Laravel Meta

a laravel package for working with meta !

Page Contents

1. Introduction
2. Features
3. Installation
4. Basic Methods
   • Create New Meta
   • Update Meta
   • Create Or Update Meta
   • Get Meta
   • Get Metas
   • Delete Meta
   • Check Meta Exists Or Not
   • Increase Meta
   • Decrease Meta
5. Clauses
   • Where Meta Clause
   • Where Meta In Clause
   • Where Meta Between Clause
   • Where Meta Null Clause
   • Where Meta Has Clause
   • Order By Meta
   • Eager Loading
6. Other Methods And Features
   • Notes
   • Data Type
   • Custom Meta Table
   • Meta Model
   • Meta Table
7. License

Introduction

Sometimes our models in laravel needs a lot of information that should be stored in the database. For example, Suppose you want to create a blog and add a model for posts on this blog. The most important information that this model will need is its title and content. But this model may also have more information, Such as the number of likes, download links, thumbnails, views, and more. When the amount of this information is high, We need to create more columns for the model table, Which if there are too many, Will be difficult. Additionally, Each of these posts may have their own unique information that the rest of the posts do not need. In such cases, This package will help. If we want to explain this package simply: Laravel Meta allows you to store information for each of your models and easily access them without having to create new columns for this information in the database tables. If you still do not notice it, Just look at the examples below.

Features

• It is easy to store and receive meta for each model
• An alternative to creating many columns in the database table
• Minimum number of queries and complete optimization
• Ability to filter database records by meta

Installation

First , Require this package with composer

 $ composer require zoha/laravel-meta

If you Use Laravel <= 5.4 add the ServiceProvider and Alias in config/app.php

'providers' => [
    ...
    Zoha\Meta\MetaServiceProvider::class,
    ...
]
'aliases' => [
    ...
    'Meta' => Zoha\Meta\Facades\MetaFacade::class,
    ...
]

And execute migrate command to migrate meta table

 $ php artisan migrate

And then to add meta functionality to each of your models, You just need to extends it from MetableModel instead of the Model.

use Zoha\MetableModel;

class Post extends MetableModel
{
    ...
}

Or you can use Metable trait instead :

use Zoha\Metable;

class Post extends Model
{
    use Metable;
    ...
}

Optional Section

You can publish meta config file using this command :

 $ php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Zoha\Meta\MetaServiceProvider" --tag=config

In this file you can change default meta table ( default: meta ) Or you can customize meta table for a specific model

That's it! Now you can use all of the Laravel meta features

In all of the examples below, we assume that the $post is set to Post::first() which Post model is an example model

Basic Methods

Create New Meta

For create a meta you can use createMeta on Model :

$post->createMeta('key' , 'value');

Or you can create multiple meta like this :

$post->createMeta([
    'key1' => 'value1',
    'key2' => 'value2'
]);

@return : createMeta method returns true if the meta creation is performed successfully and false otherwise

addMeta method is alias of createMeta method

Update Meta

For update a meta you can use updateMeta on Model :

$post->updateMeta('key' , 'new value');

Or you can update multiple meta like this :

$post->updateMeta([
    'key1' => 'new value 1',
    'key2' => 'new value 2'
]);

@return : If the update was successful updateMeta return true . but if meta already not exists or updating was faild false will be returned

Create Or Update Meta

For create or update meta use setMeta method this method will update meta or create a new one if not exists yet

$post->setMeta('key' , 'value'); // create meta
$post->setMeta('key' , 'new value'); // update meta

Or you can set multiple meta like this

$post->setMeta([
    'key1' => 'value 1',
    'key2' => 'value 2'
]);

@return : setMeta returns true if it is successful. Otherwise it will return false

Or instead of this method, You can set meta using meta property like this :

$post->meta->key1 = 'value';
$post->meta->key2 = 'value2';
$post->meta->save();

Get Meta

getMeta method will return meta value :

//return meta value or null if meta not exists
$post->getMeta('key'); 

// return value or 'default value ' if not exists or value is null
$post->getMeta('key' , 'default value') ; 

Also you can get meta values using meta property :

$post->meta->key; // return meta value 

Get Metas

getMetas method will return all metas as a collection :

// return a collection of all metas for this model
// no meta yet ? -> empty collection
$post->getMetas() ; 

Delete Meta

For delete meta use deleteMeta method

$post->deleteMeta(); // delete all meta of this model

$post->deleteMeta('key'); // delete a specific meta

Or you can use unsetMeta method instead . both of methods are the same. truncateMeta also delete all meta of specific model :

$post->truncateMeta(); // delete all model meta

Check Meta Exists Or Not

You can use hasMeta method if you want to check there is a particular meta or not ( if meta exists but value equals to null false will be returned )

$post->hasMeta(); // return true if this model has at least one meta
$post->hasMeta('key'); // return true or false

The second argument specifies whether or not to accept null values . If you pass true for second argument , and meta exists even if value equals to null true will be returned

$post->setMeta('key' , null); // set key to null 
$post->hasMeta('key'); // return false
$post->hasMeta('key' , true); // return true

If you want to specify that a particular post has a specific meta, even if its value is null , use the existsMeta method.

