Check if the value already exists in the database using Laravel - php

Question

Description: I have a site. I just want to keep track of a suspicious request and possible barn them only if needed. I just started to implement that feature. I have all the records of IP Addresses, but I'm not sure how to increment their visit count each time - they visit.
Goal: To increment visit_count attribute each time user visit a site
In my visitors table, I have an ip attribute
I want to check for an existing first before, I perform the saving, and other logics, but I'm just a little stuck here.
How do I check if the value already exists in the database using Laravel ?
Any hints on this will be much appreciated !
I've tried
Model : Visitor.php
class Visitor extends Model {
protected $table = 'visitors';
//Validation Rules and Validator Function
public static function validator($input, $id = ''){
$rules = array(
'ip' =>'unique:visitors,ip,'.$id,
);
return Validator::make($input,$rules);
}
}
Controller : Visitor.php
// Check for existing
$validator = Visitor::validator($ip);
if ($validator->fails()) {
$ip = Visitor::where('ip', '=', $ip)->firstOrFail();
$id = $ip['attributes']['id']; //<------ Not sure if this is a proper way
if($ip){
$visitor = Visitor::findOrFail($id);
$visitor->visit_count = $visitor->visit_count + 1 ;
$visitor->save();
}
} else {
$visitor = new Visitor;
$visitor->ip = $ip;
$visitor->visit_count = $visitor->visit_count + 1 ;
$visitor->save();
}
Result
I keep getting
Argument 1 passed to Illuminate\Validation\Factory::make() must be of the type array, string given
I believe, it from this line here $validator = Visitor::validator($ip);

Answer 1

The error message kind of gives it away. The Validator expects the values and the rules to be two separate arrays, each with keys denoting the columns name that needs to be validated. You have that for the rules, but not for the values being checked. This will fix your error:
return Validator::make(['ip' => $input], $rules);