A handy way to define, use and convert object and arrays to json

This Laravel package:

• Provides a fluent way to define structure / schema over objects
• Allows you to validate those objects in a consistent way
• Easily cast eloquent json attributes to objectModels for easy handling
• Reduces the number of meta tables in your app

Requirements

This package requires

• PHP 8.1 and
• Laravel 8.0 or higher (including 10).

Installation

Install it:

composer require coder-at-heart/object-models

Defining ObjectModels

Extend the ObjectModel class and extend override the properties() method

I usually create an app/ObjectModels folder to store my models

Here's an example from the tests folder:

<?php

namespace CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Tests\Models;

use Carbon\Carbon;
use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\ObjectModel;
use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Property;

/**
 * @property string name
 * @property int age
 * @property string email
 * @property Address home
 * @property Address business
 * @property Phone[] phone_numbers
 * @property Carbon birthday
 * @property Carbon alarm
 * @property bool subscribed
 * @property array friends
 * @property Carbon[] important_dates
 */
class Person extends ObjectModel
{

    public static function properties(): array
    {
        return [
            Property::string('name')->required(),
            Property::integer('age')->nullable(),
            Property::email('email'),
            Property::objectModel('home', Address::class),
            Property::objectModel('business', Address::class),
            Property::objectModelArray('phone_numbers', Phone::class),
            Property::date('birthday'),
            Property::time('alarm')->default('08:00:00'),
            Property::bool('subscribed')->default(false),
            Property::array('friends'),
            Property::propertyArray('important_dates', Property::date('date')),
        ];
    }

}

And the Address

namespace CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Tests\Models;

use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\ObjectModel;
use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Property;
use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Tests\ENUMs\Country;

/**
 * @property string address_1
 * @property string address_2
 * @property string city
 * @property string postcode
 * @property Country country_code
 */
class Address extends ObjectModel
{

    public static function properties(): array
    {
        return [
            Property::string('address_1'),
            Property::string('address_2'),
            Property::string('city'),
            Property::enum('country_code', Country::class)->default(Country::GB)->required(),
            Property::string('postcode'),
        ];
    }

}

The Country ENUM

<?php

namespace CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Tests\ENUMs;

enum Country : string
{

   case US = 'us';
   case GB = 'gb';

}

And the Phone:

<?php

namespace CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Tests\Models;

use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\ObjectModel;
use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Property;

/**
 * @property string label
 * @property string number
 */
class Phone extends ObjectModel
{

    public static function properties(): array
    {
        return [
            Property::string('label'),
            Property::string('number'),
        ];
    }

}

Note the use of the docBlock at the top of the classes - this helps with type hinting in your ide.

Instantiating Objects

Can be done through arrays, json or directly

// Create from an array of data
$person = Person::createFrom(array:[
    'name' => 'Coder At Heart',
    'age' => 30,
    'email' => '[email protected]',
    'home' => [
        'address_1' => 'Some Street',
        'address_2' => 'Some Area',
        'city' => 'Some City',
        'postcode' => 'AB12 3CD',
    ],
    'business' => [
        'address_1' => 'Some Business',
        'address_2' => 'Some Location',
        'city' => 'Some City',
        'postcode' => 'AB99 9DC',
    ],
    'phone_numbers' => [
        [
            'label' => 'home',
            'number' => '01234 67890'
        ],
        [
            'label' => 'mobile',
            'number' => '09999 123456'
        ],
    ],
    'birthday' => '1990-01-01'  
    'important_dates' => [
        '2011-01-01 01:01:01',
        '2012-02-02 02:02:02',
        '2013-03-03 03:03:03',
        '2014-04-06 04:04:04',
        '2015-05-06 05:05:05',
    ]
]);

echo $person->name;
// the return value is the underlying object. in this case
// a Carbon Object 
echo $person->birthday->format('js F Y'); 
// Access deep objects
echo $person->home->address_1;  
echo $person->phone_numbers[1]->number;  

// Save this to json
$json = $person->toJson();

// Create a new person 
$bob = Person::createFrom(json: $json)
$bob->name = 'Bob';

// Convert the person to an array
$array = $bob->toArray();

$fred= Person::createFrom(array: $bob)
$fred->name = 'Fred';
$fred->age = 25;

// Just like a normal object:
$isabel = new Person();
$isabel->name = 'Isabel';
$isabel->age =  35;
$isabel->birthday =  new Carbon("2002-11-23"); 

ArrayModels

You don't need an Object Model to use an Array Object:

<?php

use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\ArrayModel;

$numbers = ArrayModel::create(objectModel: Phone::class);

// Create a new phone number
$homePhone         = new Phone();
$homePhone->label  = 'home';
$homePhone->number = '01234 567890';

$numbers[] = $homePhone;
echo $numbers[0]->number;

// add to it like a normal array
$numbers[] = [
    'label'  => 'business',
    'number' => '01234 567890',
];

// Access it like an object
echo $numbers[1]->label;

Casting eloquent model attributes and json columns

You can use ObjectModels and ArrayModels when creating custom casts in your app - Especially useful when casting json columns.

