Laravel Eloquent::firstOrCreate Problems - php

Question

Ok so I am trying to have use the Eloquent method "firstOrCreate" within another Eloquent model.
FriendRequest Eloquent
class FriendRequest extends Eloquent {
/**
* The database table used by the model.
*
* #var string
*/
public $table = 'requests';
protected $guarded = array('id');
protected $softDelete = true;
public function friend() {
return $this->hasOne('User', 'id', 'friend_id');
}
public function user() {
return $this->hasOne('User', 'id', 'user_id');
}
public function accept() {
// FIRST YOU MUST MARK REQUEST AS ACCEPTED
// THEN SOFT DELETE REQUEST SO IT DOESN'T
// SHOW UP AS ACTIVE FRIEND REQUEST
$this->accepted = '1';
$this->save();
// CREATE FRIENDSHIP USER -> REQUESTED
$friend = Friend::firstOrNew(array('user_id' => Auth::user()->id, 'friend_id' => $this->friend_id));
$friend->save();
// CREATE FRIENDSHIP REQUESTED -> USER
$friend2 = Friend::firstOrNew(array('user_id' => $this->friend_id, 'friend_id' => Auth::user()->id));
$friend2->save();
// SOFT DELETE REQUEST BEING MARKED ACCEPTED
$status = $this->delete();
if (!$status):
return false;
else:
return true;
endif;
}
}
I've tried both firstOrCreate and firstOrNew as shown but with both times 'friend_id' and 'user_id' given in the array are set as '0'.
There is no default on the rows or indexes.
Here's the Friend Eloquent Model
class Friend extends Eloquent {
/**
* The database table used by the model.
*
* #var string
*/
public $table = 'friends';
protected $guarded = array('id');
public function user() {
return $this->hasOne('User', 'id', 'user_id');
}
public function friend() {
return $this->hasOne('User', 'id', 'friend_id');
}
}

Answer 1

The create() method does mass assignment and this is a big security issue, so Laravel has a protection against it. Internally it has guarded = ['*'], so all your columns will be protected against mass assignment. You have some options:
Set the fillable columns of your model:
class User extends Eloquent {
protected $fillable = array('first_name', 'last_name', 'email');
}
Or set only the ones you want to keep guarded:
class User extends Eloquent {
protected $guarded = array('password');
}
You may, at your own risk also do:
class User extends Eloquent {
protected $guarded = array();
}
Also on the difference between the firstorcreate, and firstornew:
The firstOrNew method, like firstOrCreate will attempt to locate a record in the database matching the given attributes. However, if a model is not found, a new model instance will be returned. Note that the model returned by firstOrNew has not yet been persisted to the database. You will need to call save manually to persist it:
You can also go through the Facade and use the follwing:
class Settings extends Eloquent
{
protected $table = 'settings';
protected $primaryKey = 'name';
public static function get($settingName)
{
return Settings::firstOrCreate(array('name' => $settingName));
}
}

Answer 2

I believe you should put your accept() function in one of your controllers instead of the model. I'm not sure how and where you're calling this function, but I think it's in the wrong place.