Laravel Query Builder Join vs With Function, Which One is Better? - php

Question

I want to ask about Laravel Query using Join or With which is better.
In this case there is a short query that I have tried. But there are some things that make me wonder.
In my case, I'm trying to create a list of users using the API. The problem lies in sorting the data.
The problem is divided into several.
If I use With.
The advantage of using with is that I can call the attributes in the model without rewriting the attributes I want to use. But I was confused when calling data related to other tables for me to sort. example query:
/**
* Display a listing of the resource.
*
* #return \Illuminate\Http\Response
*/
public function index(Request $request)
{
$sortBy = $request->query('sortBy');
$sortDesc = (is_null($request->query('sortDesc'))) ? $request->query('sortDesc') : ($request->query('sortDesc') == 'true' ? 'desc' : 'asc');
$page = $request->query('page');
$itemsPerPage = $request->query('itemsPerPage');
$search = $request->query('search');
$starDate = $request->query('start');
$endDate = $request->query('end');
$start = ($page - 1) * $itemsPerPage;
$query = MemberRegular::query();
$query->with(['users' => function ($subQuery) {
$subQuery->select('id', 'name', 'email', 'phone');
}]);
$query->select(
'id',
'code'
);
if ($search) {
$query->where(function ($subQuery) use ($search) {
$subQuery->where('code', 'like', '%' . $search . '%');
$subQuery->orWhere(function ($q) use ($search) {
$q->whereHas('users', function ($j) use ($search) {
$j->where('name', 'like', '%' . $search . '%');
$j->orWhere('email', 'like', '%' . $search . '%');
})
});
});
}
if ($sortBy && $sortDesc) {
$query->orderBy($sortBy, $sortDesc)->orderBy('id', 'desc');
} else {
$query->orderBy('created_at', 'desc')->orderBy('id', 'desc');
}
if ($starDate && $endDate) {
$query->whereBetween('created_at', [$starDate, $endDate]);
}
$data['totalItems'] = $query->count();
$data['items'] = $query->skip($start)->take($itemsPerPage)->get();
return HResource::collection($data['items'])->additional(['totalItems' => (int) $data['totalItems']], true);
}
If I use Join.
The advantage of using Join is that I can sort data easily if the data is related to other tables. But I have to re-create a new attribute in a collection. example query:
/**
* Display a listing of the resource.
*
* #return \Illuminate\Http\Response
*/
public function index(Request $request)
{
$sortBy = $request->query('sortBy');
$sortDesc = (is_null($request->query('sortDesc'))) ? $request->query('sortDesc') : ($request->query('sortDesc') == 'true' ? 'desc' : 'asc');
$page = $request->query('page');
$itemsPerPage = $request->query('itemsPerPage');
$search = $request->query('search');
$starDate = $request->query('start');
$endDate = $request->query('end');
$start = ($page - 1) * $itemsPerPage;
$query = MemberRegular::query();
$query->join('users', 'users.id', '=', 'member_regulars.user_id');
$query->select(
'member_regulars.id',
'member_regulars.code',
'users.name',
'users.email',
'users.phone'
);
if ($search) {
$query->where(function ($subQuery) use ($search) {
$subQuery->where('member_regulars.code', 'like', '%' . $search . '%');
$subQuery->orWhere('users.name', 'ilike', '%' . $search . '%');
$subQuery->orWhere('users.email', 'ilike', '%' . $search . '%');
$subQuery->orWhere('users.phone', 'ilike', '%' . $search . '%');
});
}
if ($sortBy && $sortDesc) {
$query->orderBy($sortBy, $sortDesc)->orderBy('member_regulars.id', 'desc');
} else {
$query->orderBy('member_regulars.created_at', 'desc')->orderBy('member_regulars.id', 'desc');
}
if ($starDate && $endDate) {
$query->whereBetween('member_regulars.created_at', [$starDate, $endDate]);
}
$data['totalItems'] = $query->count();
$data['items'] = $query->skip($start)->take($itemsPerPage)->get();
return HResource::collection($data['items'])->additional(['totalItems' => (int) $data['totalItems']], true);
}
If using Query With The problem lies in sending the sortBy parameter like the following users.name it will be an error because the table is not found in the query I made, but I can immediately call attributes that can be used directly without needing to create a new custom attribute.
If using Query Join, the problem is that I have to re-create custom attributes to be used in data collections, but I don't need to worry about sorting data.
Both are equally important to me. However, if anyone is willing to give advice on the best way I have to use Join or With for this case.
Thank you.

Answer 1

Finally I found the best solution to the problem I was facing. I hope this can help others.
Here I choose to use Join why? because it turns out that I can call the function relations users() in the model that I created so that I can still retrieve custom attributes in the Users model. I don't really know if this is the right way or not. I hope this helps others.
Thank you.