Can I create custom pivot table name using another M:M entity? - php

Question

I'm still thinking is there a ways how can I create a custom pivot table name? Because I created a documents and users table has a many to many relationship with document_user which is my pivot table and this table was created for received document that user created. And I'm planning to create a another pivot table for document and user this table was for sent documents so I can have history. See my code below.
create_document_user_table
public function up()
{
Schema::create('document_user',function (Blueprint $table)
{
$table->increments('id');
$table->integer('user_id')->unsigned();
$table->integer('document_id')->unsigned();
$table->foreign('user_id')->references('id')->on('users')->onDelete('cascade');
$table->foreign('document_id')->references('id')->on('documents')->onDelete('cascade');
$table->unsignedInteger('sender_id')->nullable();
$table->foreign('sender_id')->references('id')->on('users')->onDelete('cascade');
$table->dateTime('dateReceived')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));
$table->timestamp('dateModified')->default(DB::raw('CURRENT_TIMESTAMP ON UPDATE CURRENT_TIMESTAMP'));
});
}
documents_table
public function up()
{
Schema::create('documents', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('title');
$table->text('content');
$table->integer('category_id')->unsigned();
$table->foreign('category_id')->references('id')->on('categories')->onDelete('cascade');
$table->timestamps();
});
}
users_table
public function up()
{
Schema::create('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('first_name');
$table->string('last_name');
$table->string('middle_name');
$table->string('email');
$table->string('username');
$table->string('address');
$table->string('password');
$table->string('remember_token');
$table->integer('role_permission_id')->unsigned();
$table->foreign('role_permission_id')->references('id')->on('roles_permissions_dt')->onDelete('cascade');
$table->timestamps();
});
}
This works well inserting records to my pivot table. What I'm planning to achieve is every-time I inserted a records for documents this will inserted too in my custom pivot table not only in my document_user pivot table. Any help would appreciated! Thanks for your info or tips.
UPDATE
#Mina thanks for the tips that you given but actually this is my insert or save for my pivot table. How can I inserted this in my revisions table?
DocumentController
public function postDocuments(Request $request)
{
$this->validate($request,
[
'title' => 'required|regex:/(^[A-Za-z0-9 ]+$)+/|max:255',
'content' => 'required',
'category_id' => 'required',
'recipient_id' => 'required',
]);
$document = new Document();
//Request in the form
$document->title = $request->title;
$document->content = $request->content;
$document->category_id = $request->category_id;
$document->save();
$user = Auth::user();
foreach($request->recipient_id as $recipientId)
{
$document->recipients()->sync([ $recipientId => ['sender_id' => $user->id]],false );
}
return redirect()->back();
}

Answer 1

You can call your pivot tables as you like.
As mentioned previously, to determine the table name of the
relationship's joining table, Eloquent will join the two related model
names in alphabetical order. However, you are free to override this
convention. You may do so by passing a second argument to the
belongsToMany method:
return $this->belongsToMany('App\Role', 'user_roles');
(Eloquent: Relationships #Many To Many)
In your case you would need to define the relations like this:
class User extends Model
{
// other stuff
createdDocuments()
{
return $this->belongsToMany('App\Document', 'document_user_created');
}
sentDocuments() // or receivedDocuments()
{
return $this->belongsToMany('App\Document', 'document_user_sent');
}
// other stuff
}
class Document extends Model
{
// other stuff
createdByUsers()
{
return $this->belongsToMany('App\User', 'document_user_created');
}
sentToUsers() // or sentFromUsers() or whatever it does mean
{
return $this->belongsToMany('App\User', 'document_user_sent');
}
// other stuff
}

Answer 2

You do not need another pivot table. You need a table like that:
public function up()
{
Schema::create('revisions', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->integer('document_id')->unsigned();
//Rest of table structure
$table->foreign('document_id')->references('id')->on('document_user')->onDelete('cascade');
$table->timestamps();
});
}
When you need to create a new Revision:
$document = new Document;
//add $document attributes
$user->documents()->save($document);
$document->recipients->each(function($recipient){
$id = $recipient->pivot->id;
Revision::create(['document_id'=>$id]);
})