Laravel - Single Model for Multiple Tables - php

Question

I want to use a single Model file for multiple tables.
Why???
The Table structure of all the tables is same
I have few columns to be stored as JSON Arrays and I would like to use Laravel's built in Json Serialization rather than manually serializing Arrays.
I have already read on laracast blog that it's not possible in Laravel but is there any other way to make it possible.
Thanks in advance!!!

Answer 1

You can just create a base model that has the logic that is common to all the models, and then create your individual models that inherit from the base model.
class Auto extends Model
{
protected $casts = [
'details' => 'json',
];
public function getWheelsAttribute()
{
return $this->details->wheels;
}
}
class Car extends Auto
{
// models your "cars" table
}
class Truck extends Auto
{
// models your "trucks" table
}
class Bus extends Auto
{
// models your "buses" table
}
Or, you could create a trait with the common functionality and use the trait in all your child models.
trait HasJsonDetails
{
protected $casts = [
'details' => 'json',
];
public function getWheelsAttribute()
{
return $this->details->wheels;
}
}
class Car extends Model
{
// models your "cars" table
use HasJsonDetails;
}
class Truck extends Model
{
// models your "trucks" table
use HasJsonDetails;
}
class Bus extends Model
{
// models your "buses" table
use HasJsonDetails;
}
Or, another option, if the table structure truly is and will always be the same, would be to combine all your tables into one table and use single table inheritance to have multiple models all use the same table.
With this method, you would add a type field to your table to tell you which class to use to model the individual row. It also requires some customization, but you can find an STI package to use, or follow this forum thread for more information:
https://laravel.io/forum/02-17-2014-eloquent-single-table-inheritance
This, of course, would still need to be combined with one of the methods mentioned above to share implementation logic across the multiple models.