When I create some sort of admin panel, I usually want to know not only when a user created or edited an item (post), but also who that user was.
Considering this, I always add two additional columns to my tables: created_by and updated_by. This, along with the timestamps from Laravel, is the best way to keep track of latest changes of a database record.
In the past, when I needed to create/update a post I would use:
$post = new Post; // that means that we have a Post model... $post->title = $title; // $title is taken from the form... // other fields that must be saved $post->created_by = Auth::id(); // considering that you use the Laravel Authentication, you get the user id $post->save();
As you can see, when I created a post I added the line $post->created_by = Auth::id();. The same happens when I update a post: $post->updated_by = Auth::id();.
All goes well, but what if there was a better way to do this, just like the timestamps that Laravel inserts on every insert/update.
And it seems that there is a better way. By using the Laravel’s Model events, you can easily add values to a column on insert or update:
“Eloquent models fire several events, allowing you to hook into various points in the model’s lifecycle using the following methods: creating, created, updating, updated, saving, saved, deleting, deleted, restoring, restored.”
OK. We can modify the model so that on creating or updating a record, we can populate certain columns.
Considering we have a Post model, we can insert a boot method where we register our event bindings. That means that inside the Post class we can call that same class and attach the events to it. Let’s try it:
<?php
class Post extends Eloquent {
public static function boot()
{
parent::boot();
// first we tell the model what to do on a creating event
static::creating(function($post)
{
$post->created_by = Auth::id();
});
// // then we tell the model what to do on an updating event
static::updating(function($post)
{
$post->updated_by = Auth::id();
});
}
}
Now, whenever I create/update a post, it automatically inserts/updates the user’s id in the table.
$post = new Post; // that means that we have a Post model... $post->title = $title; // $title is taken from the form... // other fields that must be saved //no more need for $post->created_by = Auth::id(); because the model will fill that field dynamically $post->save();
