Save Method in Cake 4

Need Help
1

Hallo,
I have a function in the Model Table saving new records. This was used in Cake 3 for years.
Now as I am on Cake 4 I recognize problems, the data are not stored and some other curious things happen. I have changed from newEntety to newEmptyEntety.
Error: Cake\ORM\Table::save() must implement interface Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface, instance of stdClass given.
The model includes:
use Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface;
What is the correct usage and where do have look for the error?
Kind regards

    $ready = true;
    $numbers = array();
    $numbers[] = $newYear;
    $ccTable = TableRegistry::get('Costcenters');
    $heute = getdate();
    foreach ($tags as $key => $value) {
        $orgkey = str_replace('Field', '', $key);
        
        $account = $this->find()
                ->where(['account_no' => $orgkey])
                ->where(['year' => $newYear -1])
                ->toList();
   
        $numbers[] = $orgkey;
        
        $ewAccount = $this->newEmptyEntity();
                   
        $newAccount->account_no = $account[0]['account_no'];
        $newAccount->frame_id   = $account[0]['frame_id'];
        $newAccount->category_id = $account[0]['category_id'];
        $newAccount->name = $account[0]['name'];
        $newAccount->year = $newYear;
        $newAccount->closed = 0;
        $newAccount->start = 0;
        $newAccount->end =  0;
        $newAccount->actTrans = 0;
        $newAccount->pasTrans = 0;
        $newAccount->budget = 0; 
        $newAccount->created = $heute;
        $numbers[] = $newAccount->name;
        $this->save($newAccount);

}

2

What you are trying to do here should be done in some sort of service outside of the model.
See CakeFest Virtual 2021 Day 2 - How to re use code: Utility Classes and PHP Namespaces - Kevin Pfeifer - YouTube on how to do that.

Calling ->save() inside the table class itself is really not recommended.

Regarding the typical create and patch methodology i would recommend something like this

foreach ($items as $item) :
    $entity = $this->MyModelTableClass->find()
        ->where(['some_field_ident' => $identifier])
        ->first();

    // Update or create depending if the given entity is already present
    if (!$entity instanceof MyModelEntityClass) {
        $entity = $this->MyModelTableClass->newEmptyEntity();
    }

    $data = [
        'some_field_ident' => $item['identifier'],
        'other_field' => $item['otherField',
        // add more fields here
    ];

    $entity = $this->MyModelTableClass->patchEntity($entity, $data);

    if ($this->MyModelTableClass->save($entity)) {
        // Success
    } else {
        // Somethings wrong
        $outcome['error'][] = $entity->getErrors();
    }

    $touchedIds[] = $item['identifier'];
endforeach;

// Check touched_ids with ids currently in db
if (!empty($touchedIds)) :
    $dbEntries = $this->MyModelTableClass->find('list', [
        'valueField' => 'some_field_ident',
    ])
        ->toArray();
    $diff = array_diff($dbEntries, $touchedIds);
    if (!empty($diff)) :
        $this->MyModelTableClass->deleteAll(['some_field_ident IN' => $diff]);
    endif;
endif;

some_field_ident should be something unique inside your entries

3

Hello.

I think the problem is corrected by changing these lines to the following:

For this other one:

$newAccount = $this->ModelName->newEmptyEntity();

This line creates a new empty model entity.

Then change this other line

for this other one:

$this->ControllerName->save($newAccount);

The rest of the code has functional logic.

In CakePHP 4, controllers and models must be called in order to manipulate them, like so:

Controller:
$this->controllerName->actionName

Model:
$this->modelName->actionName

I hope this information helps you.

4

Thanks for your input. I have moved the function from the Model into a Component und I am happy with your suggestions. Klaus