Time Type

TimeStringType

The TimeStringType can be used to represent a specific string field for HH:MM:SS times. It keeps the string type, but makes sure the format is normalized and valid.

Besides strings, it accepts arrays from legacy dropdown controls. CakePHP 5 uses an HTML time input by default, so submit a full HH:MM:SS string; a value without seconds is rejected by this type.

$data = [
    // ...
    'closing_time' => [
        'hour' => '1',
        'minute' => '12',
        'second' => '20',
    ],
];
$entity = $this->Table->newEntity($data);
// $entity->closing_time is now 01:12:20

To set it up for a specific field:

// In your Table::initialize(), after parent::initialize($config).
$this->getSchema()->setColumnType('closing_time', 'time');

Then make sure you mapped the type to a class in your config:

// In your bootstrap
use Cake\Database\TypeFactory;

TypeFactory::map('time', 'Shim\Database\Type\TimeStringType');

If you want to disable 24:00:00 as the valid upper boundary (and transform it to 00:00:00 instead):

// In your bootstrap
\Shim\Database\Type\TimeStringType::$normalizeUpperBoundary = true;

Invalid values

Invalid strings become null. Missing array parts default to 00. Add validation if an invalid or missing time must prevent a save. Mapping time changes all columns using that type; use a separate type name and assign it to selected columns when you need the core time type elsewhere.