Laravel Api Controller

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Basic CRUD API Methods that can be extended for your models by default has a list, show, update, add and delete endpoint to interact with your model.

Installation

Install via composer

composer require phpsa/laravel-api-controller

Publish Configuration File (optional - if you need to change any of the default configurations)

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Phpsa\LaravelApiController\ServiceProvider" --tag="config"

Usage

CLI Commands

• artisan make:api:controller {ControllerName} to generate the controller
• artisan make:api:policy {PolicyName} -m {Model} to generate a policy file
• artisan make:api:resource {ResourceName|CollectionName} to geneate the response resource

This will create a Api/ModelNameController for you and you will have the basic routes in place as follows:

• GET api/v1/{model_name} - list all/paged/filtered (class::index)
• GET api/v1/{model_name}/$id - Show a specified id (class::show)
• POST api/v1/{model_name} - Insert a new record (class::store)
• PUT api/v1/{model_name}/$id - Replace an existing record (class::update)
• PATCH api/v1/{model_name}/$id - Update an existing record (class::update)
• DELETE api/v1/{model_name}/$id - Delete an existing record (class::destroy)

If you specify --soft-deletes option on make:api:controller it will also create an additional restore controller endpoint & route:

• PATCH api/v1/{model_name}/$id - Restore a soft-deleted record (class::restore). This only works for models with Soft Deletes enabled.

You can override the methods by simply putting in your own methods to override - method names in braces above

Events

• POST (class::store) - triggers a new Phpsa\LaravelApiController\Events\Created Event which has the new record available as $record
• PUT (class::update) - triggers a new Phpsa\LaravelApiController\Events\Updated Event which has the updated record available as $record
• DELETE (class::destroy) - triggers a new Phpsa\LaravelApiController\Events\Deleted Event which has the deleted record available as $record

Policies

Policies: https://laravel.com/docs/6.x/authorization#generating-policies

Generate with php artisan make:policy PostPolicy --model=Post

• Get list - calls the viewAny policy
• Get single - calls the view policy
• Post New - calls the create policy
• Put Update - calls the update policy
• Delete item - calls the delete policy

Query/Data modifiers in policies for the api endpoints

• qualifyCollectionQueryWithUser($user, $repository) -> return void - add any queries to the repository (ie ->where('x','))
• qualifyItemQueryWithUser($user, $repository)-> return void - add any queries to the repository (ie ->where('x','))
• qualifyStoreDataWithUser($data) - return the updated data array
• qualifyUpdateDataWithUser($data) - return the updated data array

Resources / Collections (Transforming)

Resources: https://laravel.com/docs/6.x/eloquent-resources

Generate with php artisan make:apiresource UserResource and php artisan make:api:resource UserCollection

Change the Resource to extend from:

use Phpsa\LaravelApiController\Http\Resources\ApiResource for your resource use Phpsa\LaravelApiController\Http\Resources\ApiCollection for your resource collection

in your controller override the following params:

	protected $resourceSingle = UserResource::class;
	protected $resourceCollection = UserCollection::class;

Snake vs Camel

• middleware to convert all camel to snake: Phpsa\LaravelApiController\Http\Middleware\SnakeCaseInputs
• set request header X-Accept-Case-Type to either snake or camel to alter your data response

