Laravel polymorphic relations: Passing model to controller - php

Question

I want to use a single controller to save my comments for multiple models. So I created the CommentController, with the following store method:
public function store(Teacher $teacher, Request $request)
{
$input = $request->all();
$comment = new Comment();
$comment->user_id = Auth::user()->id;
$comment->body = $input['body'];
$teacher->comments()->save($comment);
return redirect()->back();
}
In my view, I have:
{!! Form::open([
'route' => ['teachers.comments.store', $teacher->id]
]) !!}
This is working. If I want to use the same CommentController to store the comments for a school, how should I modify the store method of the controller?

Answer 1

Adam's solution is great, but I would not hard-code the model's namespace that way. Instead, what I would do is make use of Laravel's Relation::morphMap(), you can check it out here: https://laravel.com/docs/5.6/eloquent-relationships#polymorphic-relations
That way, you will also make your database entries more readable. I recommend using a service provider to map the morphs.
Also, the Model base class has a getMorphClass() method, so instead of
$comment->commentable_type = 'App\\Models\\'.$model;
I would use
$comment->commentable_type = $model->getMorphClass();
That way you integrate Laravel's logic into your code.

Answer 2

Im not sure if this is the Laravel convension, but i have done the following:
Made a route:
Route::post('/Comment/{model}/{id}', [
// etc
]);
Then in the controller get the model and check against an array of allowed models, pass the id through and attach:
public function store(Request $request, $model, $id) {
$allowed = ['']; // list all models here
if(!in_array($model, $allowed) {
// return redirect back with error
}
$comment = new Comment();
$comment->user_id = $request->user()->id;
$comment->commentable_type = 'App\\Models\\'.$model;
$comment->commentable_id = $id;
$comment->body = $request->body;
$comment->save();
return redirect()->back();
}
Like I say, there is most likely a much better way to accomplish, but this is how I've done it. It keeps it short and sweet and checks if the model can take a comment.

Answer 3

I implemented this way if you want, according to me it's the one of the bests way to do that.
// Route::post('/comments/{model}/{id}', 'CommentController#store');
class CommentController extends Controller {
protected $model;
public function __construct()
{
$this->model = Relation::getMorphedModel(
request()->route()->parameter('model')
);
}
/**
* Store a newly created resource in storage.
*
* #param \Illuminate\Http\Request $request
* #return \Illuminate\Http\Response
*/
public function store(Request $request)
{
dd($this->model); // return 'App\Post' or null
}
}