Saving encrypted data to database

This is the model.


public function genCode($width = 15)

{   

    $inputKey = $this->password();

    $string = Yii::$app->security->generateRandomString($width);

    $this->_encrypted = Yii::$app->security->encryptByKey( $string, $inputKey );

    // $decrypted = Yii::$app->security->decryptByKey( $encrypted, $inputKey, $info = null );

    return $this->_encrypted;

}


public function saveCodeSample()

{

    $code = new Code;

    $code->type = 'sample';

    $code->owner_id = 1;

    $code->value = $this->genCode();

    return $code->save();

}


private function password()

{

    $inputKey = 'averyrandomandverylongstring';

    $this->_password = $inputKey;


    return $this->_password;

}

Controller sample:


public function actionTest()

{

    $codes = new CodesSetup;

    return var_dump($codes->saveCodeSample());

}

I forgot to mention that after "$code->save();" the data saved in the database is either blank or 3 characters long. Other data like "name" etc saves fine.