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I have my data in this form:
$data = Notice::find(1)->first();
What I want to achieve is to convert the created_at attribute value in this object to a timestamp. I know I could override the $dateFormat attribute in my model to get a custom value in my db. However, I want to only customize it when retrieving the result. Is there a way to format the column during querying or better still modify just the created attribute to be a timestamp without necessarily duplicating objects here and there?
Thanks!
you need to define it in the model as a date and you can use Acessor to get the data back as you want
<?php
class Notice extends Eloquent {
protected $dates = ['created_at', 'updated_at'];
public function getCreatedAtAttribute($value)
{
// example
return $value->diffForHumans();
}
}
@abusalameh Thanks. But if I do that, it will means I will be storing a different date time format in my database. I want to maintain the default datetime but only format the created_at of the data returned after the query.
what? it is a timestamp
and it is returned as a Carbon object so it can be in whatever form you want when you use it
btw any time you call a variable $data, grab one hand with the other and whack it across your face.
Sorry, I thought my question was clear enough. I was actually looking for a way to format one of the field or attribute of my data object during the querying process. It seems to me there is nothing like that, so I'm now falling back to way of mutating the object containing my data without necessarily looping through this object.
Something like
$data->created_at = $data->created_at->timestamp; //from carbon
so that my new data object will have something like:
created_at => 1497726118 //as a value
instead of:
created_at => '2017-06-17 19:01:58';
without touching my model, as in overriding attributes.
You could create an accessor with a different name?
public function getCreated_timestampAttribute()
{
return $this->created_at->timestamp();
}
and then you would have a choice of created_at and created_timestamp elements in json for instance.
If casting the object to an array, or json, use the $appends attribute to automatically add the new value
@Snapey Cool. That looks great. Thanks.
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