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Excel-OTJ's avatar

Laravel Relationships Via JSON

Department View:

<td>
    @if ($department->faculty())
        {{ $department->faculty()->element_data['name'] }}
    @else
        No Faculty Assigned
    @endif
</td>

Department Model:

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Department extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;

    protected $primaryKey = 'element_uuid'; // Define the primary key column

    protected $fillable = ['element_uuid', 'element_data'];

    protected $casts = [
        'element_uuid' => 'string',
        'element_data' => 'json',
    ];

    public function faculty()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(Faculty::class, 'departments.element_data->faculty_element_uuid', 'element_uuid');
    }
}

Faculty View:

<td class="text-truncate td-mx-wd fw-bold">
    {{ $faculty->departments->count() }} Created
</td>

Faculty Model:

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\HasFactory;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Faculty extends Model
{
    use HasFactory;

    protected $primaryKey = 'element_uuid'; // Define the primary key column

    protected $fillable = ['element_uuid', 'element_data'];

    protected $casts = [
        'element_uuid' => 'string',
        'element_data' => 'json',
    ];

    public function departments()
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Department::class, 'element_data->faculty_element_uuid');
    }
}

My relationship works in the Faculty Model, but it does not work in the Department Model. Please can anyone help me out?

0 likes
13 replies
tihoti's avatar

Try

public function faculty()
{
    $facultyUuid = $this->element_data['faculty_element_uuid'] ?? null;
    return Faculty::where('element_uuid', $facultyUuid);
}

But keep in mind that using JSON fields for foreign keys and relationships is not a standard practice in Laravel due to potential limitations and performance concerns, especially with large datasets and complex queries. It's often better to use standard foreign key columns for relationships when possible.

1 like
Tray2's avatar
Tray2
Best Answer
Level 73

You really should not use json columns like that, it is a very bad practice in my book. I suggest that you give this post a read.

https://tray2.se/posts/database-design

And like @tihoti says, it is not the standard way of doing relations, and there are a lot of concerns regarding the database performance, integrity and a few other things as well.

1 like
Excel-OTJ's avatar

@Tray2 Thank you!

SO do you recommend I restructure my DB. The columns that would be regularly accessed should not be in a JSON field vise-versa.

Tray2's avatar

@Excel-OTJ No columns should be in json, not a single one.

1 like
Excel-OTJ's avatar

@Tray2 Okay. The initial reason why I wanted to used JSON was to escape the scenario whereby I would have 100s of migration files. But it's all good then.

Tray2's avatar

@Excel-OTJ you should use the database for what it's for, if you want a single storage your should consider a nosql db.

1 like
Excel-OTJ's avatar

Hey @Tray2! Thanks for the suggestion! I'm just starting out with Laravel, and I'm excited to dive into MongoDB to explore a NoSQL database. Could you please share some educational resources or materials to help me get started? Your guidance would be greatly appreciated!

Tray2's avatar

@Excel-OTJ Sorry no, I fucking hate NoSQL databases. RDBMS is the only way to go for me.

1 like
Snapey's avatar

why would you have hundreds of migrations?

1 like
Excel-OTJ's avatar

@Snapey Because of changes the company I work for would be making. For example, if a field was not in a form initially and now, they wanted to add it, I would have to create a migration file for adding that particular field instead of adding it to the current migration file and running a fresh migration:

php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

SO that's why I would end up having 100s of migration files.

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