Overriding firstOrNew() of a model

Level 104

I would be very reluctant to override any of these core Eloquent methods; if you want something custom, then write your own function.

Level 27

@tykus

The good english terms have been used up, so I just wanna reuse them. What I'm trying to do is for example I have the Sales model, I will have Sales_online and Sales_offline models and they extend the Sales with additional custom behavior

Level 54

probably better to call your Models SalesOnline & SalesOffline rather than using an underscore to separate.

Level 27

@automica

Is that the official naming convention? I have been struggling with this and ended up using the style of Sales_online for my models.

https://webdevetc.com/blog/laravel-naming-conventions/#section_naming-models-in-laravel

Level 54

I dont think laravel give an official view but best practice is

'A model should be in singular, no spacing between words, and capitalised.'

This is also a good resource : https://github.com/alexeymezenin/laravel-best-practices

2 likes

Level 27

thanks @automica

Level 27

@automica

sorry 1 more question about this, if another model references SalesLead model, how should the method be named?

salesLead() and salesLeads()
sales_lead() and sales_leads()

1 or 2? Thanks.

MichalOravec

https://www.php-fig.org/psr/psr-2/

Level 75

@laracoft Did you read those links which @automica gave you?

https://github.com/alexeymezenin/laravel-best-practices#follow-laravel-naming-conventions

1 like

Level 27

Yes, I glanced through them as there was a lot to go through. Anyway thanks.

Level 54

always camel case for method and relationship names. so 1)

1 like

Level 27

@automica

I just came across official docs, https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/eloquent#table-names it gives examples of how model names are converted to tables, implying how both should be named.

Level 54

Yep. The docs say the table will be snake case plural of the class.

Eg CustomClass will be looking for a table called custom_classes.

It doesn’t say you should use snake case class names.

You can use whatever class name and table names you like if you specify the table name in the model.

Level 61

Is there a way to override firstOrNew() of a model?

Yes, just inside of your model (or maybe better trait) define a method with same name.

Level 27

@bugsysha

This did not work. I did some tracing and it was infinitely recursing.. and I don't understand why.

    public static function firstOrCreate(array $attributes, array $joining = [], $touch = true)
    {
        $result = parent::firstOrCreate($attributes, $joining = [], $touch = true);
        return $result;
    }

Level 61

Shouldn't it be:

public function firstOrCreate(array $attributes = [], array $values = [])
{
  $result = parent::firstOrCreate(array $attributes = [], array $values = []);

  // top secret work

  return $result;
}

Level 27

@bugsysha

Model::firstOrCreate() cannot be called statically error.

Best Answer

Level 61

public static function firstOrCreate(array $attributes = [], array $values = [])
{
  $result = parent::query()->firstOrCreate($attributes, $values);

  // top secret work

  return $result;
}

Overriding of built in functions/methods as firstOrxxx() is NOT RECOMMENDED.

Might be useful:

Level 27

@bugsysha

Thanks, could you

Update $result = parent::query()->firstOrCreate($attributes, $values);
Add that overriding firstOrxxx() is NOT RECOMMENDED
Add that https://github.com/calebporzio/parental and related article https://tighten.co/blog/extending-models-in-eloquent/ might be more useful

And I will mark yours as best answer.

Level 61

@laracoft updated per your liking sir 🥳

martinbean

Level 80

@laracoft Don’t override core Eloquent methods in your models. Create a service class instead if you need to do additional logic around creating models.

tykus

Level 104

Just don't do it @bugsysha - it is not a benign method - there is a lot going on under the surface.

Level 61

Don't get me wrong. I don't suggest it.

Level 27

Alright guys, I accept that we should not override firstOrXXX() given the infinite recursion and other weird errors.

Let me test out some code and see if I have other questions. My aim was to have SalesOnline and SalesOffline behave like models but pointing to the sales table. But I think service class probably can't achieve the same effect.

Perhaps Promotion, PromotionGoogle and PromotionAmazon better explains my use case. The idea is I can easily encapsulate the new promotion logic in another class when it comes along.

Thank you for the help so far.