Can't delete objects due to foreign key constraints - debugging

Question

This is a strange one
Take this schema:
Contact:
actAs: [Timestampable,SoftDelete]
columns:
first_name: { type: string(255), notnull: true }
second_name: { type: string(255), notnull: true }
relations:
Forums:
class: Forum
refClass: ContactForum
local: forum_id
foreign: contact_id
foreignAlias: Contacts
ContactForums:
local: id
foreign: contact_id
class: ContactForum
type: many
foreignType: one
cascade: [delete]
Forum:
actAs: [Timestampable,SoftDelete]
columns:
name: { type: string(255), notnull: true }
relations:
ContactForums:
class: ContactForum
local: id
foreign: forum_id
type: many
cascade: [delete]
ContactForum:
actAs: [Timestampable]
columns:
contact_id: { type: integer, primary: true }
forum_id: { type: integer, primary: true }
Then if we associate a couple of Forum objects to a Contact object and then try and delete this Contact object we get this error message:
Integrity constraint violation: 19
contact_forum.created_at may not be
NULL
If you add SoftDelete to the link table the delete works correctly, and so does the SoftDelete. However we don't want SoftDelete on the link table as it means our primary keys don't work correctly. Is this a bug?

Answer 1

This is a doctrine bug. Bug report here: http://www.doctrine-project.org/jira/browse/DC-795 with patch to fix.

Answer 2

I think your ids for your many to many relationship are screwed up, assuming that symphony is using Doctrine 1.2.2. Try this:
Contact:
actAs: [Timestampable,SoftDelete]
columns:
first_name: { type: string(255), notnull: true }
second_name: { type: string(255), notnull: true }
relations:
Forums:
refClass: ContactForum
local: contact_id
foreign: forum_id
cascade: [delete]
Forum:
actAs: [Timestampable,SoftDelete]
columns:
name: { type: string(255), notnull: true }
relations:
Contacts:
refClass: ContactForum
local: forum_id
foreign: contact_id
cascade: [delete]
ContactForum:
actAs: [Timestampable]
columns:
contact_id: { type: integer, primary: true }
forum_id: { type: integer, primary: true }
In the relationship, when specifying the class with refClass, local and foreign mean "the column on this other class' table that represents me" and "the column on this other classes table that represents the other", respectively.
Edit: I'm not sure if your definition for the Forums relation under Contact is correct either. Assuming you just need a many-to-many relationship, it can be removed.
Double Edit: Look. Here is all the schema you should need for properly functioning and cascading many-to-many relationships. You shouldn't need two relationships defined to properly cascade deletes.