Filtering

stable option that will be removed once experimental stable

For the get command you can filter by using the following url patterns

Seperator	Description	Example	Result
=	Equals	?filter[field]=hello	select ... where field = 'hello'
!=	Not Equals	?filter[field!]=hello	select ... where field != 'hello'
<>	Not Equals (alt)	?filter[field<>]=hello	select ... where field != 'hello'
>	Greater Than	?filter[field>]=5	select ... where field > 5
>=	Greater Or Equal to	?filter[field>=]=5	select ... where field >= 5
<	Less Than	?filter[field<]=5	select ... where field <> 5
<=	Less Or Equal to	?filter[field<=]=5	select ... where field <= 5
~	Contains (LIKE with wildcard on both sides)	?filter[field~]=hello	select ... where field like '%hello%'
^	Starts with (LIKE with wildcard on end)	?filter[field^]=hello	select ... where field like 'hello%'
$	Ends with (LIKE with wildcard on start)	?filter[field$]=hello	select ... where field like 'hello%'
!~	Not Contains (LIKE with wildcard on both sides)	?filter[field!~]=hello	select ... where field not like '%hello%'
!^	Not Starts with (LIKE with wildcard on end)	?filter[field!^]=hello	select ... where field not like 'hello%'
!$	Not Ends with (LIKE with wildcard on start)	?filter[field!$]=hello	select ... where field not like 'hello%'

In / Not In

You can pass to the filters an array of values ie: filter[user_id]=1||2||||4||7 or filter[user_id!]=55||33

Null / Not Null (introduced 1.23.0)

If you need to filter on whether a field is null or not null, you can use the filter param as of version 1.23.0 EG: filter[age]=NULL or filter[age!]=NULL. Note that NULL must be uppercase.

Older versions Add a scope to your model: eg

public function scopeAgeNull(Builder $builder, $isNull = true){
  $isNull ? $builder->whereNull('age') : $builder->whereNotNull('age');
}

Add to your allowedScopes and can then be called in url as ?ageNull=1 for where null and ?ageNull=0 for where age not null

Filtering

• use the url pattern filters[column][operator]=value eg filters[age][>]=18&filters[title][contains]=testing

Seperator	Description	Example	Result
empty / = / is / equals	Equals	?filters[field]=hello / ?filters[field][is]=hello	select ... where field = 'hello'
!= / !is / !equals / not_equals	Not Equals	?filters[field][!is]=hello	select ... where field != 'hello'
> / greater_than	Greater Than	?filters[field][greater_than]=5	select ... where field > 5
>= / greater_than_or_equal_to / greater_or_equal / gte	Greater Or Equal to	?filters[field][greater_or_equal]=5	select ... where field >= 5
< / less_than	Less Than	?filters[field][<]=5	select ... where field <> 5
<= / less_than_or_equal_to / less_or_equal / lte	Less Or Equal to	?filters[field][less_or_equal]=5	select ... where field <= 5
~ / contains	Contains (LIKE with wildcard on both sides)	?filters[field][contains]=hello	select ... where field like '%hello%'
^ / starts_with	Starts with (LIKE with wildcard on end)	?filters[field][starts_with]=hello	select ... where field like 'hello%'
$ / ends_with	Ends with (LIKE with wildcard on start)	?filters[field][ends_with]=hello	select ... where field like 'hello%'
!~ / !contains / not_contains	Not Contains (LIKE with wildcard on both sides)	?filters[field][!contains]=hello	select ... where field not like '%hello%'
!^ / !starts_with / not_starts_with	Not Starts with (LIKE with wildcard on end)	?filters[field][!^]=hello	select ... where field not like 'hello%'
!$ / !ends_with / not_ends_with	Not Ends with (LIKE with wildcard on start)	?filters[field][!$]=hello	select ... where field not like 'hello%'
in	in	?filters[field][in]=1,2,3	select ... where field in(1,2,3)
not_in / !in	NOT in	?filters[field][in]=1,2,3	select ... where field not in(1,2,3)
has	has	?filters[field][has]	select ... where exists(field join)
not_has / !has	NOT has	?filters[field][!has]	select ... where not exists (field join)

• Null = filters[age]=NULL will generate where age is null

• Json columns = filters[meta->seo][is]=enabled will generate

where json_unquote(json_extract(`meta\`, '$."seo"')) = 'enabled'

• Relations: filters[relationName][has] or filters[relationName][!has] or filters[relation_name][not_has]
• Relations filtering filters[tags][has][slug]=my_slug
• Relations filters[tags]=true or filters['tags.slug']=myslug filters[tags.slug][!]=myslug filters[tags.slug][!][contains]=money

Enforced scopes / query filters on a controller override the

protected function getNewQuery(): Builder
    {
        return resolve($this->model())->newQuery();
    }

method in your controller to include any additional queries / scopes etc.

