rules() function in Laravel Request doesn't create unique slugs - php

Question

I'm trying to make simple unique slugs. The slugs are saved correctly in database, so the function is working. I have problems with making them unique.
I have this rule in TagCreateRequest.php
public function rules()
{
$rules = [
'tag' => 'required|min:3',
'tag_slug' => 'required|alpha_dash|unique:tag,tag_slug,'
];
$rule = 'unique:tag';
$segments = $this->segments();
$id = intval(end($segments));
if ($id != 0) {
$rule .= ',tag_slug,' . $id;
}
$rules['tag_slug'][] = $rule;
return $rules;
}
and this in my store function in the controller
public function store(TagCreateRequest $request)
{
$tag = new Tag();
foreach (array_keys($this->fields) as $field) {
$tag->$field = $request->get($field);
}
$tag->save();
return redirect()->route('tags');
}
The error is about trying to add duplicate value
SQLSTATE[23000]: Integrity constraint violation: 1062 Duplicate entry 'unique slug' for key 'tags_tag_unique'
Can someone help me to fix this issue?

Answer 1

You can access the id field magically. ID must be the same route parameter used in your route.
If you use id parameter like as Route::put('post/{id}/update') then you can magically access the id parameter inside your form request. Otherwise, if you call the parameter of {post} Route::put('post/{post}/update'), in your form request you must be call $this->post instead of $this->id, ok?
Please try it:
public function rules()
{
$rules = [
'tag' => 'required|min:3'
];
$slugRule = 'required|alpha_dash|unique:tag_slug';
if (! empty($this->id)) {
$slugRule = 'required|alpha_dash|unique:tag_slug,'.$this->id;
}
$rules['tag_slug'] = $slugRule;
return $rules;
}
This FormRequest will work fine on the store() and update() methods if you inject him in both methods.
See it:
// Your store route
Route::post('/post/store', ['as' => 'post.store', 'uses' => 'YourController#store']);
// YourController store method
public function store(NameSpaced\FormRequest $request)
{
// ...
}
// Your update route
Route::post('/post/{id}/update', ['as' => 'post.update', 'uses' => 'YourController#store']);
// YourController update method
public function update(NameSpaced\FormRequest $request)
{
// ...
}

Answer 2

$rules = [
'tag' => 'required|min:3',
'tag_slug' => 'required|alpha_dash|unique:[table name],[column name]'
];
Try this the first is table name and the second is column name that you wanted to unique, write without adding square braces. or you just pass table name like this,
$rules = [
'tag' => 'required|min:3',
'tag_slug' => 'required|alpha_dash|unique:[table name]'
];
laravel auto checks for the column.
I hope it helps.

Answer 3

I would suggest that you automatically generate a new slug whenever you are creating a tag. I got myself in same issues that you have listed here, so i decided on automatically generating whenever i am creating a new item. I used laravel-sluggable. It automatically generates unique slugs.
As per your question, i have defined a unique slug rule in one of my demo apps like this:
public function rules()
{
return [
'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
'slug' => 'required|string|max:255|unique:categories,slug,'.$this->segment(3),
];
}
Please note that $this->segment(3) refers to the id of the model being updated in the backend pages, it can be different in your application.