Question

Scenario:
The method in the controller that saves the data is using some complex calculations on the results of the first Model->save() call.
The result then saved in a related-associated model. sometimes it fails..

Is there a built-in way to do it with cake, which will delete the first record when the second save has failed?

Answer 1

If you absolutely can’t do these calculations in the app without first saving into the database, use Transactions:

$dbo = $this->Model->getDataSource();
$dbo->begin($this->Model);

$this->Model->save(...);

/* here be dragons */

if (/* success */) {
    $dbo->commit($this->Model);
} else {
    $dbo->rollback($this->Model);
}

That requires that you use a database and storage engine that supports transactions, like MySQL’s InnoDB.