Question

I have this situation:

Abstract Class:

abstract class AbstractBase
{
    /**
     * @ORM\Id
     * @ORM\GeneratedValue
     * @ORM\Column(type="integer")
     * @var integer
     */
    protected $id;

    /**
     * @ORM\Column(type="datetime", name="updated_at")
     * @var \DateTime $updatedAt
     */
    protected $updatedAt;

    /**
     * @ORM\PreUpdate
     */
    public function setUpdatedAt()
    {
        die('THIS POINT IS NEVER REACHED');
        $this->updatedAt = new \DateTime();
    }
}

Concrete Class:

/**
 * @ORM\Entity(repositoryClass="Entity\Repository\UserRepository")
 * @ORM\Table(name="users")
 * @ORM\HasLifecycleCallbacks
 */
class User extends AbstractBase
{
    // some fields, relations and setters/getters defined here, these all work as expected.
}

Then i call it in my controller like this:

$user = $this->em->find('Entity\User', 1);
// i call some setters here like $user->setName('asd');
$this->em->flush();
die('end');

Everything works as expected, so the id field from the abstract class gets created for the User entity, i can access it etc.
The problem is, that the line “die(‘THIS POINT IS NEVER REACHED’)” is never reached. (Note the @ORM\PreUpdate) This means that lifecycleCallbacks are not called on
inherited objects. Is this a bug, or is there a reason for this?

Answer 1

Your abstract base class has to be anotated as Mapped Superclasses and include the HasLifecycleCallbacks-Annotation.

Further Information: Inheritance Mapping in the Doctrine Documentation.

/**
 * @ORM\MappedSuperclass
 * @ORM\HasLifecycleCallbacks
 */
abstract class AbstractBase
{
    [...]

    /**
     * @ORM\PreUpdate
     */
    public function setUpdatedAt()
    {
        $this->updatedAt = new \DateTime();
    }
}

/**
 * @ORM\Entity(repositoryClass="Entity\Repository\UserRepository")
 * @ORM\Table(name="users")
 */
class User extends AbstractBase
{
    // some fields, relations and setters/getters defined here, these all work as expected.
}