Can you output a button via controller in Laravel? - php

Question

I have a live search via my controller method and it outputs the results but I want to have a button for editing present too
what I have tried:
function action(Request $request)
{
if ($request->ajax()) {
$output = '';
$query = $request->get('query');
if ($query != '') {
$data = DB::table('customers')
->where('id', 'like', '%' . $query . '%')
->orWhere('email', 'like', '%' . $query . '%')
->orWhere('name', 'like', '%' . $query . '%')
->orderBy('id', 'desc')
->get();
} else {
$data = DB::table('customers')
->orderBy('is', 'desc')
->get();
}
$total_row = $data->count();
if ($total_row > 0) {
foreach ($data as $row) {
$output .= '
<tr>
<td>' . $row->id . '</td>
<td>' . $row->email . '</td>
<td>Edit</td>
</tr>
';
}
} else {
$output = '
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="5">No Data Found</td>
</tr>
';
}
$data = array(
'table_data' => $output,
'total_data' => $total_row
);
echo json_encode($data);
}
}
Edit: Added the full method.
Note. this live search should not refresh the page, rather replace values

Answer 1

I highly recommend you do a lot of refactoring and read some more of the Laravel docs.
I've done some refactoring, I haven't tested, and there is a lot more work you'll need to do (I can't do it for you, I don't have enough information).
We'll start with the controller.
public function action(Request $request)
{
if (!$request->ajax()) {
return;
}
$customers = DB::table('customers')
->orderBy('id', 'desc');
if ($request->has('query')) {
$query = '%' . $request->get('query') . '%';
$customer = $customer->where('id', 'LIKE', $query)
->orWhere('email', 'LIKE', $query)
->orWhere('name', 'LIKE', $query);
}
$customers = $customers->get();
return view('path.to.view', compact(
'customers'
));
}
Let's walk through the changes.
I utilised the "early returns" code practice. This means that we don't wrap the entire method in an if statement, but rather exit out early out of the method.
It is far easier to read this way.
Renamed $data to $customers. This is a simple change but makes your code easier to read. (Can you see the theme here)?
Moved the duplication of the query builder out of the if statement. It's a "builder", so we can build part of the query that is the same. This code practice is called "DRY" or Don't Repeat Yourself.
Then we check if the $request has a specific key. This is just keeping our code very Laravel-centric.
Now we add to the $customers query builder with the query from $request.
Don't forget to call get() to 'get' all the records from the database. If the request didn't contain query, this part will still be run as normal.
Return a Laravel view, and pass in our $customers Collection. In Laravel, paths are separated by dots / . / full stops / periods.
At this point, you'll need to change how your AJAX query works and returns data.
I can't do this for you. Please attempt to do it yourself, and if you can't then open a new question.
Okay, so it's time to create our view (rather than returns that abhorrent string)!
<table>
#forelse ($customers as $customer)
<tr>
<td>{{ $customer->id }}</td>
<td>{{ $customer->email }}</td>
<td>
Edit
</td>
</tr>
#empty
<tr>
<td align="center" colspan="5">No Data Found</td>
</tr>
#endforelse
</table>
Laravel Blade templates provide a very useful directive called forelse which lets you iterate over an iterable, and if the iterable contains no elements, then it runs a separate section of code.
As you can see, this is a much better approach than counting records and doing this yourself.
One final thing, I highly recommend using named routes and replacing:
url("cust-edit/".$customer->id)
with
route("customer.edit", ["customer" => $customer])
// or
route("customer.edit", compact('customer'))
I'll give you a hint for the route.
It won't include type hinting of models, because it doesn't look like you use models.
Route::name('customer')->prefix('customer.')->group(function () {
Route::get('/cust-edit/{customer}', function ($customer) {
$customer = DB::table('customer')->where('id', $customer)->first();
// code...
})->name('edit');
});