Cakephp 3 Dynamic limit parameter when using contain - sorting

Question

CakePHP Version 3.5.5
My end goal is to provide the user the functionality to change the amount of results displayed via a select list on the index view. Also I need the initial page load to be sorted by area_name asc.
// WHAT I'VE DONE
I changed where I was stipulated the limit parameter which can be seen below.
// AREAS CONTROLLER
public $paginate = [
'sortWhitelist' => [
'Areas.area_name', 'Users.first_name', 'Users.last_name'
]
//'limit' => 1, // REMOVED FROM HERE
//'order' => [ // REMOVED FROM HERE
//'Areas.area_name' => 'asc'
//]
];
public function index()
{
$query = $this->Areas->find('all')
->contain([
'Users'
])
->where(['Areas.status' => 1]);
$limit = 1;
$this->paginate = [
'order' => ['Areas.area_name' => 'asc'], // ADDED HERE
'limit' => $limit // ADDED HERE
];
$this->set('areas', $this->paginate($query));
}
And I declare the pagination sort links like:
// AREAS INDEX VIEW
<?= $this->Paginator->sort('Areas.area_name', __('Area Name')) ?>
<?= $this->Paginator->sort('Users.first_name', __('First Name')) ?>
<?= $this->Paginator->sort('Users.last_name', __('Last Name')) ?>
// RESULT
The above code works on all index methods within the application that don't use contain but when I implemented this solution here everything worked except I cannot sort on the associated data - IE: Users first and last name?
=========================================================================
WHAT I'VE TRIED
// Attempt 1
I added an initialize method above the public $paginate class like:
public function initialize()
{
$limit = 1;
}
public $paginate = [
'sortWhitelist' => [
'Areas.area_name', 'Users.first_name', 'Users.last_name'
]
'limit' => $limit,
'order' => [
'Areas.area_name' => 'asc'
]
];
public function index()
{
$query = $this->Areas->find('all')
->contain([
'Users'
])
->where(['Areas.status' => 1]);
$this->set('areas', $this->paginate($query));
}
And the view I left the same.
// Result for Attempt 1
syntax error, unexpected ''limit'' (T_CONSTANT_ENCAPSED_STRING), expecting ']' on line 36 which is 'limit' => $limit,
=========================================================================
// Attempt 2
I tried to add the limit parameter and order array to the query like:
public function index()
{
$limit = 1;
$query = $this->Areas->find('all')
->contain([
'Users'
])
->where(['Areas.status' => 1])
->order(['Areas.area_name' => 'asc'])
->limit($limit);
$this->set('areas', $this->paginate($query));
}
// Result for Attempt 2
The result set was not ordered by the area_name and not limited to 1 result.
=========================================================================
// Attempt 3
I then changed the query and tried the following just to see if I could get a dynamic limit working:
$limit = 1;
$query = $this->Areas->find('all')
->contain('Users', function ($q) {
return $q
//->order('Areas.area_name' => 'asc'),
->limit($limit);
})
->where(['Areas.status' => 1]);
$this->set('areas', $this->paginate($query));
// Result for Attempt 3
The result set was not limited to 1 result.
=========================================================================
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
// USERS TABLE
$this->hasOne('Areas', [
'foreignKey' => 'user_id'
]);
// AREAS TABLE
$this->belongsTo('Users', [
'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
'joinType' => 'INNER'
]);
I searched through the following cookbook sections (Pagination, Query Builder, Retrieving Data & Result Sets and Associations - Linking Tables Together) but I can't find a way to get this working so any help would be much appreciated.
Many thanks. Z.

Answer 1

You are overwriting the $paginate property in your index() method, so your settings including the whitelist are being lost.
Set the keys directly instead:
$this->paginate['order'] = ['Areas.area_name' => 'asc'];
$this->paginate['limit'] = $limit;