Paginate from within a model in CakePHP

Question

I have a function in my Event model called getEvents - you can pass limit, start and end dates, fields,

Answer 1

The paginate() model method does not accept the same parameters as a find(). Specifically, find() wants an array of options, but paginate() wants every option passed individually. See Custom Query Pagination in the CakePHP book.

So, instead of:

$data = $this->paginate($qOptions);

You want something like:

$data = $this->paginate($qOptions['conditions'], $qOptions['fields'], ...);

EDIT

Custom model pagination isn't a function that you call. It's a function that you need to implement and will be called by the CakePHP framework. In the example in your question you are trying to manually call $this->paginate(...) from somewhere in your model. That doesn't work. Instead, do this.

In your model, implement the paginate and paginateCount methods.

function paginate($conditions, $fields, ...)
{
    // return some data here based on the parameters passed
}

function paginateCount($conditions, ...)
{
    // return some rowcount here based off the passed parameters
}

Then, in your controller you can use the standard pagination functions.

function index()
{
    $this->paginate = array('MyModel' => array(
        'conditions' => array(...),
        'fields' => array(...),
    ));

    $this->set('myobjects', $this->paginate('MyModel'));
}

Now, the Controller::paginate() function will grab the conditions and other data from the Controller::paginate parameter and, instead of passing it to your Model::find it will pass it to your custom Model::paginate() and Model::paginateCount() functions. So, the data that is returned is based on whatever you do in those two methods and not based on a standard find(). }