symfony2 - add value to protected object

Question

How can I set the protected object user? After filling the form i have to add user object with current user data (for example like saving comments). I tried something like that:

  if ($form->isValid()) {
        $comment = $form->getData();
        $comment->user = $this->contextSecurity->getToken()->getUser();
        $this->model->save($comment);
  }

And i've got this error

FatalErrorException: Error: Cannot access protected property AppBundle\Entity\Comment::$user in /home/AppBundle/Controller/CommentsController.php line 184

Here is my Comment entity:

class Comment
{
    /**
     * Id.
     *
     * @ORM\Id
     * @ORM\Column(
     *     type="integer",
     *     nullable=false,
     *     options={
     *         "unsigned" = true
     *     }
     * )
     * @ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="IDENTITY")
     *
     * @var integer $id
     */
    private $id;

    /**
     * Content.
     *
     * @ORM\Column(
     *     name="content",
     *     type="string",
     *     length=250,
     *     nullable=false
     * )
     * @Assert\NotBlank(groups={"c-default"})
     * @Assert\Length(min=3, max=250, groups={"c-default"})
     *
     * @var string $content
     */
    private $content;

    /**
     * @ORM\ManyToOne(targetEntity="User", inversedBy="comments")
     * @ORM\JoinColumn(name="user_id", referencedColumnName="id", nullable=false)
     */
    protected $user;

I'm using Symfony2.3. Any help will be appreciated.

Answer 1

You can't modify protected properties from outside of the object. You need a public property or a setter for that.

class Comment
{
    // ...

    public function setUser(User $user)
    {
        $this->user = $user;
    }
}

And in a controller you can write:

$comment->setUser($this->getUser());