Save date into database with Carbon - php

Question

I'm still new in Laravel. Currently, I'm learning and working on Carbon. I already looking on every documentation and other solution but I still don't get it. I hope there is someone can teach and show me step by step how to correct or improve my code.
ComplaintController.php
public function store(Request $request)
{
if (count($request->defect_id) > 0) {
foreach($request->defect_id as $item=>$v) {
$data = array(
'defect_id' => $request->defect_id[$item],
'image' => $filename,
'description' => $request->description[$item],
'report_by' => Auth::user()->id,
'created_at' => Carbon::today()->toDateString(),
'updated_at' => Carbon::now()->toDateTimeString()
);
Complaint::insert($data);
I'm saving created_at field as date only, no time and it is in the format of (yy-mm-dd).
index.blade.php
<div class="panel-body">
<table class="table table-hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th>Defect Name</th>
<th>Description</th>
<th>Image</th>
<th>Report Date</th>
<th>Due Date</th>
</tr>
</thead>
#foreach($complaint as $c)
<tr>
<td>{{$c->defect->name}}</td>
<td>{{$c->description}}</td>
<td><img src="{{ Storage::url('complaint/' . $c->image)}}" class="" alt="{{$c->image}}"></td>
<td>{{$c->created_at->toDateString()}}</td>
<td></td>
</tr>
#endforeach
</table>
</div>
My date is still showing finely in the table as (yy-mm-dd) but I want the date to be in format of (dd/mm/yy) so I try to use this kind of code {{$c->created_at->toDateString()->format("dd/mm/yy")}} and there is error appeared which is Call to a member function format() on string. Later on, I need to add another field for duedate and use this function addDays(30). So, what I need to do? I'm guessing that I need to put another function in my model but I can't figure out how to do it.

Answer 1

As mentioned by #Tim Lewis as well,
replace
{{ $c->created_at->toDateString()->format("dd/mm/yy") }}
to
{{ $c->created_at->format("dd/mm/yy") }}
As toDateString() converts it to string before changing the format.
You can also try using standard php format for datetime, instead of Carbon class,
{{ date("d/m/Y", strtotime($c->created_at)) }}
As for your second question of you want to add new table data column ,
<tr>
<td>{{ $c->defect->name }}</td>
<td>{{ $c->description }}</td>
<td><img src="{{ Storage::url('complaint/' . $c->image)}}" class="" alt="{{$c->image}}"></td>
<td>{{ $c->created_at->format("dd/mm/yy") }}</td>
<td>{{ $c->created_at->addDays(30) }}</td>
</tr>

Answer 2

This should work...
To save the date in the format dd/mm/yy, I would use the following:
date('d-m-Y', strtotime(Carbon\Carbon::now()))
To reformat the date in a view, I would use:
date('d-m-Y', strtotime($c->created_at))
I prefer to use the base php functions wherever possible to keep things simple.
If someone knows a reason not to, please let me know.
As for the adding of days,
date('d-m-Y', strtotime($c->created_at) + (60 * 60 * 24 * 30))
Should work.
Most date related problems can be solved with strtotime(), its very useful. Be sure to read up on it here: https://www.php.net/manual/en/function.strtotime.php

Answer 3

Casted date fields:
In Laravel the created_at and updated_at fields are casted as date fields already. So you don't have to transform this into date formats.
You can simply do
<td>{{ $c->created_at->format("d/m/y") }}</td>
Fields created_at and updated_at are also automatically filled
So you don't need to fill this fields
You can simply do
$data = array(
'defect_id' => $request->defect_id[$item],
'image' => $filename,
'description' => $request->description[$item],
'report_by' => Auth::user()->id,
);
Complaint::create($data);
Extra date field duedate
When you add custom date fields you need to cast them in the model to be date.
Add this in you model:
protected $dates = ['duedate'];