PHP - Sort Array Of Objects By Date In Objects

I have the following three tables (and also delta_point and hist_point which are purposely left out and just mentioned for context).  Before going down the Doctrine ORM long curvy road, aggrType was just used to restrict possible values so that I didn't need to use MySQL's ENUM, but now I am thinking there may be value to making it an entity and include some methods (and a second reason because I still can't figure out how to make Doctrine create a FK constraint yet not populate the parent entity with a AggrType object).

point
-id (int PK)
-data
-dType /* descriminator.  Options are AggregatePoint, DeltaPoint, and HistoricPoint */

aggr_point
-id (int PK, FK to point)
-aggrType (char FK to aggrType)
-data

aggrType
-type (char PK) /* there are about five types */

I have a service to create a new point based on the provided desired type and user data.  I don't like the switch statement to determine which type of point to create, but don't know a better way.  Also my entity is responsible to provide the appropriate validation rules for the given point type which might not be considered proper but it seems to work for me.  Any constructive criticism is welcomed.

<?php
namespace NotionCommotion\PointMapper\Api\Point;
use NotionCommotion\PointMapper\Domain\Entity\Point;
class PointService
{
    public function create(string $type, array $params):integer {
        $class=[
            'aggr'=>'AggregatePoint',
            'delta'=>'DeltaPoint',
            'hist'=>'HistoricPoint',
        ][$type];
        //$class='Point\\'.$class;  //This doesn't seem to be possible and I needed to use the fully qualifed name without the short cut used namespace.
        $class='\\Greenbean\Datalogger\Domain\Entity\Point\\'.$class;
        $point=new $class();
        $validator=$this->getValidator($point);
        $params=$validator->sanitize($params);
        $validator->validate($params);
        $point->setAccount($this->account);
        $point->populate($params, $this->em); //Will be addressed later
        $this->em->persist($point);
        $this->em->flush();
        $point->setIdPublic($this->em->getRepository(Point\Point::class)->getPublicId($point->getId()));
        return $point->getIdPublic();
    }
}

Now, this is the part I am struggling with the most.  I only have one service to create any type of point, so I do wish to put a bunch of if/thens in it and instead move logic to the individual point type being created.  The AggrPoint in question requires a sub-point and I don't think it is appropriate to inject the entity manager into a point entity and as an alternative solution find an existing point which is associated with the account which resides in the new AggrPoint.  Maybe not appropriate, but it works.  This type of point also has a sub-object AggrType as discussed at the very beginning of this post, so I first attempt to create a new one from scratch, but that doesn't work and I need to set $aggrType with an existing one.  As an alternative, I passed the entity the entity manager, but as stated I think this is a bad idea.

Any recommendations where to go from here?  Thank you

namespace NotionCommotion\PointMapper\Domain\Entity\Point;
class AggregatePoint extends Point
{
    public function populate(array $params, \Doctrine\ORM\EntityManager $em):\NotionCommotion\PointMapper\Domain\Entity\Entity{
        $criteria = \Doctrine\Common\Collections\Criteria::create()
        ->where(\Doctrine\Common\Collections\Criteria::expr()->eq("id_public", $params['pointId']));
        if(!$subpoint = $this->getAccount()->getPoints()->matching($criteria)->current()){
            throw new \Exception("Invalid subpoint ID $params[pointId]");
        }
        $this->setSubpoint($subpoint);

        //This won't work since I must use an existing AggregateType and not create a new one
        $aggrType=new AggregateType();
        $aggrType->setType($params['aggrType']);

        //This just seems wrong and I shouldn't be passing the entity manager to an entity
        $aggrType=$em->getRepository(AggregateType::class)->findOneBy(['type'=>$params['aggrType']]);

        $this->setAggregateType($aggrType);

        unset($params['pointId'], $params['aggrType']);
        // parent::populate($params) not shown, but it basically calles appropriate setters based on the property name
        return parent::populate($params);
    }

    public function getValidatorRules():array
    {
        return $this->filesToArr(['/point/base.json', '/point/aggr.json']);
    }

}

Originally, I would get both, and unfortunately would inconsistently use both.  Then, I wanted more consistently, so configured php.ini to only return objects as I felt accessing them was more concise.  And then later, I found myself needing arrays more often, and initially would just typecast them to arrays but eventually my standard was to set the PDO's fetch style to an array.  And now I find myself almost always explicitly requesting arrays and occasionally requesting columns or named values.

Do you configure ATTR_DEFAULT_FETCH_MODE, and if so to what?

PS.  Anyone use FETCH_CLASS, FETCH_INTO or FETCH_NUM?  If so, what would be a good use case?

<div>

	<?php foreach($categories_array as $photo_category=>$photos_array){?>
    
    	<?php 
		$category_thumbnail = $gallery_url."/layout/pixel.gif";
		if(file_exists('files/'.$photo_category.'/thumbnail.jpg')){
			$category_thumbnail = $gallery_url.'/'.$photo_category.'/thumbnail.jpg';
		}
		
		$category_url = $gallery_url.'/'.$photo_category;
		?>
        
  		<span class="category_thumbnail_span" style="width:<?php echo $settings_thumbnail_width;?>px; height:<?php echo $settings_thumbnail_height+20;?>px;">
        <a class="category_thumbnail_image" href="<?php echo $category_url;?>" style="width:<?php echo $settings_thumbnail_width;?>px; height:<?php echo $settings_thumbnail_height;?>px; background-image:url('<?php echo $gallery_url;?>/layout/lens_48x48.png');" title="<?php echo htmlentities(ucwords(str_replace('-', ' ', $photo_category)));?>">
        <img src="<?php echo $category_thumbnail;?>" width="<?php echo $settings_thumbnail_width;?>" height="<?php echo $settings_thumbnail_height;?>" alt="<?php echo htmlentities(ucwords(str_replace('-', ' ', $photo_category)));?>" />
        </a>
        <a class="category_thumbnail_title" href="<?php echo $category_url;?>" title="<?php echo htmlentities(ucwords(str_replace('-', ' ', $photo_category)));?>">
        <?php echo htmlentities(str_replace('-',' ', truncate_by_letters($photo_category, 16, '..')), ENT_QUOTES, "UTF-8");?> (<?php echo count($photos_array);?>)
        </a>
        </span>
    

	<?php } ?>

</div>

ksort($categories_array);