Execute cron that creates a new record using Entity

Need Help
1

Hi!

The application needs to query an external api every 60 seconds to check if it has new orders. If have new orders, it must create a new record in the orders database.

For this I must create a routine to run using cron from linux.

Where should I put the php file of this routine and how do I access the database of this routine via Entity of cakephp? Is there a sample?

Thanks in advance,
jjvg

2

Basic CLI tools can be implemented in Commands.

But in your case I would personally rather go with a queueing system like GitHub - dereuromark/cakephp-queue: Queue plugin for CakePHP - simple, pure PHP and without dependencies. or GitHub - dereuromark/cakephp-queue: Queue plugin for CakePHP - simple, pure PHP and without dependencies.

Because what would you do if

  • your API doesn’t respond after 60 seconds/at all?
  • responds with such a huge data-set that you can’t process it in 60 seconds.

You don’t want to re-fetch data from the API if you haven’t processed the “old” request.

Regarding “accessing the database”: In CakePHP you should never directly access the database. Otherwise why would you use a MVC framework with an ORM?

What you need is the LocatorAwareTrait explained in Query Builder - 4.x
With that you can get a table instance which behaves the same like you have in your generated controllers from bin/cake bake.

So like

public function execute(Arguments $args, ConsoleIo $io)
{
    $tableInstance = $this->getTableLocator()->get('Categories');
    $query = $tableInstance->find();
}

is the same as in your controller doing

public funtion index()
{
    $query = $this->Categories->find();
}

With that table instance you can basically do all CRUD operations which are already present in your controller.

3

Kevin, thanks for your fast answer.

The two queueing system looks pointing to the same link :slight_smile:

Thank you!

4

Right sorry, the second one should have been GitHub - cakephp/queue: A queue-interop compatible Queueing library

2 Likes
5

Which one would you recommend? or does one plugin has some advantages over the other? I’ve read both documentations but since I’ve never implemented something like this, I don’t know which one should I use.

My goal is to read mysql data from several tables, apply some formulas and create records in another table.

6

I personally prefer dereuromark/cakephp-queue but its just because I am used to it.

But before that you should get used to Cakephp and how its ORM works so you know how to “create records in another table”

2 Likes
7

Thank you Kevin!

I’m trying to use dereuromark/cakephp-queue.

  • Add cakephp-queue to the project
    composer require dereuromark/cakephp-queue

  • Load plugin src/Application.php’s bootstrap() using:
    $this->addPlugin('Queue');

  • Create the tables using the Migrations plugin:
    bin/cake migrations migrate -p Queue

  • Configuration: create a file called app_queue.php inside your config folder

return [
    'Queue' => [
        'workermaxruntime' => 60,
        'sleeptime' => 15,
    ],
];

  • I created a task pollingOrdersTask.php that extends Queue\Queue\Task and implements the run method, then I placed it in src/Queue/Task/ folder.

  • bin/cake queue add pollingOrdersTask
    returns that it can not add pollingOrdersTask task

I’m a bit lost here. :slight_smile:

8

you need to start the queue worker via

bin/cake queue run

this will then process all queued jobs which have not yet been processed.

1 Like
9

If you want to add tasks via CLI you need to implement the AddInterface which is described here.

But I usually just call the $this->QueuedJobs->createJob() function to add tasks to the queue in controller actions.

1 Like