Reference Relationship ID on CSV import - php

Question

I have 2 models that I want to populate by a CVS import. The first model is a list of Retail Stores and the second model is the Retail Stores corresponding locations.
This is the CSV import:
name,email,website,street_number,street_address,city,country,postcode,latitude,longitude
"Example name",info#example.com,10,"random street",amsterdam,netherlands,4000,52.666,4.3333
The RetailStores.php model will need these values:
name,
email,
website
The LocationStores.php model will need these values:
street_number,
street_address,
city,
country,
postcode,
latitude,
longitude
I will extract the data from the CSV file inside a foreach loop and attaching them to an empty array variable, from here will use some Eloquent to populate the database. Below is how I do this:
$file = Input::file('csv_file');
$data = $this->retailer->processCsv($file);
$retailers = [];
$locations = [];
foreach ($data as $value) {
$retailers[] = array(
'user_id' => Auth::user()->id,
'name' => $value['name'],
'email' => $value['email'],
'website' => $value['website'],
'created_at' => Carbon::now(),
'updated_at' => Carbon::now()
);
$locations[] = array(
'retailer_id' => $value['retailer_id'], // ISSUE HERE
'street_number' => $value['street_number'],
'street_address' => $value['street_address'],
'city' => $value['city'],
'state' => $value['state'],
'country' => $value['country'],
'country_code' => $value['country_code'],
'postcode' => $value['postcode'],
'latitude' => $value['latitude'],
'longitude' => $value['longitude'],
'created_at' => Carbon::now(),
'updated_at' => Carbon::now()
);
Retailer::insert($retailers);
Location::insert($locations);
}
As noted above I have 2 separate models the Retailers and Locations. I need to reference the Retailer ID in the $locations array. For now I have one option which is to have users enter the relevant retailer store id for each location in the CSV file, but people are well.... you know.
However considering that the CSV file will supply a "Store Name" for each location it has, is there not a way to reference an increment ID for each unique store name within the array? for example if the CSV table had these values:
Fruit,info#fruit.com,www.fruit.com,1,"apple street",etc
Fruit,info#fruit.com,www.fruit.com,120,"pear parkway",etc
Fruit,info#fruit.com,www.fruit.com,350,"orange avenue",etc
Meat,info#meat.com,www.meat.com,33,"Steak street",etc
Meat,info#meat.com,www.meat.com,33,"Chicken Road",etc
When getting these values within the foreach loop, is there a way one could give an increment ID for each of the repeated Store names which would thus reference the relevant store to its location?
Any advice, greatly appreciated.

Answer 1

You could store the retailer name in a way where it's easy to check if a particular name is in the retailer array already, and grab the ID out if it is. Something like this:
foreach ($data as $value) {
$retailer_name = $value['name']; // for clarity
// is the retailer name in the retailers array already?
if (isset($retailers[$retailer_name])){
// get the ID
$retailer_id = $retailers[$retailer_name]['user_id'];
} else { // otherwise add a new one
$retailer_id = Auth::user()->id; //store the ID for use in Locations
// use retailer name for the key of the array, so it's easily findable later
$retailers[$retailer_name] = array(
'user_id' => $retailer_id,
'name' => $value['name'],
'email' => $value['email'],
'website' => $value['website'],
'created_at' => Carbon::now(),
'updated_at' => Carbon::now()
);
}
$locations[] = array(
'retailer_id' => $retailer_id, // add either the new or existing ID
'street_number' => $value['street_number'],
'street_address' => $value['street_address'],
'city' => $value['city'],
'state' => $value['state'],
'country' => $value['country'],
'country_code' => $value['country_code'],
'postcode' => $value['postcode'],
'latitude' => $value['latitude'],
'longitude' => $value['longitude'],
'created_at' => Carbon::now(),
'updated_at' => Carbon::now()
);
Retailer::insert($retailers);
Location::insert($locations);
}
You then have an array with strings as keys for $retailers, though, and if that's a problem for insertion, you'll have to make a separate array for retailers or change it to numeric keys before you insert.