New syntax for “order by” clauses with several columns

Up to now you defined an “order by” clause with several columns in the following way:

$this->User->findAll(null, null, 'User.lastname ASC, User.firstname ASC');

In the coming release of CakePHP that will no longer work, it causes an “Unknown column” error. You have to use a new syntax:

$this->User->findAll(null, null,
                                    array('User.lastname' => 'ASC', 'User.firstname' => 'ASC'));

Update (2006-02-16): The statement above could be simplified in the following way:

$this->User->findAll(null, null, array('User.lastname', 'User.firstname'));

You only have to use the key/value syntax if you want a descending order:

$this->User->findAll(null, null, array('User.lastname', 'User.firstname' => 'DESC'));

Thanks to PhpNut for that hint.