Requests

We have added a request macro to enable you to set these on your request as needed:

eg:

    public function index(Request $request)
    {

        $request->apiFilter('user_id', auth()->id());
        $request->apiFilter('owner_id', 'not_equals', auth()->id());
        $request->apiFilter('age', '>=', 5);
        $request->apiFilter('age', '<=', 10);
        $request->apiInclude(['owner','user']);
        $request->apiAddFields(['x','y','z']);

• filter method is apiFilter($column, $value) or apiFilter($column, $operator, $value)
• addfields method is apiAddFields(array|string $fieldsOrAttributesToInclude)
• include method is apiInclude(array|string $relations)

In your controller, we generally use request->all() for the filling of models. Should you wish to use a more strict option, you can opt into using validated values only by calling $this->setOnlyValidated() in your controller which will then use the request->validated() to get the data (Note: this means it will not take any merged information from postValidation).

Scopes

In addition to filtering, you can use Laravel's Eloquent Query Scopes to do more complex searches or filters. Simply add an $allowedScopes to your ApiResource, and that scope will be exposed as a query parameter.

Assuming you have a scopeFullname defined on your Eloquent Model, you can expose this scope to your API as follows:

protected static $allowedScopes = [
  'fullname'
];

Given the above $allowedScopes array, your API consumers will now be able to request ?fullname=John. The query parameter value will be passed to your scope function in your Eloquent Model.

Filtering on related models

You can easily filter using any related model that is configured for include. Simply specify ?filter[model.field]=123 in your query string. The same filter options above apply to related fields.

Grouped Filtering Scopes

filter_by_relation_group[a][name]=weight&filter_by_relation_group[a][value][>]=900&filter_by_relation_group[b][name]=color&filter_by_relation_group[b][value]=color

 public function scopeFilterByRelationGroup(Builder $builder, array $wheres): void
    {
        $where =  collect($wheres)->map(fn ($child) =>
           $this->parseFiltersArray($child)
        )->each(
            fn($group, $key) => $builder->whereHas('Relation', function ($subQ) use ($group, $key) {
                $group->each(
                    fn($filter, $column) => collect($filter)->each(fn($value, $comparison) => $this->buildQuery($column, $comparison, $value, $subQ))
                );
            }
            )
        );

    }

Fields, Relationships, Sorting & Pagination

Fields

By default all fields are returned, you can limit that to specific fields in the following ways:

• Api Controller parameter $defaultFields default as protected $defaultFields = ['*']; - switch to include an array of fields
• fields param in url querystring: ie fields=id,name,age = will only return those, this will also override the above.
• in your response resource you can set the static::allowedFields to lock down which fields are returnable.
  • This also controls which related resources are returnable. Include the key that is used in $mapResources (see "Relationships" below).
• addfields and removefields params in url querystring will work with these.
• Use laravel eloquent model $appends property to automatically include custom attribute accessors.

Gated Response Fields

Gates can be used to control access to fields and related resources, by defining $gatedFields:

protected static array $fieldGates = [
    'gate-one' => [
        'fieldA',
        'fieldB',
     ],
     'gate-two' => [
       'fieldA',
       'fieldC,
       'relatedResourceD'
     ]
];

Each specified gate will be used to determine whether that set of fields will be included.

Each gate will be passed the resource as well as the user, so it can test whether the user should be allowed to access that specific resource.

Example gate definition:

  Gate::define(
      'supervises-the-group',
      fn ($user, Group $group) => (int) $user->id === $group->supervisor_id
  );

Relationships

• Using the relationships defined in your models, you can pass a comma delimited list eg include=join1,join2 which will return those joins (one or many).

