Laravel 4 setting up model using the IoC container - php

Question

I recently watched this video and wanted to change my Laravel controllers so that they had their dependencies managed with Laravel's IoC container. The video talks about creating an interface for a Model and then implementing that interface for the specific data source used.
My question is: when implementing the interface with a class that extends Eloquent and binding that class to the controller so that it is accessible from $this->model, should I also create interfaces and implementations for the Eloquent models which may be returned when calling methods such as $this->model->find($id)? Should there be different classes for the Model and the ModelRepository?
Put it another way: how do I do new Model when my model is in $this->model.

Answer 1

Generally, yes, people doing that pattern (the repository pattern) have an interface which have some methods defined that your app will use:
interface SomethingInterface {
public function find($id);
public function all();
public function paged($offset, $limit);
}
Then you create an implementation of this. If you're using Eloquent, then you can make an Eloquent implementation
use Illuminate\Database\Model;
class EloquentSomething {
protected $something;
public function __construct(Model $something)
{
$this->something = $something;
}
public function find($id)
{
return $this->something->find($id);
}
public function all() { ... }
public function paged($offset, $limit) { ... }
}
Then you make a service provider to put it all together, and add it into app/config/app.php.
use Something; // Eloquent Model
use Namespace\Path\To\EloquentSomething;
use Illuminate\Support\ServiceProvider;
class RepoServiceProvider extends ServiceProvider {
public function register()
{
$app = $this->app;
$app->bind('Namespace/Path/To/SomethingInterface', function()
{
return new EloquentSomething( new Something );
});
}
}
Finally, your controller can use that interface as a type hint:
use Namespace/Path/To/SomethingInterface;
class SomethingController extends BaseController {
protected $something;
public function __construct(SomethingInterface $something)
{
$this->something = $something;
}
public function home() { return $this->something->paged(0, 10); }
}
That should be it. Apologies on any errors, this isn't tested, but is something I do a lot.
Downsides:
More code :D
Upsides:
Able to switch out implementations (instead of EloquentSomething, can use ArraySomething, MongoSomething, whatever), without changing your controller code or any code that uses an implementation of your interface.
Testable - you can mock your Eloquent class and test the repository, or mock your constructor dependency and test your controller
Re-usable - you can App::make() to get the concrete EloquentSomething anywhere in your app and re-use the Something repository anywhere in your code
Repository is a good place to add additional logic, like a layer of cacheing, or even validation rules. Stock mucking about in your controllers.
Finally:, since I likely typed all that out and STILL DIDN'T ANSWER YOUR QUESTION (wtf?!), you can get a new instance of the model using $this->model. Here's an example for creating a new Something:
// Interface:
public function create(array $data);
// EloquentSomething:
public function create(array $data)
{
$something = this->something->newInstance();
// Continue on with creation logic
}
Key is this method, newInstance().

Answer 2

I've used $newModel = $this->model and it's worked for me.