Laravel Factories and Seeding: Static array of arrays - php

Question

For some of my tables, I'd like to insert a fixed amount of rows with specific data.
This is my categories factory:
$factory->define(Category::class, function (Faker $faker) {
return [
[
'name' => 'Politics',
'slug' => 'politics',
'description' => 'To discuss politics'
],
[
'name' => 'News and Events',
'slug' => 'news',
'description' => 'To discuss news and world events'
],
[
'name' => 'Food and Cooking',
'slug' => 'cooking',
'description' => 'To discuss cooking and food'
],
[
'name' => "Animals and Nature",
'slug' => 'animals-nature',
'description' => 'To discuss politics'
]
];
});
This is the seeder:
public function run() {
factory(App\Category::class, 1)->create();
}
I get this error: preg_match() expects parameter 2 to be string, array given
Is there a way to insert a fixed amount of static information into certain tables using seeding and factories?

Answer 1

I think you want to use Seeder with static values, if I am correct you should use
Define Category seeder
<?php
use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
use App\Category;
class CategorySeeder extends Seeder
{
/**
* Run the database seeds.
*
* #return void
*/
public function run()
{
$categories = [
[
'name' => 'Politics',
'slug' => 'politics',
'description' => 'To discuss politics'
],
[
'name' => 'News and Events',
'slug' => 'news',
'description' => 'To discuss news and world events'
],
[
'name' => 'Food and Cooking',
'slug' => 'cooking',
'description' => 'To discuss cooking and food'
],
[
'name' => "Animals and Nature",
'slug' => 'animals-nature',
'description' => 'To discuss politics'
]
];
foreach ($categories as $category) {
Category::create($category);
}
}
}
And in DatabaseSeeder
<?php
use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
class DatabaseSeeder extends Seeder
{
/**
* Seed the application's database.
*
* #return void
*/
public function run()
{
$this->call(CategorySeeder::class);
}
}
Now run php artisan db:seed and it will be done.

Answer 2

The answer of #Prafulla Kumar Sahu is by seeder, but you can override your factory values by:
$category = factory(App\Category::class)->make([
'name' => 'Politics',
'slug' => 'politics',
'description' => 'To discuss politics'
]);
$category = factory(App\Category::class)->make([
'name' => 'News and Events',
'slug' => 'news',
'description' => 'To discuss news and world events'
]);
$category = factory(App\Category::class)->make([
'name' => 'Food and Cooking',
'slug' => 'cooking',
'description' => 'To discuss cooking and food'
]);
$category = factory(App\Category::class)->make([
'name' => "Animals and Nature",
'slug' => 'animals-nature',
'description' => 'To discuss politics'
]);