Compare String on Controller - php

Question

I have a dropdownlist with 2 items (Carrot & Lemon). I want to compare Carrot to Lemon. If it is a vegetable the add is validated or else it is blocked in the form.
In my code, the validation is not correct... My 2 values pass...
public function store(Request $request)
{
$this->validate($request, [
'vegetables' => 'required|min:3'
]);
$listVegetable = Exo::where('vegetables', $request->get('vegetables'))->count();
$word = "Carrot";
if ($listVegetable == $word){
Exo::create($request->all());
return redirect()->route('exos.index')
->with('success', 'new data created successfully');
}
else{
return redirect()->route('exos.index')
->with('error', 'Not vegetable');
}
}

Answer 1

With $listVegetable = Exo::where('vegetables', $request->get('vegetables'))->count(); you get the amount of vegetables in your Database as Integer value. So your comparison with the carrot string does not make sense. You habe to write first() instead of count() and then I guess you need to access ->name property of this object, depending which rows your model has.

Answer 2

Ok, the main idea is verify if a string is into table, then you would take this way, just verify if string is into table:
public function store(Request $request)
{
$this->validate($request, [
'vegetables' => 'required|min:3'
]);
$vegetable = Exo::where('vegetables', $request->get('vegetables'))->first();
if ($vegetable){
Exo::create($request->all());
return redirect()->route('exos.index')
->with('success', 'new data created successfully');
}
else{
return redirect()->route('exos.index')
->with('error', 'Not vegetable');
}
}
by other hand if you want to classify your Exo table, you'd need another colum, for example one called 'type', then the code looks like your main code(although it could be improved):
public function store(Request $request)
{
$this->validate($request, [
'vegetables' => 'required|min:3'
]);
$vegetable = Exo::where('vegetables', $request->get('vegetables'))->first();
$word = "vegetable";
if ($vegetable && $vegetable->type == $word){
Exo::create($request->all());
return redirect()->route('exos.index')
->with('success', 'new data created successfully');
}
else{
return redirect()->route('exos.index')
->with('error', 'Not vegetable');
}
}
Hope this would help you.