Laravel 5 Database Like query on a array - php

Question

I have been working on a laravel advance search filter where a user can input several field in a form and on submit it generates data table for given fields. and if fields are empty then it just shows all the records from database (unsets the filter).
public function advanced_search(Request $request)
{
//user submitted data in post
$post = $request->all();
/*
filter array keys are defined here
e.g first_name, last_name
*/
$simple_filter = array(
"first_name" => "",
"last_name" => "",
"email" => "",
"company_name" => "",
);
foreach ($simple_filter as $key => $value) {
if (isset($post[$key]) && ($post[$key] != null) && !empty($post[$key])) {
$simple_filter[$key] = $post[$key];
} else {
//user didn't send this field in post data so removing this from filter list
unset($simple_filter[$key]);
}
}
$query = DB::table('contacts')->where($simple_filter)->get();
return DataTables::of($query)
->toJson();
}
Now this code is working fine. But requirements are changed. This code only return the exact details. Now I want to show record even if substring matches. (LIKE %data$). How can I modify this?

Answer 1

Use orWhere() if you want to find contacts where one of the fields is like a given form input. Or use where() if you want to use all the form input elements to filter contacts:
public function advanced_search(Request $request)
{
$query = Contact::query();
$fields = ['first_name', 'last_name', 'email', 'company_name'];
foreach ($fields as $field) {
if ($request->filled($field)) {
$query = $query->orWhere($field, 'like', '%' . $request->get($field) . '%');
}
}
return DataTables::of($query->get())->toJson();
}
Also, you're doing a lot of redundant checks. Just use the ->filled() method instead. It will return false if a field is empty, or doesn't exist or null.
If you would like to determine if a value is present on the request and is not empty, you may use the filled method
https://laravel.com/docs/5.5/requests#retrieving-input

Answer 2

You can create the query before the loop and add all where filters in the loop. The second parameter of the where function can be the comparer, in your case: like.
$query = DB::table('contacts');
foreach ($simple_filter as $key => $value) {
if (isset($post[$key]) && ($post[$key] != null) && !empty($post[$key]))
{
$query = $query->orWhere($key, 'like', '%' . $value . '%');
}
}
return DataTables::of($query->get())->toJson();