$post->setMeta('key' , null); // set key to null 
$post->existsMeta('key'); // return true

Increase Meta

You can simply increase meta value using increaseMeta method

$post->setMeta('key' , 3);
$post->increaseMeta('key'); // meta value will change to 4

$post->setMeta('key2' , 'not integer value');
$post->increaseMeta('key2'); // meta value will not change

You can pass second argument for detemine increase step

$post->setMeta('key' , 3);
$post->increaseMeta('key',3); // meta value will change to 6

Decrease Meta

You can simply decrease meta value using decreaseMeta method

$post->setMeta('key' , 3);
$post->decreaseMeta('key'); // meta value will change to 2

$post->setMeta('key2' , 'not integer value');
$post->decreaseMeta('key2'); // meta value will not change

And you can pass second argument for detemine decrease step

$post->setMeta('key' , 3);
$post->decreaseMeta('key',3); // meta value will change to 0

Clauses

Where Meta Clause

Filter items by meta value :

$result = Post::whereMeta('key','value');
// you can use operator :
$result = Post::whereMeta('key', '>' , 100);

// you can use multiple whereMeta Clause
$result = Post::whereMeta('key', '>' , 100)
                            ->whereMeta('key' , '<' , 200);
//orWhereMeta clause
$result = Post::whereMeta('key', '>' , 100)
                            ->orWhereMeta('key' , '<' , 50);
//branched clauses
$result = Post::where(function($query){
    $query->where(function($query){
        $query->whereMeta('key1' , 'value1');
        $query->orWhereMeta('key1' , 'value2');
    });
    $query->whereMeta('key2' , 'like' , '%value%');
    $query->WhereMeta('key3' , '>' , 100);
});

You can also pass a array for filter result :

// all of below conditions will converted to 'AND'
$result = Post::whereMeta([
    'key1' => 'value1',
    [ 'key2' , '!=' , 'value2' ],
    [ 'key3' , 'value3' ]
]);

You can aslso use orWhere for mulitple or where clause :

$result = Post::orWhereMeta([
    'key1' => 'value1',
    [ 'key2' , '!=' , 'value2' ],
    [ 'key3' , 'value3' ]
]);

You can use branched filters for all meta clauses

Where Meta In Clause

whereMetaIn and whereMetaNotIn clauses :

$result = Post::whereMetaIn('key', ['value1' , 'value2']);
$result = Post::whereMetaNotIn('key', ['value1' , 'value2']);

// multiple clauses 
$result = Post::whereMetaIn('key', [1,2])
                            ->whereMetaIn('key2' , [1,2]);
                            
// 'orWhere' clauses
$result = Post::whereMetaNotIn('key', [1,2,3])
                            ->orWhereMetaIn('key2', [1,2])
                            ->orWhereMetaNotIn('key3', [1,2]);

Where Meta Between Clause

whereMetaBetween and whereMetaNotBetween clauses :

$result = Post::whereMetaBetween('key', [0,100]);
$result = Post::whereMetaNotBetween('key', [0,100]);

// multiple clauses 
$result = Post::whereMetaBetween('key', [100,200])
                            ->whereMetaBetween('key2' , [100,200]);
                            
// 'orWhere' clauses
$result = Post::whereMetaNotBetween('key', [1000,8000])
                            ->orWhereMetaBetween('key2', [1,5])
                            ->orWhereMetaNotBetween('key3', [0,100]);

Where Meta Null Clause

whereMetaNull and whereMetaNotNull clauses :

$result = Post::whereMetaNull('key');
$result = Post::whereMetaNotNull('key');

// multiple clauses 
$result = Post::whereMetaNull('key')
                            ->whereMetaNull('key2');
                            
// 'orWhere' clauses
$result = Post::whereMetaNotNull('key')
                            ->orWhereMetaNull('key2')
                            ->orWhereMetaNotNull('key3');

Where Meta Has Clause

whereMetaHas and whereMetaDoesntHave clauses :

//filter records that has at least one meta
$result = Post::whereMetaHas();

$result = Post::whereMetaHas('key'); 
$result = Post::whereMetaHas('key' , true); //count null values

