cakephp select dropdown list - forms

Question

i have the following models: Student,Form,FormsStream.
the student model have foreign keys to both models. Student.form_id is a foreignKey to the form table,Student.stream_id is foreign to the FormsStream table. i already have entries for both forms and formsStreams.
to add the student Form and Stream i select both from respective drop-down list. i already created the drop-down list.
my Problem.
previously i was able to save/edit student form and stream but after making those fields foreign keys to be selected i cant save new or edit those fields. i use cakePHP 2.5.4.
however i can do that in SQL.
i cant seem to figure out the problem with the select lists.
my method to get the forms from the database
public function loadStudentForm() {
$this->loadModel('Student'); //load the associated models
$this->loadModel('Form');
$forms = $this->Form->find('list',array('fields' => 'form_name')); //get the forms from the database
$this->set('forms',$forms);
}
method to get streams from database
public function loadStreams() {
$this->loadModel('FormsStream');
$streams = $this->FormsStream->find('list',array('fields' => 'stream_name'));
$this->set('streams',$streams);
}
student add method
public function addStudent() {
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
$this->loadStudentForm();
$this->loadStreams();
$this->Student->create();
if ($this->Student->save($this->request->data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('New student record added to the database.'));
return $this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
} else {
$this->Session->setFlash(__('The student could not be added.Please ensure all fields are correctly entered'));
}
}
}
the extract from add.ctp for selecting student form and stream
echo $this->Form->input('forms',array('label' => 'Form'));
echo $this->Form->input('streams',array('label' => 'Class stream'));
so far printing contents of validateErrors shows this:
array(
'Student' => array(
'form_id' => array(
(int) 0 => 'You must select the form'
),
'stream_id' => array(
(int) 0 => 'You must choose a stream'
)
),
'Form' => array(),
'FormsStream' => array()
)
i've even tried to intercept the request in burpsuite and i can see the form and stream id are passed.just dont get why they are empty in the above array
_method=POST&data%5BStudent%5D%5Badmission_no%5D=1002&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bfirst_name%5D=peter&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bmiddle_name%5D=per&data%5BStudent%5D%5Blast_name%5D=pee&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bgender%5D=Male&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bdate_of_birth%5D%5Bmonth%5D=11&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bdate_of_birth%5D%5Bday%5D=05&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bdate_of_birth%5D%5Byear%5D=2014&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bjoin_date%5D%5Bmonth%5D=11&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bjoin_date%5D%5Bday%5D=05&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bjoin_date%5D%5Byear%5D=2014&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bforms%5D=1&data%5BStudent%5D%5Bsstrong texttreams%5D=1

Answer 1

The input must be form_id and stream_id. Even if you set them with plural form cakephp recognize it in the following form.
echo $this->Form->input('form_id',array('label' => 'Form'));
echo $this->Form->input('stream_id',array('label' => 'Class stream'));