Search bar with two inputs and a search button Laravel5 - php

Question

I'm working on a jobber search project online using Laravel 5.5.
In my project I want to make a search to find jobbers who live in a certain area and who perform a certain service, or where only one criteria matches.
I use three models: User, Area and Service.
Here is my search bar: I want to use this search bar to do it
This is the User model:
class User extends Authenticatable
{
use Notifiable, EntrustUserTrait;
/**
* The attributes that are mass assignable.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $fillable = ['name', 'surname', 'email', 'phone',
'password','type',];
/**
* The attributes that should be hidden for arrays.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $hidden = [ 'password', 'remember_token',];
public function area(): BelongsTo
{
return $this->belongsTo(Area::class);
}
public function service(): BelongsTo
{
return $this->belongsTo(Service::class);
}
}
This is the Service model:
class Service extends Model
{
protected $fillable = ['category_id','name','description'];
public function category(): BelongsTo
{
return $this->belongsTo(Category::class);
}
public function users(): BelongsTo
{
return $this->belongsToMany(User::class, 'service_id');
}
public function jobs()
{
return $this->hasMany('App\Job');
}
}
And this is the Area model:
class Area extends Model
{
protected $fillable = ['town_id', 'name', 'description'];
public function town(): BelongsTo
{
return $this->belongsTo(Town::class);
}
public function user(): BelongsTo
{
return $this->belongsTo(User::class, 'area_id');
}
}
Here is the controller code that did not work for me so far:
public function search(Request $request) {
$service = $request->get('service');
$area = Input::get('area');
if (!(empty($service)) && !(empty($area))) {
$results = User::with(['area', 'service'])
->where('area_id', 'like', "%$area%")
->whereHas('service', function ($query) use ($service) {
$query->where('category_id', $service);
})
->paginate(10);
return view('Search.search', compact('results'));
} elseif (!(empty($service)) && empty($area)) {
$results = User::with(['area', 'service'])
->whereHas('service', function ($query) use ($service) {
$query->where('category_id', $service);
})
->paginate(10);
return view('Search.search', compact('results'));
} elseif (empty($service) && !empty($area)) {
$results = User::with(['area', 'service'])
->where('area_id', 'like', "%$area%")
->paginate(10);
return view('Search.search', compact('results'));
}
}

Answer 1

I would advice you to build your query dynamically depending on the available input. This reduces your code and makes sure you will not have to add new code in multiple places should you extend your search in future.
public function search(Request $request)
{
$query = User::with(['area', 'service']);
if ($request->filled('service')) {
$query = $query->whereHas('service', function ($q) use ($request) {
$q->where('category_id', $request->get('service'));
});
}
if ($request->filled('area')) {
$query = $query->where('area_id', $request->get('area'));
}
$results = $query->paginate(10);
return view('Search.search', compact('results'));
}
As long as you don't call get(), paginate() or find() on the $query, it will be a Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Builder object. This means you can add additional conditions on the query which will all be included in the actual SQL query and are not performed in-memory (which you clearly don't want).
The method $request->filled('service') will check both of the following two conditions:
$request->has('service')
!empty($request->get('service'))
If you want to be able to search Areas by name, you might need to change the if($request->filled('area')) { ... } part to the following:
if ($request->filled('area')) {
$query = $query->whereHas('area', function ($q) use ($request) {
$q->where('name', 'like', '%'.$request->get('area').'%');
});
}