Only update password if field is filled in

My view:

<tr>
<td>Username</td>
<td><?php echo $this->Form->input('User.username', array('label' => '')); ?></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Password</td>
<td><?php echo $this->Form->password('User.password', array('label' => '', 'value'=>'')); ?></td>
</tr>

My controller:

function edit($id = null) {

$this->User->id = $id;

$data = $this->data;
# print_r($data);

if (empty($data)) {
$this->data = $this->User->read();
} else {
if ($this->User->save($data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash('The user details have been updated.');
$this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
}
}

}

At the moment when I submit the form with a blank password the hash in the database still changes. How can I only update the password hash if a new password has been filled in.

Thanks.

EDIT: $data['User']['password'] is always a hash and never empty!

If the password field is empty unset it.

else {
if(empty($data['User']['password']))
{
unset($data['User']['password']);
}
if ($this->User->save($data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash('The user details have been updated.');
$this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
}
}

You can `unset` the variable from `$data`

function edit($id = null) {

$this->User->id = $id;

$data = $this->data;

if (empty($data)) {
$this->data = $this->User->read();
} else {
if($data['User']['password'] == ''){
unset($data['User']['password']);
}
if ($this->User->save($data)) {
$this->Session->setFlash('The user details have been updated.');
$this->redirect(array('action' => 'index'));
}
}
}

You could try updating only specific fields, based on an IF case:

if(empty($data['User']['password']))
{
$this->User->id = $user_i; // specify which User to update
//update only username
$this->User->save(array('User'=>array('User.username'=>$data['User']['username'])));
}
else{
//save as before
}

you can use a behavior which handles it for you:

[To see links please register here]

you would then use the field "pwd" and set confirm to false (if you dont want the pwd_confirm field)

CakePHP 1.3 automatically hashes the `password` field. CakePHP 2.0 doesn't.

You have a few options (from worst to best, in my opinion):

1. Rename your field and swap it before saving

if ($data['User']['new_password'] != '') {
$data['User']['password'] = $this->Auth->password($data['User']['new_password']);
}

2. Hash the string in your equality check

if ($data['User']['password'] == $this->Auth->password('')) {
unset($data['User']['password']);
}

3. Change the hash function to one that doesn't hash empty passwords [see [book][1] for configuration]:

function hashPasswords($data) {
if (!empty($this->data['User']['password'])) {
$this->data['User']['password'] = $this->Auth->password($this->data['User']['password']);
}
return $data;
}

[1]:

[To see links please register here]