Fat Models

no not those models :P CakePHP models :)

If you find your self doing something like this in the controller:

$this->A_Model->query("update somedatabase set idstatus = '".$idstatus."', statuslastmodified = '".time()."' where idproject = '".$idproject."' and UID= '".$UID."'");


consider putting this type of logic as a function in the model and then calling the function.

Better yet try not to use custom queries if you can and use the model's built in functions.