How to store an array as a string in attribute - php

Question

I want to store an array as a string in a open_hours field. How i can do it.
Please help me.thats my code . Thanks in advance
$company = Company::create([
'company_name' => $request->input('company_name'),
'company_picture'=> $company_picture,
'address' => $request->input('address'),
'latitude' => $request->input('latitude'),
'longitude' => $request->input('longitude'),
'zipcode' => $request->input('zipcode'),
'city' => $request->input('city'),
'country' => $request->input('country'),
'open_hours' => $request->input('open_hours'),
'subcategory_id' => $request->input('subcategory_id'),
'price' => $request->input('price'),
'age_limit' => $request->input('age_limit'),
'company_description' => $request->input('company_description'),
]);

Answer 1

You could store it a JSON in the database and make Laravel to handle it (cast) as an array.
From the documentation:
Array & JSON Casting
The array cast type is particularly useful when working with columns
that are stored as serialized JSON. For example, if your database has
a JSON or TEXT field type that contains serialized JSON, adding
the array cast to that attribute will automatically deserialize the
attribute to a PHP array when you access it on your Eloquent model:
<?php
namespace App;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class User extends Model
{
/**
* The attributes that should be cast to native types.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $casts = [
'options' => 'array',
];
}
Once the cast is defined, you may access the options attribute and
it will automatically be deserialized from JSON into a PHP array. When
you set the value of the options attribute, the given array will
automatically be serialized back into JSON for storage:
$user = App\User::find(1);
$options = $user->options;
$options['key'] = 'value';
$user->options = $options;
$user->save();
So, you can do this in your Company model:
app/Company.php
class Company extends Model
{
/**
* The attributes that should be cast to native types.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $casts = [
'open_hours' => 'array',
];
}
Of course, you should have the open_hours column defines as a JSON/TEXT column:
database/migrations/create_companies_table.php // your migration file
public function up()
{
Schema::create('companies', function (Blueprint $table) {
// ...
$table->json('open_hours');
// ...
});
}
Update
Now, whenever you get a Company instance, you should be able to handle your desired field as an array:
ACoolController.php
// get your instance
$company = App\Company::find(1);
// return it to a view
return view('path.to.view')->with('company', $company);
Then in your view:
path/to/view.blade.php
#foreach ($company->open_hours as $open_hour)
<p> This is an {{ $open_hour }} </p>
#endforeach

Answer 2

Use open_hours column as json to store array values. Laravel migration has column type ->json('column_name')