How can I change database name conventions in Laravel? - php

Question

I want to change the default database naming conventions in my Laravel app. By default, Laravel uses snake case for database table and column names. But I want to use Pascal Case for table names and i want to use camel Case for fields.
So a table name of Users instead of users, and field names createdAt, updatedAt, and deletedAt instead of created_at, updated_at, and deleted_at.
I know I can change these on a per-model basis using the $table property but I'd like to change the default without having to modify each model.
Are there any settings like Symfony's NamingStrategy in Laravel?

Answer 1

If you look at the code for Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model::getTable() it's pretty straightforward:
public function getTable()
{
return $this->table ?? Str::snake(Str::pluralStudly(class_basename($this)));
}
Same for Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Concerns\HasTimestamps::getCreatedAtColumn():
public function getCreatedAtColumn()
{
return static::CREATED_AT;
}
So create your own class that extends Model and override that behaviour:
<?php
namespace App\Models;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model as BaseModel;
use Illuminate\Support\Str;
class Model extends BaseModel
{
const CREATED_AT = 'createdAt';
const UPDATED_AT = 'updatedAt';
const DELETED_AT = 'deletedAt';
public function getTable()
{
return $this->table ?? Str::pluralStudly(class_basename($this));
}
}
Now, just have your models extend this class.

Answer 2

You can use stubs for that. Also if you named your table in Pascal Case just use $table property in model which need to be sync with that table.

Answer 3

You can create a new model that you extend your models with.
<?php
namespace App\Models;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Support\Str;
class ModelWithPascalCase extends Model
{
const DELETED_AT = 'deletedAt';
const CREATED_AT = 'createdAt';
const UPDATED_AT = 'updatedAt';
public function getTable()
{
return $this->table ?? Str::pluralStudly(class_basename($this));
}
}
If you want to make Laravel generate your models extending this, you can do it by editing stubs.
Run
artisan stub:publish
then edit stubs/model.stub by replacing Model with your ModelWithPascalCase.
After that, when you run
artisan make:model User
you get your User model extended by ModelWithPascalCase.