Multiple relations

I'm trying to work out what relations to use between three tables.

Schema

lakes
    id
    name
    ...

fish
    id
    name
    ...

lake_fish
    lake_id
    fish_id

Relationships

Lake model:

class Lake extends Model
{
    /**
     * Get the fish belonging to the lake.
     */
    public function fish()
    {
        return $this->hasMany('App\LakeFish', 'lake_id');
    }
}

And the LakeFish model:

class LakeFish extends Model
{
    /**
     * Get the lake the fish belongs to.
     */
    public function lake()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo('App\Lake', 'lake_id');
    }

    /**
     * Get the fish belonging to the lake.
     */
    public function fish()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo('App\Fish', 'fish_id');
    }
}

I am wanting to output all the fish related to a lake in my view. The only way I can think of doing this is by using:

@foreach ($lake->fish as $fish)
    <p>{{ $fish->fish->name }}</p>
@endforeach

I want to be able to something like this:

@foreach ($lake->fish as $fish)
    <p>{{ $fish->name }}</p>
@endforeach

Am I missing something? Any suggestions would be grateful.

tykus

10 years ago

Best Answer

Level 104

It is not necessary to have a Model for the LakeFish entity presuming that this is just a pivot table with foreign keys only. You only need a Lake model and a Fish model. You have not used the naming convention however, so you will ned to specify this when you are defining the relationship.

Lake.php

public function fish()
{
    return $this->belongsToMany('App\Fish', 'lake_fish');
}

Fish.php

public function lakes()
{
    return $this->belongsToMany('App\Lake', 'lake_fish');
}

Now you can fetch the fish in lake (or the lakes where a fish can be found):

@foreach ($lake->fish as $fish)
    <p>{{ $fish->name }}</p>
@endforeach 

// or if you have a fish object
@foreach ($fish->lakes as $lake)
    <p>{{ $lake->name }}</p>
@endforeach

Personally, I would call the relationship fishes though, it's not 100% incorrect, and clarifies your code :D

Ranfty

10 years ago

Level 3

It worked! Thanks for your help.

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