How to set the default value in doctrine2?

#1 building

<?php
/**
 * @Entity
 */
class myEntity {
    /**
     * @var string
     *
     * @ORM\Column(name="myColumn", type="integer", options={"default" : 0})
     */
    private $myColumn;
    ...
}

Note that this uses SQL DEFAULT, which is not supported for some fields, such as BLOB and TEXT.

#2 building

Add to @ romanb brilliant answer.

This increases the cost of migration because you obviously cannot create a field with a non null constraint and no default value.

// this up() migration is autogenerated, please modify it to your needs
$this->abortIf($this->connection->getDatabasePlatform()->getName() != "postgresql");

//lets add property without not null contraint        
$this->addSql("ALTER TABLE tablename ADD property BOOLEAN");

//get the default value for property       
$object = new Object();
$defaultValue = $menuItem->getProperty() ? "true":"false";

$this->addSql("UPDATE tablename SET property = {$defaultValue}");

//not you can add constraint
$this->addSql("ALTER TABLE tablename ALTER property SET NOT NULL");

With this answer, I suggest you consider why you need the default values in the database first? Typically, it allows you to create objects with non null constraints.

#3 building

Use:

options={"default":"foo bar"}

Not at all:

options={"default"="foo bar"}

For example:

/**
* @ORM\Column(name="foo", type="smallint", options={"default":0})
*/
private $foo

#4 building

I have the same problem. I want to add the default (automatic) value of the database to the entity. Guess what, I did:)

<?php
/**
 * Created by JetBrains PhpStorm.
 * User: Steffen
 * Date: 27-6-13
 * Time: 15:36
 * To change this template use File | Settings | File Templates.
 */

require_once 'bootstrap.php';

$em->getConfiguration()->setMetadataDriverImpl(
    new \Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\Driver\DatabaseDriver(
        $em->getConnection()->getSchemaManager()
    )
);

$driver = new \Doctrine\ORM\Mapping\Driver\DatabaseDriver($em->getConnection()->getSchemaManager());
$driver->setNamespace('Models\\');

$em->getConfiguration()->setMetadataDriverImpl($driver);

$cmf = new \Doctrine\ORM\Tools\DisconnectedClassMetadataFactory();
$cmf->setEntityManager($em);
$metadata = $cmf->getAllMetadata();

// Little hack to have default values for your entities...
foreach ($metadata as $k => $t)
{
    foreach ($t->getFieldNames() as $fieldName)
    {
        $correctFieldName = \Doctrine\Common\Util\Inflector::tableize($fieldName);

        $columns = $tan = $em->getConnection()->getSchemaManager()->listTableColumns($t->getTableName());
        foreach ($columns as $column)
        {
            if ($column->getName() == $correctFieldName)
            {
                // We skip DateTime, because this needs to be a DateTime object.
                if ($column->getType() != 'DateTime')
                {
                    $metadata[$k]->fieldMappings[$fieldName]['default'] = $column->getDefault();
                }
                break;
            }
        }
    }
}

// GENERATE PHP ENTITIES!
$entityGenerator = new \Doctrine\ORM\Tools\EntityGenerator();
$entityGenerator->setGenerateAnnotations(true);
$entityGenerator->setGenerateStubMethods(true);
$entityGenerator->setRegenerateEntityIfExists(true);
$entityGenerator->setUpdateEntityIfExists(false);
$entityGenerator->generate($metadata, __DIR__);

echo "Entities created";

#5 building

If you use yaml definitions for entities, the following are valid for me in the postgresql database:

Entity\Entity_name:
    type: entity
    table: table_name
    fields: 
        field_name:
            type: boolean
            nullable: false
            options:
                default: false