How to get a single value from Query Builder in Laravel? - php

Question

I'm trying to get a single value from Query Builder in Laravel but the problem is I'm getting an array.
this is my query result in Postman with dd($myVar):
[{"is_liked":1}]
and also with echo($myVar):
Collection {#976
#items: array:1 [
0 => NewsCommentLike {#970
#fillable: array:3 [
0 => "user_id"
1 => "news_comment_id"
2 => "is_liked"
]
#connection: "mysql"
#table: "news_comment_likes"
#primaryKey: "id"
#keyType: "int"
+incrementing: true
#with: []
#withCount: []
#perPage: 15
+exists: true
+wasRecentlyCreated: false
#attributes: array:1 [
"is_liked" => 1
]
#original: array:1 [
"is_liked" => 1
]
#changes: []
#casts: []
#dates: []
#dateFormat: null
#appends: []
#dispatchesEvents: []
#observables: []
#relations: []
#touches: []
+timestamps: true
#hidden: []
#visible: []
#guarded: array:1 [
0 => "*"
]
}
]
}
and my code is:
$previous_is_liked = NewsCommentLike::query()->where(['user_id' => $user_id, 'news_comment_id' => $newsComment->id])->get(['is_liked']);
How to get a single value from is_liked not an array?

Answer 1

This is why you have ->value('my_column') method. So you'll end up with:
NewsCommentLike::query()
->where(['user_id' => $user_id, 'news_comment_id' => $newsComment->id])
->value('is_liked');
The advantage is that the value is retrieved directly from the database. If you call first() before it, it can be null thus break your code.

Answer 2

$previous_is_liked = NewsCommentLike::query()->where(['user_id' => $user_id, 'news_comment_id' => $newsComment->id])->first()->is_liked;
Calling first returns 1 result instead of an array, then you can call the column you want.
I believe you could also call it like this:
$previous_is_liked = NewsCommentLike::query()->where(['user_id' => $user_id, 'news_comment_id' => $newsComment->id])->first()->value('is_liked')