Using DISTINCT in a CakePHP find function

Question

I am writing a CakePHP 1.2 app. I have a list of people that I want the user to be able to filter on different fields. For each filterable field, I have a drop down list.

Answer 1

Using SQL grouping will also produce a distinct list. Not sure of the negative consequences if any, but it seems to work fine for me.

$first_names = $this->Person->find('list', array(
    'fields' => 'first_name',
    'order' => 'first_name',
    'group' => 'first_name',
    'conditions' => array('Person.status' => '1'),
));
$this->set('first_names', $first_names);