Unable to insert timestamp values while using model's custom method - php

Question

I am doing project in Laravel. I have used laravel's eloquent model. I want to insert record into the database with timestamp values.
Here is my model 'Provider.php'
{
protected $primaryKey = 'provider_id';
protected $table = 'provider';
protected $fillable = [
'organization_name',
'email',
'website',
'mobile',
'landline',
'password',
'added_by'
];
public function cities(){
return $this->belongsToMany('App\City','provider_city','provider_id','city_id');
}
}
'City.php'
{
protected $primaryKey = 'city_id';
protected $table = 'city';
protected $fillable = ['state_id','name'];
}
and my controller method is as following,
{
$city_selection = $request->input('city_selection');
$provider = Provider::findOrFail($provider_id);
foreach ($city_selection as $city) {
$provider->cities()->attach($city['city_id']);
}
}
where city_selection is as below,
"city_selection":
[
{
"city_id": 1,
"name": "Pune"
},
{
"city_id": 3,
"name": "Bangalore"
}
]
After that when I tried to insert the record then all fileds i.e. provider_id and city_id filed goes properly into the database but the only problem is created_at and updated_at fields are still null.
I have used timpstamps(); while creating migration file. I don't know what's going wrong.
Any suggestions?

Answer 1

You need to add the dates mutators.
https://laravel.com/docs/5.3/eloquent-mutators#date-mutators
class Provider extends Model
{
/**
* The attributes that should be mutated to dates.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $dates = [
'created_at',
'updated_at',
'deleted_at'
];
}

Answer 2

Add timestamp in your Schema
$table->timestamps();
Your schema look like this
Schema::create('city', function(Blueprint $table){
$table->increments('id');
$table->integer('state_id')->unsigned();
$table->foreign('state_id')->references('id')->on('state');
$table->string('name', 100);
$table->timestamps();
});

Answer 3

Add following columns in your table schema.
$table->timestamp('created_at')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));
$table->timestamp('updated_at')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP on update CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));
created_at column will store value when record is inserted and updated_at will keep updated when any changes in this record(Any update in row).
Update
Use below code to update in new migration
public function up()
{
Schema::table('table_name', function($table) {
$table->timestamp('created_at')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));
$table->timestamp('updated_at')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP on update CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));
});
}