entity', array(
'data_class' => null,
'attr' => array(
'class' => 'selectstyle'),
'class' => 'PrUserBundle:Client',
'property' => 'name',
'required' => true,
'label' => 'staff.location',
'empty_value' => 'admin.customer_name',
'empty_data' => null
)
)
......
// Handling the form
$em = $this->getDoctrine()->getManager();
$saniType->setName($form->get('name')->getData());
$saniType->setClientId($form->get('client_id')->getData());
$saniType->setCreated(new \DateTime(date('Y-m-d H:m:s')));
$saniType->setCreatedBy($user->getUsername());
$em->persist($saniType);
$em->flush();
The second one is for the client itself, where he's not able to set a different client id. Therefor I just removed the form field "client_id" and replace it by the users->getClientId():
$saniType->setSpecialClientId($form->get('client_id')->getData());
When I add an entry as admin, it work fine. If I try to add one as "client", it crashes with following error message
Warning: spl_object_hash() expects parameter 1 to be object, integer given in /var/www/symfony/webprojekt/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/UnitOfWork.php line 1389
I'm a newby in symfony, so I haven't got the strength to figure out what happens. I only knew that in the first case, admin will submit a object (entity). In the second (client) case, I set an integer as I get one by
$user = $this->container->get('security.context')->getToken()->getUser();
Is there a solution for it so that I can handle entity object AND given integers like it comes when the client add an entry?

Answer 1

You should change you relation defnition to:
/**
* #ORM\ManyToOne(targetEntity="Pr\UserBundle\Entity\Client")
* #ORM\JoinColumn(name="client_id", referencedColumnName="id")
*/
private $client;
.....
public function setClient($client = null)
{
$this->client = $client;
return $this;
}
Then in form:
->add('client', 'entity', array(
'data_class' => null,
'attr' => array('class' => 'selectstyle'),
'class' => 'PrUserBundle:Client',
'property' => 'name',
'required' => true,
'label' => 'staff.location',
'empty_value' => 'admin.customer_name',
'empty_data' => null
)
)
Handling the form:
form = $this->createForm(new SaniType(), $entity);
$form->handleRequest($request);
if ($form->isValid()) {
// perform some action...
return $this->redirect($this->generateUrl('some_success'));
}
More about handling form: http://symfony.com/doc/current/book/forms.html#handling-form-submissions
Also worth nothing:
for auto update properties like createdBy / updatedBy i would recommend you to use Doctrine Extension: https://github.com/Atlantic18/DoctrineExtensions/blob/master/doc/blameable.md

Answer 2

You don't have to know the client id. You have to set the Client himself.
/**
* #ORM\ManyToOne(targetEntity="Pr\UserBundle\Entity\Client")
* #ORM\JoinColumn(name="client_id", referencedColumnName="id")
*/
private $client;
.....
public function setClient(\Pr\UserBundle\Entity\Client $client = null)
{
$this->client = $client;
return $this;
}

Answer 3

I found a Solution:
Symfony2: spl_object_hash() expects parameter 1 to be object, string given in Doctrine
It's a workaround but it's ok for the moment.