$result = Post::whereMetaDoesntHave('key');
$result = Post::whereMetaDoesntHave('key' , true); //count null values

// multiple clauses 
$result = Post::whereMetaHas('key')
                            ->whereMetaDoesntHave('key2');
                            
// 'orWhere' clauses
$result = Post::whereMetaDoesntHave('key')
                            ->orWhereMetaHas('key2')
                            ->orWhereMetaDoesntHave('key3');

Order By Meta

You Can Sort Database Results Using orderByMeta clause :

Post::orderByMeta('price')->get();

Post::orderByMeta('price' , 'desc')->get();

Post::orderByMeta('price')->orderByMeta('likes' , 'desc')->get();

Eager Loading

If you call $post->getMeta('key') for the first time all of this model meta will be loaded ( once ) and if you try to get another meta from this model another query will not be executed and meta value will loaded from previous query. But if you try to get meta in another model, Another query will be executed for new model . If you want get all meta of all models in one query you can use eager loading of meta . you just need to call withMeta scope like this :

$posts = Post::withMeta()->get(); // will return all posts results with their meta values

Note that with('meta') will not work

Other Methods And Features

Notes

• by default all collections , arrrays and json values will convert to collection when you try to get them.
• all [] , "{}" , "[]" and null values will be considered null.
• If one of the items in the metable model is deleted, All the meta related to that item will be deleted too.

Data Type

All of setMeta , getMeta , updateMeta And createMeta methods accept a third argument that determine meta data type . there are some examples of this feature :

Available data types : string , integer , null , collection , json array , boolean.

In setMeta method

$post->setMeta('key' , '123' , 'integer');
$post->meta->key; // 123 ( integer )
//----------------------------------
$post->setMeta('key' , [1,2,3] , 'json');
$post->meta->key; // "[1,2,3]" ( string - json )
//----------------------------------
$post->setMeta([
    'key1' => 'value',
    'key2' => 2
    'key3' => [1,2,3] 
],'string' ); // all values will converted to string when you try to get them
$post->meta->key2; // "2" ( string )
$post->meta->key3; // "[1,2,3]" ( string json )

Third argument in createMeta and updateMeta methods is the same of setMeta method

In getMeta method

$post->setMeta('key' , 123);
$post->getMeta('key' , 'null' , 'string'); // "123" (string)
//----------------------------------
$post->setMeta('key' , [1,2,3] , 'string');
$post->getMeta('key' , 'null'); // "[1,2,3]" (string)
$post->getMeta('key' , 'null' , 'array'); // [1,2,3] (array)
$post->getMeta('key' , 'null' , 'boolean'); // true (boolean)

Custom Meta Table

By default, all meta-data for all models will be stored in the meta database table. But if you want, you can use a separate table for a particular model.

For example, you have Post, Comment and User models

You want to store all posts and comments meta in default table but the user's meta tags are in a special table To do this you have to take four steps :

First Step : you should publish package config file using this command :

$ php artisan vendor:publish --provider="Zoha\Meta\MetaServiceProvider" --tag=config

This command will place a file named meta.php in your config folder

Second Step : open config file in tables array you find a custom array . in this array you can add new tables name . for our example we add users_meta in this array to handle users meta :

'tables' => [
    'default' => 'meta',
    'custom'  => [
        'users_meta'
    ],
]

Third Step : you need to run migrate command to create new table .

$ php artisan migrate 

If you have already migrated Meta migration, you should rollback this migrations and migrate it again ( to create new tables )

Final Step : now that the new table is made, you can introduce it to the User model (or any model you want) to handle its meta with this table . like this :

use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User as Authenticatable;
class User extends Authenticatable
{
    use \Zoha\Metable;
    
    protected $metaTable = 'users_meta';
}

Meta Model

you are free to use meta model in your project

use Zoha\Meta\Models\Meta;
$count = Meta::count();

Note : If you change meta values using meta model ( change database directly ) meta valuse that was loaded before will not be updated . If you want to update them you should call refreshLoadedMeta metahod :

use Zoha\Meta\Models\Meta;

$post->meta->key1; // exmaple : return 'test'
Meta::truncate();
$post->meta->key1; // still return 'test'

$post->refreshLoadeMeta();
$post->meta->key1; // will return null

Meta Table

The structure of the meta table is this :

Schema::create('meta', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->increments('id');
    $table->string('key',110);
    $table->text('value')->nullable();
    $table->string('type')->default(Meta::META_TYPE_STRING);
    $table->boolean('status')->default(true);
    $table->string('owner_type',80);
    $table->integer('owner_id');
    $table->unique(['key','owner_type','owner_id']);
    $table->timestamps();
});

License