Your SQL syntax in incorrect. Try: SELECT SUM(customerpurchases.amount) AS total From customerpurchases WHERE customerbill_id = $billid
This can be written as a find(): $total = $this->CustomerPurchases->find('first', array('conditions'=>array('customerbill_id'=>$billid), 'fields'=>array('sum(customerpurchases.amount) as total')); If you then do a debug($total) you will get something like: Array ( [0] => Array ( [$total] => <some_number> ) ) Using find() instead query() gives all kinds of benefits like increased security and the ability to use the Containable behavior properly. Try to follow the conventions. HTH, Ken -- Our newest site for the community: CakePHP Video Tutorials http://tv.cakephp.org Check out the new CakePHP Questions site http://ask.cakephp.org and help others with their CakePHP related questions. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to cake-php+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cake-php