# PatchEntities creates new records instead patching existing

**URL:** <https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591>\
**Category:** Need Help\
**Created:** [October 23, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591 "2023-10-23T16:58:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![magic77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@magic77](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/magic77)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 4:58pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591/1 "2023-10-23T16:58:29Z")

</div>

Hi,  
I have a command which binds another class.  
In this class, after sending data to Campaign Monitor, a date should be stored for the sent entities.  
For this I wanted to use the patchEntities and saveMany, but this procedure does not patch the existing but creates new ones.  
Now I don’t know what to do at this point. Does anyone of you have an idea?

this is call at execute()

```auto
    public function execute(Arguments $args, ConsoleIo $io)
    {
        $this->campaignMonitorService->processData();
    }

```

custom class

```auto
class AbandonedCarts
{
    use CampaignMonitorTrait;

    /**
     * @var \App\Model\Table\AbandonedCartsTable
     */
    private $abandonedCartsTable;

    private $abandonedCartsToSend;

    public function __construct()
    {
        $this->abandonedCartsTable = TableRegistry::getTableLocator()->get('AbandonedCarts');
        $listId = Configure::read('CampaignMonitor.abandonedCarts.listId');

        $this->initSubscribers($listId);
    }

    public function processData()
    {
        $this->abandonedCartsToSend = $this->getCandidates();
        $this->addSubscribersToList();
    }

    private function getCandidates()
    {
        $transferDelay = Configure::read('CampaignMonitor.abandonedCarts.transferDelay');

        return $this->abandonedCartsTable
            ->find()
            ->contain([
                'AbandonedCartItems' => [
                    'Products' => [
                        'fields' => ['Products.id'], // only get the id
                        'MainImage', // Use the custom association, defined in ProductsTable
                    ],
                ],
            ])
            ->where([
                'order_id IS' => null,
                'bill_email IS NOT' => null,
                'created <' => date('Y-m-d H:i:s', strtotime($transferDelay)),
                'campaign_monitor_at IS' => null,
            ]);
    }

    /**
     * Add Subscribers to Campaign Monitor List
     *
     * @return void
     * @throws \Exception
     */
    private function addSubscribersToList()
    {
        $subscriber = [];
        $currentTime = date('Y-m-d H:i:s');

        foreach ($this->abandonedCartsToSend as $abandonedCart) {
            $subscriber['EmailAddress'] = $abandonedCart->bill_email;
            $subscriber['Name'] = trim($abandonedCart->bill_first_name) . ' ' . trim($abandonedCart->bill_name);
            $subscriber['ConsentToTrack'] = 'yes';

            $this->setCustomFields($subscriber, $abandonedCart);
            $this->subscribers->add($subscriber);
        }

        $candidates = $this->getCandidates()->toList();

        $patchedCandidates = $this->abandonedCartsTable->patchEntities(
            $candidates,
            array_fill(0, count($candidates), ['campaign_monitor_at' => $currentTime])
        );
        $result = $this->abandonedCartsTable->saveMany($patchedCandidates);
    }
}

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![magic77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@magic77](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/magic77)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 5:33pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591/2 "2023-10-23T17:33:40Z")

</div>

so got a Solution using QueryBuilder

```auto
$query = $this->abandonedCartsTable->query();
$query->update()
  ->set(['campaign_monitor_at' => new Time()])
  ->where(['id IN' => $idsToPatch])
  ->execute();

```

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KevinPfeifer](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/kevinpfeifer/32/3365_2.png) [@KevinPfeifer](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/KevinPfeifer)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 5:54pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591/3 "2023-10-23T17:54:14Z")

</div>

The ORM is built in such a way that primarily you update data per row via entities.  
So if your update functionality is better suited to be represented via this kind of `id IN` then surely this is fine as well.

Just be aware this this kind of update query doesn’t trigger ORM events like `beforeSave()`

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![magic77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@magic77](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/magic77)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 6:17pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591/4 "2023-10-23T18:17:38Z")

</div>

So patchEntities/saveMany can be used at Tables/Controllers only, right?  
In this case i don’t need to trigger beforeSave()/afterSave() but what when, how to patch Entities than

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![KevinPfeifer](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/kevinpfeifer/32/3365_2.png) [@KevinPfeifer](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/KevinPfeifer)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 6:22pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591/5 "2023-10-23T18:22:40Z")

</div>

I’d recommend you watch my workshop from this year where I go over my personal best practice how to implement a sync.

See [https://www.youtube.com/live/GaCqzBuX5sc?si=oo2Umb0VooQyKKj1&t=1388](https://www.youtube.com/live/GaCqzBuX5sc?si=oo2Umb0VooQyKKj1&t=1388)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![magic77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@magic77](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/magic77)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/patchentities-creates-new-records-instead-patching-existing/11591/6 "2023-10-23T18:49:47Z")

</div>

Many Thanks for sharing your Workshop Video 🙂