Laravel call to member function create() on a non-object - php

Question

I'm trying to seed a database using some model factories but I'm getting error call to member function create() on a non-object
Below are my model factories:
$factory->define(App\Organisation::class, function ($faker) {
return [
'name' => $faker->company,
];
});
$factory->define(App\Department::class, function ($faker) {
return [
'name' => $faker->catchPhrase,
'organisation_id' => factory(App\Organisation::class)->make()->id,
];
});
$factory->define(App\User::class, function ($faker) {
return [
'email' => $faker->email,
'password' => str_random(10),
'organisation_id' => factory(App\Organisation::class)->make()->id,
'remember_token' => str_random(10),
];
});
In my seeder I'm using the following to create 2 organizations and a associate a user and a department to each organization and then to make a user the manager of that department:
factory(App\Organisation::class, 2)
->create()
->each(function ($o)
{
$user = $o->users()->save(factory(App\User::class)->make());
$department = $o->departments()->save(factory(App\Department::class)->make());
$department->managedDepartment()->create([
'organisation_id' => $o->id,
'manager_id' => $user->id,
]);
});
However I'm getting fatalerrorexception call to member function create() on a non-object
I thought $department is an object?
My department model is as follows:
class Department extends Model
{
protected $fillable = ['name','organisation_id'];
public function organisation()
{
return $this->belongsTo('App\Organisation');
}
/* a department is managed by a user */
public function managedDepartment()
{
$this->hasOne('App\ManagedDepartment');
}
}
And my managedDepartment model is as follows:
class ManagedDepartment extends Model
{
protected $table = 'managed_departments';
protected $fillable = ['organisation_id', 'department_id', 'manager_id',];
public function department()
{
$this->belongsTo('App\Department');
}
public function manager()
{
return $this->belongsTo('App\User');
}
}
Can anyone help?

Answer 1

Try to return your relation
public function department()
{
return $this->belongsTo('App\Department');
}
And here
/* a department is managed by a user */
public function managedDepartment()
{
return $this->hasOne('App\ManagedDepartment');
}
I think it will resolve your problem.

Answer 2

Firstly, do not make foreign keys fillable!
Secondly, where is your organisation function in ManagedDepartment? You should create one, otherwise the following will not work, because association is not possible.
Thirdly, I think you should change make() to create() in the following
$factory->define(App\Organisation::class, function ($faker) {
return [
'name' => $faker->company,
];
});
$factory->define(App\Department::class, function ($faker) {
return [
'name' => $faker->catchPhrase,
'organisation_id' => factory(App\Organisation::class)->create()->id,
];
});
$factory->define(App\User::class, function ($faker) {
return [
'email' => $faker->email,
'password' => str_random(10),
'organisation_id' => factory(App\Organisation::class)->create()->id,
'remember_token' => str_random(10),
];
});
Furthermore:
factory(App\Organisation::class, 2)
->create()
->each(function ($o)
{
$user = factory(App\User::class)->create();
$o->users()->attach($user->id);
$department = factory(App\Department::class)->create();
$o->departments()->attach($department);
$managedDep = new ManagedDepartment();
$managedDep->associate($o);
$managedDep->associate($user);
$managedDep->associate($department);
$managedDep->save();
});