Yii model to associative array with specified relations

yii_model_relations_to_array.php

//Put these two functions in your Controller.php 
//and use like this:
//$department = Department::model->findBySql("SELECT * FROM department WHERE department_id=" . $department_id);
//$department_data = $this->get_model_associations($department,array('school'=>array('admins','pictureFile')),'students'=>array('pictureFile'));
//The first parameter is the model object, and the 2nd is an array of arrays of arrays and deep as you want to go. 
//walk model detects if the current level is an associative array or just a regular array. If it is associative,
//it recursively gets the next layer of relations and then properly nests the data 
    
    
    
    function get_model_associations($model, array $attributes) {

        $row = array();

        foreach($model as $key => $value) {
            $row[$key] = $value;
        }

        $row = $this->walk_model($model,$row,$attributes);

        return $row;
    }




    function walk_model($model, array $row,array $model_names){
        if($this->is_assoc($model_names)){
            foreach($model_names as $nested_model_name => $nested_attributes) {
                $name = trim($nested_model_name); //in case of spaces around commas
                $model_values = $model->{$name};

                //Check if the model association data is not null
                if($model_values){
                    if(is_array($model_values)){
                        for($i = 0; $i < count($model_values); ++$i){
                            $this_model = $model_values[$i];
                            $row[$name][$i] = array();
                            foreach($this_model as $key => $value) {
                                $row[$name][$i][$key] = $value;
                            }
                            $row[$name][$i] = $this->walk_model($this_model,$row[$name][$i],$nested_attributes);
                        }
                    }else{
                        foreach($model_values as $key => $value) {
                            $row[$name][$key] = $value;
                        }
                        $row[$name] = $this->walk_model($model_values,$row[$name],$nested_attributes);
                    }
                }else{
                    $relations = $model->relations();
                    $relation_type = $relations[$name][0];
                    if($relation_type == "CManyManyRelation" || $relation_type == "CHasManyRelation"){
                        $row[$name] = array();
                    }else{
                        $row[$name] = null;
                    }

                }
            }
        }else{
            foreach ($model_names as $attribute) {
                $name = trim($attribute); //in case of spaces around commas
                $model_data = $model->{$name};
                //Check if the model association data is not null
                if($model_data){
                    $row[$name] = array();
                    foreach($model_data as $key => $value) {
                        $row[$name][$key] = $value;
                    }
                }else{
                    $relations = $model->relations();
                    $relation_type = $relations[$name][0];
                    if($relation_type == "CManyManyRelation" || $relation_type == "CHasManyRelation"){
                        $row[$name] = array();
                    }else{
                        $row[$name] = null;
                    }
                }
            }
        }
        //var_dump($row);
        return $row;
    }