Override mutator's value in eloquent - php

Question

Given following code:
class Picture {
public function getAbsolutePathAttribute() {
return "absolute_path"
}
}
$picture = new Picture();
echo $picture->absolute_path; // prints "absolute_path"
$picture->absolute_path = "I will override you no matter what";
echo $picture->absolute_path; // prints "absolute_path"
Is there way of overriding an eloquent mutator attribute?
I have tried a magic method:
setAbsolutePathAttribute($value) {
$this["attributes"] = $value;
}
However it did not work.

Answer 1

So I don't recommend trying to solve this by overriding the mutator. You might be able to, but the less you touch the core of Laravel the better. Why? Because you never know what future Laravel code could look like.
A core change could possibly break your internal override the next time you do a minor or major Laravel version upgrade.
So, 2 ways to solve this, given your simple example:
1. Create a default value at the database level
Laravel migrations feature a default column modifier, it looks something like this: ->default('something')
That way you don't need the mutator at all for getting that default value you're looking for.
You can read more about them here: https://laravel.com/docs/5.6/migrations#column-modifiers
2. Make your accessor smarter
Your example is pretty simple, so I'll just work with it:
class Picture {
public function getAbsolutePathAttribute() {
if(is_null($this->absolute_path)) {
return "absolute_path";
}
return $this->absolute_path;
}
}
That way it only does something if there is no value present.