ObjectsModels:

<?php

namespace App\Casts;

use App\ObjectModels\Person;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Database\Eloquent\CastsAttributes;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class PersonCast implements CastsAttributes
{

    public function get($model, string $key, $value, array $attributes)
    {
        return Person::create(json: $value);
    }

    public function set($model, string $key, $value, array $attributes)
    {
        return $value->toJson();
    }
}

And ArrayModels:

<?php

namespace App\Casts;

use App\ObjectModels\PhonesNumbers;
use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\ArrayModel;use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Tests\Models\Person;use Illuminate\Contracts\Database\Eloquent\CastsAttributes;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class LogCast implements CastsAttributes
{

    public function get($model, string $key, $value, array $attributes)
    {
        return PhonesNumbers::create(json: $value);
      // or
        return ArrayModel::create(json: $value, objectModel: Phone::class);
    }

    public function set($model, string $key, $value, array $attributes)
    {
        return $value->toJson();
    }
}

Built-in Property Types

Type	Create With	Underlying Object
Another Model	Property::objectModel();	ObjectModel
Bool	Property::bool();	php bool
Date	Property::date();	Carbon
DateTime	Property::dateTime();	Carbon
ENUM	Property::enum();	php ENUM
Email	Property::email();	php string
Float	Property::float();	php string
Integer	Property::integer();	php integer
Strings	Property::string();	php string
Time	Property::time();	Carbon
an Array	Property::array();	php array
an Array of other models	`Property::objectModelArray();	arrayModel
an Array of property	`Property::propertyArray();	arrayModel
an Object	Property::object();	the Object
mixed	Property::mixed();	any

Custom Property Types

Extend the Property class to add in your own propertires.

<?php

use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Property;

/**
 * @property string label
 * @property string number
 */
class CustomProperties extends Property
{

    /**
     * zipCode
     *
     * @param  string  $name
     *
     * @return static
     */
    public static function zipCode(string $name): Property
    {
        return self::property($name)
            ->addRule('numeric|min:5')
            // jsonCallback will be called when teh object is converted to json 
            ->jsonCallback(function ($value) {
                return str_replace(' ', '', $value);
            })
            // This callback is called when the value is set
            ->setCallback(function ($value) {
                return (string) $value;
            })
            ->set(null);
    }

}

The two main callbacks are jsonCallback called when the property is going to be turned into json, and setCallback when the property is assigned a value.

Here's an object using Custom properties

<?php

use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\ObjectModel;
use CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\CustomProperties;

/**
 * @property string address_1
 * @property string address_2
 * @property string city
 * @property string zip
 */
class Address extends ObjectModel
{

    public static function properties(): array
    {
        return [
            CustomProperties::string('address_1'),
            CustomProperties::string('address_2'),
            CustomProperties::string('city'),
            CustomProperties::zipCode('zip'),
        ];
    }

}

Object Validation

Object and Arrays can be validated. What you get back is a ObjectValidation Object

<?php

$validation = $person->validate();

// $validation is an ObjectModel
echo $validation->valid; 
// or
echo $validation->isValid();

//  the name of the object / array
echo $validation->name;

// the errors
dd($validation->errros);

Note: ObjectModels or ArrayModels are not validated automatically.

Adding Rules

When you're defining object you can add any valid laravel validation rules

<?php

class Person extends ObjectModel
{

    public static function properties(): array
    {
        return [
            Property::string('name')->required(), //  just adds 'required' to the rules array
            Property::integer('age')->nullable(), // optional
            Property::email('email')->addRule('min:20'),
            Property::string('first_name')->addRule(new Rule()), // custom rules
        ];
    }

}

You can get rules on an objectModel using $person->getRules()

Ignoring undefined properties

By default ObjectModels throws an exception if you try and set a property that hasn't been defined.

Get around that by using the IgnoreUndefinedProperties trait

<?php

use \CoderAtHeart\ObjectModel\Traits\IgnoreUndefinedProperties;

class Person extends ObjectModel
{

    use IgnoreUndefinedProperties;

    public static function properties(): array
    {
        return [
            Property::string('name')->required(), //  just adds 'required' to the rules array
            Property::integer('age')->nullable(), // optional
            Property::email('email')->addRule('min:20'),
            Property::string('first_name')->addRule(new Rule()), // custom rules
        ];
    }

}

Got an idea / Suggestion / Improvement?

Let me know... somehow.

Support

• Issue Tracker

License

ObjectModel is licensed under the MIT License.

v1.1.14