Add schemaless attributes to Eloquent models

Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have a bit of the spirit of NoSQL available in Eloquent? This package does just that. It provides a trait that when applied on a model, allows you to store arbitrary values in a single JSON column.

Here are a few examples. We’re using the extra_attributes column here, but you can name it whatever you want.

// add and retrieve an attribute
$yourModel->extra_attributes->name = 'value';
$yourModel->extra_attributes->name; // returns 'value'

// you can also use the array approach
$yourModel->extra_attributes['name'] = 'value';
$yourModel->extra_attributes['name'] // returns 'value'

// setting multiple values in one go
$yourModel->extra_attributes = [
   'rey' => ['side' => 'light'],
   'snoke' => ['side' => 'dark']
];

// setting/updating multiple values in one go via set()
$yourModel->extra_attributes->set([
   'han' => ['side' => 'light'],
   'snoke' => ['side' => 'dark']
]);

// retrieving values using dot notation
$yourModel->extra_attributes->get('rey.side'); // returns 'light'

// retrieve default value when attribute is not exists
$yourModel->extra_attributes->get('non_existing', 'default'); // returns 'default'

// it has a modelScope to retrieve all models with the given schemaless attributes
$yourModel->withSchemalessAttributes(['name' => 'value', 'name2' => 'value2'])->get();

// delete key & value
$yourModel->extra_attributes->forget('key');

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Requirements

This package requires a database with support for json columns like MySQL 5.7 or higher.

Installation

For Laravel versions 6 & 7 or PHP 7, use version 1.x of this package.

You can install the package via composer:

composer require spatie/laravel-schemaless-attributes

The schemaless attributes will be stored in a json column on the table of your model. Let’s add that column and prepare the model.

Adding the column where the schemaless attributes will be stored

Add a migration for all models where you want to add schemaless attributes to. You should use schemalessAttributes method on Blueprint to add a column. The argument you give to schemalessAttributes is the column name that will be added. You can use any name you’d like. You’re also free to add as many schemaless attribute columns to your table as you want. In all examples of this readme we’ll use a single column named extra_attributes.

Schema::table('your_models', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->schemalessAttributes('extra_attributes');
});

Preparing the model

In order to work with the schemaless attributes you’ll need to add a custom cast and a scope on your model. Here’s an example of what you need to add if you’ve chosen extra_attributes as your column name.

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
use Spatie\SchemalessAttributes\Casts\SchemalessAttributes;

class TestModel extends Model
{
    // ...

    public $casts = [
        'extra_attributes' => SchemalessAttributes::class,
    ];

    public function scopeWithExtraAttributes(): Builder
    {
        return $this->extra_attributes->modelScope();
    }

    // ...
}

If you need support for multiple schemaless columns on a single model, you should use SchemalessAttributesTrait trait. Here’s an example of what you need to add if you’ve chosen extra_attributes, other_extra_attributes as your column names.

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
use Spatie\SchemalessAttributes\SchemalessAttributes;
use Spatie\SchemalessAttributes\SchemalessAttributesTrait;

class TestModel extends Model
{
    use SchemalessAttributesTrait;

    // ...
    
    /**
     * @var array
     */
    protected $schemalessAttributes = [
        'extra_attributes',
        'other_extra_attributes',
    ];

    public function scopeWithExtraAttributes(): Builder
    {
        return $this->extra_attributes->modelScope();
    }
    
    public function scopeWithOtherExtraAttributes(): Builder
    {
        return $this->other_extra_attributes->modelScope();
    }

    // ...
}

If you want to reuse this behaviour across multiple models you could opt to put the function in a trait of your own. Here’s what that trait could look like:

namespace App\Models\Concerns;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder;
use Spatie\SchemalessAttributes\Casts\SchemalessAttributes;

trait HasSchemalessAttributes
{
    public function initializeHasSchemalessAttributes()
    {
        $this->casts['extra_attributes'] = SchemalessAttributes::class;
    }
    
    public function scopeWithExtraAttributes(): Builder
    {
        return $this->extra_attributes->modelScope();
    }
}

Usage

Getting and setting schemaless attributes

This is the easiest way to get and set schemaless attributes:

$yourModel->extra_attributes->name = 'value';

$yourModel->extra_attributes->name; // Returns 'value'

Alternatively you can use an array approach:

$yourModel->extra_attributes['name'] = 'value';

$yourModel->extra_attributes['name']; // Returns 'value'

You can replace all existing schemaless attributes by assigning an array to it.

// All existing schemaless attributes will be replaced
$yourModel->extra_attributes = ['name' => 'value'];
$yourModel->extra_attributes->all(); // Returns ['name' => 'value']

You can also opt to use get and set. The methods have support for dot notation.

$yourModel->extra_attributes = [
   'rey' => ['side' => 'light'],
   'snoke' => ['side' => 'dark'],
];
$yourModel->extra_attributes->set('rey.side', 'dark');

$yourModel->extra_attributes->get('rey.side'); // Returns 'dark

You can also pass a default value to the get method.

$yourModel->extra_attributes->get('non_existing', 'default'); // Returns 'default'

Persisting schemaless attributes

To persist schemaless attributes you should, just like you do for normal attributes, call save() on the model.

$yourModel->save(); // Persists both normal and schemaless attributes

Retrieving models with specific schemaless attributes

Here’s how you can use the provided modelScope.

// Returns all models that have all the given schemaless attributes
$yourModel->withExtraAttributes(['name' => 'value', 'name2' => 'value2'])->get();

If you only want to search on a single custom attribute, you can use the modelScope like this

// returns all models that have a schemaless attribute `name` set to `value`
$yourModel->withExtraAttributes('name', 'value')->get();

Also, if you only want to search on a single custom attribute with a custom operator, you can use the modelScope like this

// returns all models that have a schemaless attribute `name` starting with `value`
$yourModel->withExtraAttributes('name', 'LIKE', 'value%')->get();

If you only want to search on a nested custom attribute, you can use the modelScope like this

// returns all models that have a schemaless nested attribute `han.side` set to `light`
$yourModel->withExtraAttributes('han->side', 'light')->get();

Testing

First create a MySQL database named laravel_schemaless_attributes. After that you can run the tests with:

composer test

Changelog

Please see CHANGELOG for more information on what has changed recently.

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING for details.

Security Vulnerabilities

Please review our security policy on how to report security vulnerabilities.

Credits

• Freek Van der Herten
• All Contributors

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.