Simply add a protected static $mapResources to your Resource to define which resources to assign your related data. E.e., for a one to many relationship, you should specify a collection, and a one-to-one relationship specify the related resource directly. This will allow the API to properly format the related record.

    protected static $mapResources = [
        'notes' => NotesCollection::class,
        'owner' => OwnerResource::class
    ];

• You can automatically update and create related records for most types of relationships. Just include the related resource name in your POST or PUT request.
• Important: if you are using $defaultFields and/or $allowedFields in your resource, the related resource key from $mapResources must also be included in those lists for that related resource to be included.

For BelongsToMany or MorphToMany relationships, you can choose the sync strategy. By default, this will take an additive strategy. That is to say, related records sent will be ADDED to any existing related records. On a request-by-request basis, you can opt for a sync strategy which will remove the pivot for any related records not listed in the request. Note the actual related record will not be removed, just the pivot entry.

To opt for the sync behavaiour, set ?sync[field]=true in your request.

Sorting

• Sorts can be passed as comma list aswell, ie sort=age asc or sort=age asc,name desc,eyes - generates sql of sort age asc and sort age asc, name desc, eyes asc respectively
• Default sort can also be added on the controller using by overrideing the protected $defaultSort = null; parameter

Pagination

• pagination can be enabled/disbled on the controller by overriding the protected $defaultLimit = 25; on the controller
• pagination can also be passed via the url using limit=xx&page=y
• pagination can also be limited to a max per page by overriding the protected $maximumLimit = false; parameter

Validation

• When Posting a new record, validation can be done by adding a rulesForCreate method to your controller returning an array eg

[
    'email' => 'required|email',
    'games' => 'required|numeric',
]

see https://laravel.com/docs/5.8/validation#conditionally-adding-rules

• for updating a record, add a method rulesForUpdate per above.

Defaults

The following parameters are set in the Base Api controller and can be overwritten by your Controller on a case by case basis:

• protected $resourceSingle = JsonResource::class; Collection to use for your single resource
• protected $resourceCollection = ResourceCollection::class; Collection to use for your resource collection
• protected $defaultFields = ['*']; Default Fields to respond with
• protected $defaultSort = null; Set the default sorting for queries.
• protected $defaultLimit = 25; Number of items displayed at once if not specified. (0 = maximumLimit)
• protected $maximumLimit = 0; Maximum limit that can be set via $_GET['limit']. - this ties in with the defaultLimit aswell, and if wanting to disable pagination , both should be 0. ) will allow all records to be returned in a single call.
• protected $unguard = false; Do we need to unguard the model before create/update?

Scopes

SoftDeleted Records

add the Phpsa\LaravelApiController\Model\Scopes\WithSoftDeletes trait to your model, add to your resource file:

class MyModelResource extends ApiResource
{

 protected static $allowedScopes = [
        'withTrashed',
        'onlyTrashed'
    ];

you can now append withTrashed=1 or onlyTrashed=1 to your query.

Responses

you can override responses for each point by overriding the following protected methods:

• handleIndexResponse
• handleStoreResponse
• handleShowResponse
• handleUpdateResponse
• handleDestroyResponse

Perforance Tips

Cache Table column definitions

-- introduced https://github.com/phpsa/laravel-api-controller/pull/118/files add the ability to cache the table definitions to reduce calls to fetch table columns, to enable either enable in the config file or set the PHPSA_API_CACHE_TABLE_COLUMNS variable to true.

Raw Pagination gets

-- handleIndexAction will use full eloquent models, handleIndexActionRaw will bypass eloquent and use raw responses from the database.

Security

If you discover any security related issues, please email instead of using the issue tracker.

Credits

• Craig G Smith
• Sam Sehnert
• Phil Taylor
• All contributors

Sponsors

• Custom D