How to implement watchlist functionality in Laravel 5? - php

Question

I am trying to implement a watchlist feature on my job site application. I am abit confused as to the exact eloquent queries to use to fetch the data from the job_listings table. Currently the user can add a job to their watchlist successfully.
What I want to be able to do:
View all of the jobs that the user has put in their respective watchlists with all the details e.g the Job position, description etc.
Current DB layout:
Routes:
Bigger pic of routes here
WatchlistController
<?php namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use App\Watchlist;
use App\JobListing;
use App\User;
use App\Http\Requests;
use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Auth;
use Redirect;
class WatchlistController extends Controller {
/**
* Display a listing of the resource.
*
* #return Response
*/
public function index()
{
// Need to run queries in here to get the
$user = User::with('watchlist')->find(\Auth::id());
var_dump($user);
// Then return my main watchlist view which will send through an
// array so I can loop through it and display what the user
// has put in their watchlist
// return view('watchlist/viewWatchlist');
}
/**
* Adds the username of the user that is currently logged in
* and adds the job listing ID that the user clicks on to the Watchlist table.
*/
public function addToWatchlist($id)
{
$createItemInWatchlist = Watchlist::create([
'user_id' => Auth::user()->id,
'job_id' => $id
]);
return Redirect::to('watchlist');
}
Watchlist Model
<?php namespace App;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class Watchlist extends Model {
protected $table = 'watchlist';
protected $fillable = ['user_id', 'job_id'];
}
JobListing Model
<?php namespace App;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class JobListing extends Model {
protected $table = 'job_listings';
protected $fillable = ['user_id', 'position_title', 'description', 'category', 'job_type',
'city','company_name','company_url','logo_path','how_to_apply', 'expiry_date', 'status'];
}
User Model
<?php namespace App;
use Illuminate\Auth\Authenticatable;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Auth\Passwords\CanResetPassword;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\Authenticatable as AuthenticatableContract;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Auth\CanResetPassword as CanResetPasswordContract;
class User extends Model implements AuthenticatableContract, CanResetPasswordContract {
use Authenticatable, CanResetPassword;
/**
* The database table used by the model.
*
* #var string
*/
protected $table = 'users';
/**
* The attributes that are mass assignable.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $fillable = ['username','firstname', 'lastname', 'email', 'password', 'role'];
/**
* The attributes excluded from the model's JSON form.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $hidden = ['password', 'remember_token'];
public function watchlist() {
return $this->hasMany('\App\JobListing', 'watchlist', 'user_id', 'job_id');
}
}

Answer 1

This is not the (direct) answer, but you may take a look at the eloquent relations -> http://laravel.com/docs/5.0/eloquent to see the advantages.
If you could use ids for your users, the solution looks like this: The watchlist table is the connection between the user and your jobs. Each user can track multiple jobs, so there is a belongsToMany relation between them. BelongsToMany takes up to four parameter:
your Model that you would like to "connect" to and
sql table that includes both ids of the user and the job to link between user and jobs
local id (user)
foreign id (job)
More here: http://laravel.com/docs/5.0/eloquent#many-to-many. Extend your user model with the following relation:
public function watchlist() {
return $this->belongsToMany('\App\JobListing', 'watchlist', 'user_id', 'job_listing_id');
}
To get the watchlist, you can use (eager loading):
$user = User::with('watchlist')->find(\Auth::id());
To access to watchlist items, use $user->watchlist
Alternatively you can retrieve the watchlist directly in the template from the user by using:
#foreach(Auth::User()->watchlist as $job)
{{$job}}
#endforeach
To read more about the relations, take a look at this: https://laracasts.com/series/laravel-5-fundamentals -> part 14, relations and something to read (version 4) http://daylerees.com/codebright/eloquent-relationships