first()/firstOrFail() with non-unique names - am I safe that I'll get the correct row?

When a user creates an account, a default folder named "main" is created for him. But the name is not unique and he can create more folders named "main".

And in one of my Controllers, I use the firstOrFail() method that's supposed to get the default "main" folder:

$folder = Auth::user()->folders()->where('name', '=', 'main')->firstOrFail();

Am I safe that it will always get the initially created "main" folder (Which will have the lowest id in the DB table for that user)? Or I should use a different query to make sure?

OussamaMater

3 years ago

Level 37

Well, to be honest, I would simply add a flag column to the table called "main", set to true only for the default "main", this way you are more safe, and have a flexible table if you decide to switch things up.

$folder = Auth::user()->folders()->whereDefault(true)->firstOrFail();

And you can use query scope so it's clean and more flexible in your code when you decide to change the logic

$folder = Auth::user()->mainFolder()->firstOrFail();

Docs:

https://laravel.com/docs/9.x/eloquent#local-scopes

1 like

krs

3 years ago

Level 17

I would order the result, either by id or by the created_at column:

$folder = Auth::user()->folders()->where('name', '=', 'main')->orderBy('id')->firstOrFail();

$folder = Auth::user()->folders()->where('name', '=', 'main')->oldest()->firstOrFail();

The first one only will work, if your key uses autoincrement (not with uuid's e.g), but will be faster because the dbms can use the index of your key.

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