# \[Solved\] Mutator not working

**URL:** <https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/solved-mutator-not-working/2974>\
**Category:** Need Help\
**Created:** [August 2, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/solved-mutator-not-working/2974 "2017-08-02T18:33:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rogerpro](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/rogerpro/32/466_2.png) [@rogerpro](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/rogerpro)\
**Post date:** [August 2, 2017, 6:33pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/solved-mutator-not-working/2974/1 "2017-08-02T18:33:00Z")

</div>

I have an integer `duration` field where I’m storing elapsed times in integer seconds.

For instance:

- `23` means 23 seconds
- `62` means 1 minute and 2 seconds
- `3600` means exactly one hour

I want to show the formatted elapsed time every time I’m showing this field, so I did this accesor:

```auto
    protected function _getDuration($duration)
    {
        return isset($duration) ? (new FrozenTime($duration))->format('G:i:s') : '';
    }

```

…and it works well with already saved data in the database.

So, then I did a mutator:

```auto
    protected function _setDuration($duration)
    {
        return $duration;
    }

```

I don’t want to convert the duration field when saving, because it already comes from a `beforeSave` method on the table, which returns the value exactly as it should be saved:

```auto
    public function beforeSave(Event $event, Session $session)
    {
        $begin = $session->begin;
        $end = $session->end;
        
        // Only if session ended
        if (isset($end)) {
            $session->set('duration', $this->getInterval($begin, $end));
        }
    }

```

From what I understand reading [https://book.cakephp.org/3.0/en/orm/entities.html#accessors-mutators](https://book.cakephp.org/3.0/en/orm/entities.html#accessors-mutators), everything should work well. But the actual result is that the integer value saved is the rounded number of hours (not seconds!).

For instance:

- 30 seconds is saved as 0
- 59 minutes and 59 secons is saved as 0
- 1 hour is saved as 1
- 4 hours and 59 minutes is saved as 4

Apparently, Cake is using the accessor when saving the data, along with the mutator. If this is the case, **WHY**?

I expect Cake to use the accessor when reading the field and the mutator when saving it. That’s all.

Any idea? Thanks.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![xaphalanx](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/xaphalanx/32/575_2.png) [@xaphalanx](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/xaphalanx)\
**Post date:** [August 3, 2017, 2:26pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/solved-mutator-not-working/2974/2 "2017-08-03T14:26:48Z")

</div>

For saving in and out of the database you probably want to use complex types.

[https://book.cakephp.org/3.0/en/orm/saving-data.html#saving-complex-types](https://book.cakephp.org/3.0/en/orm/saving-data.html#saving-complex-types)

---

<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rogerpro](https://yyz1.discourse-cdn.com/flex029/user_avatar/discourse.cakephp.org/rogerpro/32/466_2.png) [@rogerpro](https://discourse.cakephp.org/u/rogerpro)\
**Post date:** [August 4, 2017, 10:00pm UTC](https://discourse.cakephp.org/t/solved-mutator-not-working/2974/3 "2017-08-04T22:00:05Z")

</div>

Actually, the saved data is just an integer.

Finally, I did it with a virtual property after getting info on [https://github.com/cakephp/cakephp/issues/10993](https://github.com/cakephp/cakephp/issues/10993)

Thanks, anyhow.