Bug: DatetimeCast does not support 'date' parameter even though Config\Database::$dateFormat['date'] exists

[stalker1980]

PHP Version

8.2, 8.4

CodeIgniter4 Version

4.6.1

CodeIgniter4 Installation Method

Composer (using codeigniter4/appstarter)

Which operating systems have you tested for this bug?

Linux

Which server did you use?

apache

Database

MariaDB

What happened?

When attempting to cast a database column of type DATE using the 'date' key in the model's $casts array, the system fails with an I18nException because the internal DatetimeCast handler attempts to use the long 'Y-m-d H:i:s' format.

This behavior prevents the correct casting of DATE fields to Time objects when the standard 'date' cast is used.

Steps to Reproduce

Create a model with a column named start_date that is defined as DATE in the database.

Set the cast for this column to 'date':

PHP

protected array $casts = [
// ... other fields ...
'start_date' => 'date',
];
Attempt to retrieve a record using the model (e.g., $model->find(1)).

Expected Result: The start_date field is successfully cast to a CodeIgniter\I18n\Time object, using the 'Y-m-d' format defined by $db->dateFormat['date'].

Actual Result: An I18nException is thrown: "Y-m-d H:i:s" is not a valid datetime format.

Expected Output

Extend getDateTimeFormat() in CodeIgniter\DataCaster\Cast\DatetimeCast
to include the 'd' parameter, for example:
PHP
protected static function getDateTimeFormat(array $params, BaseConnection $db): string
{
return match ($params[0] ?? '') {
'' => $db->dateFormat['datetime'],
'ms' => $db->dateFormat['datetime-ms'],
'us' => $db->dateFormat['datetime-us'],
'd' => $db->dateFormat['date'],
default => throw new InvalidArgumentException('Invalid parameter: ' . $params[0]),
};
}
PHP

and use in model
PHP
protected array $casts = [
'start_date' => 'datetime[d]',
'end_date' => 'datetime[d]',
PHP

The 'date' key in Config\Database::$dateFormat is documented in the user guide,
so it seems this should be supported for consistency.

Anything else?

Thanks for your great work on CI4!
Best regards,
Yevhen

[neznaika0]

The $dateFormat setting is for the Model or Connection. Therefore, it is not counted in the DatetimeCast. This is not really an error, as you can specify a type of 'time' => 'H:i:s' and get an error.
I assume that the datetime should contain the time. You can create a similar option for DateCast, TimeCast or send a PR.

// CodeIgniter\BaseModel::intToDate
    protected function intToDate(int $value)
    {
        return match ($this->dateFormat) {
            'int'      => $value,
            'datetime' => date($this->db->dateFormat['datetime'], $value),
            'date'     => date($this->db->dateFormat['date'], $value),
            default    => throw ModelException::forNoDateFormat(static::class),
        };
    }

Please use the edit panel "<>" for formatting or enclose the code in
```php
// code here
```

[stalker1980]

Thank you for the answer!
I just followed the section in the documentation:
https://codeigniter.com/user_guide/models/model.html#defining-data-types

Then, knowing that you can pass parameters to casts and seeing them in Config\Database, I thought it should work 🙂
But I see now how it actually behaves.