CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phparrayslaravellaravel-5eloquent
so001
so001

Reputation: 445

Why does Laravel store two different array syntaxes in databases and which one is correct?

I come from a Javascript and Ruby background and this is baffling me. Laravel can store two different array syntaxes in my DB depending on how I handle my array serialization. In my understanding, collect() creates a true Laravel array. Why then is it storing a serialized array? Furthermore, is the {'key':'value'}syntax still an array despite having no square brackets surrounding it? It looks to me like a standard object or a hash, but if I try to do toArray() on it, it recognizes that it's already an array and throws an error. What am I misunderstanding and what is correct here?

Given a form:

edit.blade:

<select class="form-control m-bootstrap-select m_selectpicker" name="temp">
     <option value={{ json_encode(array("$key"=>"$cph"), JSON_FORCE_OBJECT) }}>
</select>

The following two controllers syntaxes yield different database insertions.

PageController.php:

$page->cph_default = collect($request->temp);
$page->save();

Laravel stores an array with the following syntax in my database: ["{\"11\":\"1100\"}"]

PageController.php

 $page->cph_default = json_decode($request->temp, true);
 $page->save();

Laravel stores an array with the following syntax in my database: {"19": "1900"}

Upvotes: 0

Views: 219

Answers (2)

Aken Roberts
Aken Roberts

Reputation: 13467

A PHP array with the syntax ['key' => 'value'] is called an associative array, and acts like a hash. A JSON-encoded associative array will show up as an object in JSON syntax. Examples and more info on PHP.net

Laravel's collect() function is a convenience wrapper for creating a new Collection. A Collection is not really a "true Laravel array" so much as it is an object wrapper with some convenience methods for modifying the underlying array. Think of it like a scalar object.

In your form when generating the option value, the submitted form value ($request->temp) will be a JSON-encoded string. Literally the string '{"19": "1900"}'.

Calling collect($request->temp) does no modification to that submitted data. It's simply creating a new Collection (array), containing a single string item. If you were to call toArray() on the collection, you'd see something like this:

[
    0 => '{"19": "1900"}'
]

Note that this is not an associative array, it is a numeric array with a zero-based index. This array is encoded as a JSON array, not as a hash object. Hence your first result.

Calling json_decode($request->temp) is turning the string back into an associative array (hash) before saving it via Eloquent. Eloquent then calls json_encode() again internally, turning it back into the same JSON as your form's option value.

If you were to decode the form value before creating the collection, the resulting database save would look identical. You'd just have the convenience of the Collection wrapper:

$page->cph_default = collect(json_decode($request->temp, true));
$page->save();

If you're treating the column as a JSON type, you should ensure the data passed to Eloquent is NOT already encoded, or you'll get the double encoding experienced in your first example.

Upvotes: 4

ManojKiran
ManojKiran

Reputation: 6351

No Matter What is.

First If you are stroring the array into database convert to JSON FORMAT

For eg $variable = json_encode($request->controlname);

This is the right way to store array

Into database

Upvotes: -1

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