DataMapper ORM v1.8.2

[eluser]WanWizard[/eluser]
Short answer: if that is the case then you're doing something wrong.

Most common mistake: use Datamapper as a glorified query builder. I see this happen with (probably) most people that use an ORM, maybe not supprising as most documentation hints at using it that way.

What I mean with that is that you have code like this in your controller:

Code:

$u = new User();
$u->where_related('project/task/status', 'label', 'completed')->get();

which basically isn't much different then using a normal QB, albeit probably less complex as the ORM will abstract the complex joins behind it.

Instead, you should still use the Model as intended in the MVC architecture, which is to abstract your data interaction away from your controller. So given the exampla above, your model should contain a method like

Code:

public function get_by_project_status($status = 'completed')
{
    // reset the current object
    $this->clear();

    // run the query
    $this->where_related('project/task/status', 'label', $status)->get();

    // return the object for chaining
    return $this;
}

and then in your controller use

Code:

$u = new User();
$u->get_by_project_status('open');

Note that this is just an example, you'd probably will make the methods a bit more generic, and you might include some post-processing as a well (for example array conversions for dropdowns)...