Laravel computed attributes

Laravel package that adds computed attributes to eloquent models. A computed attribute is an accessor where the value is saved in the database. The value can be regenerated or validated at any time. This can increase performance (no calculation at every get/fetch) and it can simplify querying the database (f.e. complex filter system).

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Installation

You can install the package via composer with following command:

composer require korridor/laravel-computed-attributes

If you want to use this package with older Laravel/PHP version please install the 2.2.* version.

composer require korridor/laravel-computed-attributes "^2.2"

You can also publish the config file to change the default configuration (e.g. the model folder path).

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=computed-attributes-config

Requirements

This package is tested for the following Laravel and PHP versions:

• 10.* (PHP 8.1, 8.2, 8.3)
• 11.* (PHP 8.2, 8.3)

Usage examples

Here is an example of two computed attributes complex_calculation and sum_of_votes. The functions getComplexCalculationComputed and getSumOfVotesComputed are calculating the computed attributes.

use Korridor\LaravelComputedAttributes\ComputedAttributes;

class Post {

    use ComputedAttributes;

    /**
     * The attributes that are computed. (f.e. for performance reasons)
     * These attributes can be regenerated at any time.
     *
     * @var string[]
     */
    protected $computed = [
        'complex_calculation',
        'sum_of_votes',
    ];

    /*
     * Computed attributes.
     */

    /**
     * @return int
     */
    public function getComplexCalculationComputed(): int
    {
        return 1 + 2;
    }

    /**
     * @return int
     */
    public function getSumOfVotesComputed(): int
    {
        return $this->votes->sum('rating');
    }
    
    // ...
}

https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/eloquent#events

/**
 * Boot function from laravel.
 */
protected static function boot(): void
{
    static::saving(function (Post $model) {
        $model->setComputedAttributeValue('sum_of_votes');
    });
    parent::boot();
}

For the whole code of this very simple example see the tests/TestEnvironment folder.

Commands

computed-attributes:generate

computed-attributes:generate { modelsAttributes? } { --chunkSize=500 } { --chunk= }

This command (re-)calculates the values of the computed attributes and saves the new value.

Query optimization

You can use the computedAttributesGenerate scope in any model using the ComputedAttributes trait to extend the query that fetches the models for the calculation.

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

// ...

/**
 * This scope will be applied during the computed property generation with artisan computed-attributes:generate.
 *
 * @param Builder $builder
 * @param array $attributes Attributes that will be generated.
 * @return Builder
 */
public function scopeComputedAttributesGenerate(Builder $builder, array $attributes): Builder
{
    if (in_array('sum_of_votes', $attributes)) {
        return $builder->with('votes');
    }

    return $builder;
}

computed-attributes:validate

artisan computed-attributes:validate { modelsAttributes? } { --chunkSize=500 } { --chunk= }

This command validates the current values of the computed attributes.

Query optimization

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;

// ...

/**
 * This scope will be applied during the computed property validation with artisan computed-attributes:validate.
 *
 * @param Builder $builder
 * @param array $attributes Attributes that will be validated.
 * @return Builder
 */
public function scopeComputedAttributesValidate(Builder $builder, array $attributes): Builder
{
    if (in_array('sum_of_votes', $attributes)) {
        return $builder->with('votes');
    }

    return $builder;
}

Contributing

I am open for suggestions and contributions. Just create an issue or a pull request.

Local docker environment

The docker folder contains a local docker environment for development. The docker workspace has composer and xdebug installed.

docker-compose run workspace bash

Testing

The composer test command runs all tests with phpunit. The composer test-coverage command runs all tests with phpunit and creates a coverage report into the coverage folder.

Codeformatting/Linting

The composer fix command formats the code with php-cs-fixer. The composer lint command checks the code with phpcs.

License

This package is licensed under the MIT License (MIT). Please see license file for more information.