Laravel: Notifications table with custom column - php

Question

I am using Laravel's default notifications system. However, I need an extra column in the notifications table to check if the user already has the same unread-notification or not.
For example: If user's profile is not complete then on every login he/she will be reminded until the profile is complete. But if the previously generated notification is still unread then the new notification will not be generated.
Table: notifications
default_fields
notify
...
...
profile_incomplete
...
...
password_change_overdue
...
Notifications class
class NotifyToCompleteProfileNotification extends Notification
{
public function __construct()
{
$this->notify = 'profile_incomplete';
}
/**
* Get the notification's delivery channels.
*
* #param mixed $notifiable
* #return array
*/
public function via($notifiable)
{
return ['database'];
}
/**
* Get the array representation of the notification.
*
* #param mixed $notifiable
* #return array
*/
public function toArray($notifiable)
{
return [
'data' => '...',
];
}
}

Answer 1

You can use custom notification channel to make this works. Let's assume you want to add a group field to notifications. First, add this field to table, then make file GroupedDbChannel.php:
namespace App\Notifications;
use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;
class GroupedDbChannel
{
public function send($notifiable, Notification $notification)
{
$data = $notification->toDatabase($notifiable);
return $notifiable->routeNotificationFor('database')->create([
'id' => $notification->id,
'group' => $notification->group,
'type' => get_class($notification),
'data' => $data,
'read_at' => null,
]);
}
}
Next, you need to define custom group and channel for notification:
namespace App\Notifications;
use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;
class TestNotification extends Notification {
/*
* Here you define additional value that will
* be used in custom notification channel.
*/
public string $group = 'incomplete-profile';
public function via($notifiable) {
return [GroupedDbChannel::class];
}
public function toArray($notifiable) {
return [
// notification data
];
}
/*
* It's important to define toDatabase method due
* it's used in notification channel. Of course,
* you can change it in GroupedDbChannel.
*/
public function toDatabase($notifiable): array
{
return $this->toArray($notifiable);
}
}
And it's done. Use notifications as standard.
$user->notify(new TestNotification());
Now, value incomplete-profile from $group field goes to notifications table to group column.