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Finding records by primary key

Finding a record by its primary key is done by using the find method. This method returns false if no records were found.

$user = User::find(1);

if ($user !== false) {
    // do something
}

If you want to find multiple records by their primary key, you can use the findMany method which will return an array of models, or an empty array if no records were found. This method takes as an argument an array containing primary key values.

$users = User::findMany([1, 2, 3]);

foreach ($users as $user) {
    // do something
}

You can load all records from a model’s table by using the findAll method.

$users = User::findAll();

foreach ($users as $user) {
    // do something
}

You can specify which columns to be included by passing an array of column names to the find, findMany or findAll methods.

$user = User::find(1, ['name', 'age']);

$users = User::findMany([1, 2, 3], ['name', 'age']);

$users = User::findAll(['name', 'age']);

Accessing column values

Accessing the column values of the model is done by accessing the corresponding property of the model instance.

foreach (User::findAll() as $user) {
    echo $user->name, PHP_EOL;
}

You can alias a column’s name by setting a $mapColumns property on the model’s class.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    protected $mapColumns = ['registration_email' => 'registrationEmail'];
}

In the above example, a column named registration_email was mapped to registrationEmail. Now we can access the registrationEmail property on a model instance to retrieve the value of the registration_email column.

foreach (User::findAll() as $user) {
    echo $user->registrationEmail, PHP_EOL;
}

Mutators

Mutators allow to intercept and change the value that is going to be set to a property of the model. Defining a mutator is done by creating a method that has the same name as the property, followed by the Mutator suffix.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    public function passwordMutator($value)
    {
        return password_hash($value, PASSWORD_DEFAULT);
    }
}

// ...

$user = new User;

$user->name = 'John Doe';
$user->password = $secret;

$user->save();

Accessors

Accessors allow you to intercept and modify the value returned by accessing a property of a model. You can define an accessor for a model’s property by adding a method with the same name as the property, followed by the Accessor suffix.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    public function registrationDateAccessor($value)
    {
        return new DateTime($value);
    }
}

// ...

$user = User::find(1);

echo $user->registrationDate->format('Y-m-d H:i:s');

Type casting

You can cast a column’s value from one type to another by using the $cast property. The supported cast types are: integer, float, string, boolean, date and array.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    protected $cast = ['is_admin' => 'boolean'];
    
    protected $mapColumns = ['is_admin' => 'isAdmin'];
    
}

// ...

$user = User::find(1);

if ($user->isAdmin) {
    // do something
}

The array type cast is used to deserialize JSON into a PHP array. You can modify that array and set it back as property and the array will be automatically serialized back into JSON.

class Page extends BaseModel
{
    protected $cast = ['keywords' => 'array'];
    
}

// ...

$page = Page::find(1);

$keywords = $page->keywords;

if (!in_array('ORM', $keywords)) {
    $keyowrds[] = 'ORM';
}

$page->keywords = $keywords;
$page->save();

Custom type casting

This feature is available starting with version 3.3.2.

You can define a new casting type or how a casting operation is handled by using the $castType property. If your cast callback is a non-static method on the current class, just use as a callback the method’s name prefixed with @. The callback takes as arguments the cast’s name and the value that needs to be casted.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    protected $cast = [
        'registration_date' => 'date',
        'is_admin' => 'boolean',
    ];
    
    protected $castType = [
        'boolean' => [__CLASS__, 'castBoolean'],
        'date' => '@castDate'
    ];
    
    
    // Non-static handler
    protected function castDate($cast, $value)
    {
        // ...
    }
    
    // Static handler
    protected static function castBoolean($cast, $value)
    {
        // ...
    }
}

Performing queries

Since model classes are basically build over a query builder, you can use them to perform complex queries by adding filters, limits, joins or ordering criteria to your queries. Retrieving the results of a query is done by using the all method. The method returns an array of models or an empty array if no records were found.

$users = User::where('age')->atLeast(18)
             ->orderBy('age')
             ->all();

Retrieving only the first result of a query is done by using the first method. This method returns false if no records were found.

$user = User::where('age')->atLeast(18)
            ->orderBy('age')
            ->limit(1)
            ->first();

Query scopes

Scopes allow you to define sets of constraints that you can utilize by calling a single method. Defining a scope is simply a matter of adding a method that contains the Scope suffix. Scopes must always return an instance of the query builder.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    public function fullAgedScope($query)
    {
        return $query->where('age')->atLeast(18);
    }
}

To use the newly created scope simply make a call that utilizes the scope method’s name without the Scope suffix.

// Return a list of full-aged users
$users = User::fullAged()
             ->orderBy('name')
             ->all();

Joins

All records returned by a query that uses joins will be marked as read-only records.

A possible use case for joins is when you want, for example, to return a list with all users that have written at least one article.

$users = User::join('articles', function($join){
                $join->on('users.id', 'articles.user_id');
             })
             ->all();

The above example will return duplicates if a user have written multiple articles. This can be solved by selecting only the distinct users with the help of the distinct method.

$users = User::join('articles', function($join){
                $join->on('users.id', 'articles.user_id');
             })
             ->distinct()
             ->all();

Single column’s value

Retrieving a single column’s value is done by using the column method. The method returns the scalar value of the column or false if no records were found.

$name = User::where('id')->is(1)->column('name');

Aggregates

You can also use all the aggregates functions. These methods return scalar values.

$count = User::count();

$max = User::max('age');

$avg = User::avg('age');

Inserting records

Inserting new records is done by creating a new instance of a model, setting the desired attributes on the model’s instance and then calling the model’s save method.

$user = new User;

$user->name = 'John Doe';
$user->email = 'foo@example.com';
$user->age = 18;

$user->save();

Updating records

Updating a model consists in retrieving the model, setting the properties you want to update, and finally calling the save method.

$user = User::find(1);

$user->email = 'bar@example.com';

$user->save();

You can also update models that match a given query by using the update method.

User::where('id')->is(1)
    ->update(['is_active' => true]);

Read-only records

By default, the models retrieved using join clauses are marked as read-only. Trying to save or to update a read-only model will result into an exception being thrown. A model can also be explicitly marked as being read-only by setting the model’s $readonly property to true.

class Comment extends BaseModel
{
    protectd $readonly = true;
}

Mass assignment

Another way of creating or updating models is through mass assignment. Creating a model through mass assignment is done by using the create method. The method returns the instance of the inserted model.

$user = User::create(['name' => 'John Doe',
                      'email' => 'foo@example.com',
                      'age' => 18]);

Updating an existing model is done by using the assign method on the model’s instance.

$user = User::find(1);

$user->assign(['email' => 'bar@example.com']);

$user->save();

Fillable attributes

You can define which properties of the model can be set through mass assignment by using the $fillable property. The property must contain an array with all the column names that can receive values through mass assignment.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    protected $fillable = ['name', 'email', 'age'];
}

Guarded attributes

Defining which properties of a model are not fillable is done by using the $guarded property. The property must contain an array with all the column names that can not receive values through mass assignment.

The $guarded attributes serve as a black list while the $fillable attributes serve as a white list. You should only use one of this two, not both.

class User extends BaseModel
{
    protected $guarded = ['id', 'is_active', 'is_admin'];
}

Deleting records

Deleting a record form the database can be done by calling the delete method on a model’s instance.

$user = User::find(1);

$user->delete();

You can also use a query if you want to select a set of models that needs to be deleted.

User::where('age')->lessThan(18)
    ->delete();