Laravel Search String

 

Laravel Search String is a package by Loris Leiva that generates database queries based on one unique string using a simple and customizable syntax.

Laravel Search String provides a simple solution for scoping your database queries using a human-readable and customizable syntax. It will transform a simple string into a powerful query builder.

Here’s a nice visual example of what this all means taken from the project’s readme:

Here’s a brief code example that is taken from the readme using the search string and the equivalent query builder:

Article::usingSearchString('title:"My blog article" or not published sort:-created_at');

// Equivalent to:
Article::where('title', 'My blog article')
       ->orWhere('published', false)
       ->orderBy('created_at', 'desc');

Check out the documentation for full details on the extensive search syntax and all the customizations you can make. You can learn more about this package and check out the source code on GitHub at lorisleiva/laravel-search-string.

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Laravel Custom Casts Package

 

The Laravel Custom Casts package by Vladimir Ković enables you to make your own custom cast types in Eloquent models:

Laravel custom casts works similarly to Laravel attribute casting, but with our custom defined logic (in separated class). Beside casting to our complex types, this package gives us the ability to listen and react to underlying model events.

Here’s an example model utilizing a custom cast class:

namespace App;

use App\CustomCasts\NameCast;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Vkovic\LaravelCustomCasts\HasCustomCasts;

class User extends Model
{
    use HasCustomCasts;

    protected $casts = [
        'is_admin' => boolean // <-- Laravel default cast type
        'name' => NameCast::class // <-- Our custom cast class (follow section below)
    ];
}

With the above model in mind, here’s an example of the custom cast class:

namespace App\CustomCasts;

use Vkovic\LaravelCustomCasts\CustomCastBase;

class NameCast extends CustomCastBase
{
    public function setAttribute($value)
    {
        return ucwords($value);
    }

    public function castAttribute($value)
    {
        return $this->getTitle() . ' ' . $value;
    }

    protected function getTitle()
    {
        return ['Mr.', 'Mrs.', 'Ms.', 'Miss'][rand(0, 3)];
    }
}

The $value in the setAttribute() method is the raw database value we want to store. This package also enables you to handle model events and react to those events.

You can learn more about this package, get full installation instructions, and view the source code on GitHub at vkovic/laravel-custom-casts.

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Aire Form Builder Package for Laravel

 

Aire is a Laravel form builder package by Chris Morrell with features like data binding and an expressive syntax:

Aire is a modern Laravel form builder (demo) with a focus on the same expressive and beautiful code you expect from the Laravel ecosystem.

Here’s a basic demo from the project’s readme:

{{ Aire::open()->route('users.update') }}

{{ Aire::bind($user) }}

<div class="flex flex-col md:flex-row">

  {{ Aire::input('given_name', 'First/Given Name')
    ->id('given_name')
    ->autoComplete('off')
    ->groupClass('flex-1 mr-2') }}

  {{ Aire::input('family_name', 'Last/Family Name')
    ->id('family_name')
    ->autoComplete('off')
    ->groupClass('flex-1') }}

</div>

{{ Aire::email('email', 'Email Address') }}

{{ Aire::submit('Update User') }}

{{ Aire::close() }}

I like data binding features that typically come with form builder libraries which make it simple to map a model to form inputs. The data binding also takes care of populating form inputs with old() data when validation errors occur.

The Aire package includes Eloquent model binding along with the ability to bind custom array/object data:

// Bind Eloquent models
Aire::bind(User::find(1));

// Bind an array
Aire::bind(['given_name' => 'Chris']);

// Bind any object
Aire::bind((object) ['given_name' => 'Chris']);

If data binding was not enough, this package also automatically picks up any errors and applies error classes and shows error messages with the associated input. Also, you have access to a summary of error messages with the following methods:

// Print "There are X errors on this page that you must fix before continuing."
{{ Aire::summary() }}

// Also include an itemized list of errors
{{ Aire::summary()->verbose() }}

To get started with the Aire Form Builder package, head over to the Documentation & Demos. You can view the source code on GitHub at glhd/aire.

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Add Social Reactions to Model with Laravel Love

Add Social Reactions to Model with Laravel Love

We covered Laravel Love on Laravel News about a year ago, and a lot has changed—Laravel Love has been reimagined and now has more advanced features that we thought it worth looking at the package again:

Laravel Love is an emotional part of the application. It let people express how they feel about the content. Make any model reactable in minutes!

There are many different implementations of ways to react to content in modern applications:

• Github Reactions
• Facebook Reactions
• YouTube Likes
• Slack Reactions
• Reddit Votes
• Medium Claps
• Disqus Reactions

This package has all of the above use-cases in mind, and since v7 now includes a weighted reaction system as well.

The main focus of the updated package is around two models: the Reacterable model and the Reactable model. The Reacterable model is a model which can act as a Reacter, such as a User, Person, or Organization. The Reactable model is a model that can act as a Reactant such as a Comment, Post, or User.

Here’s an example from the documentation of how a Reacterable model might look:

<?php

namespace App;

use Cog\Contracts\Love\Reacterable\Models\Reacterable as ReacterableContract;
use Cog\Laravel\Love\Reacterable\Models\Traits\Reacterable;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User as Authenticatable;

class User extends Authenticatable implements ReacterableContract
{
    use Reacterable;
}

And here’s a code example of actually reacting to a model:

$reacterFacade = $user->viaLoveReacter();
$reacterFacade->reactTo($comment, 'Like');

// Example using weight
$reacter->reactTo($reactant, 'Like', 4.0);

// Remove reaction
$reacterFacade->unreactTo($comment, 'Like');

// Has the model reacted?
$reacterFacade->hasReactedTo($comment);

// Get reactions
$reactions = $reacterFacade->getReactions();

Laravel Love v8 features extensive documentation that you can see at laravel-love.readme.io/docs. You can view the source code on GitHub at cybercog/laravel-love.

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