Metasearch_l5

Overview

Metasearch is a package for Laravel 5. It allows you to easily create an Eloquent query that match with a search form. By using a list of keywords on your search form input fields names, Metasearch_l5 will automatically create the corresponding query . It's more or less a port of activerecord-hackery/meta_search. Right n now i'm using it a lot in Rest web services, as it allows great flexibility when you need some search capabilities.

Here is a simple example :

first the search form :

{{ Form::open(['url' => URL::route('cars.search')]) }}
    {{ Form::label('year : ') }}
    {{ Form::text('year_equals') }}

	{{ Form::label('minumum horsepower : ') }}
    {{ Form::text('horsepower_greater_than') }}

	{{ Form::label('maximum horsepower : ') }}
    {{ Form::text('horsepower_less_than') }}

    {{ Form::submit('submit') }}
{{ Form::close() }}

Then in your CarsController :

	$input = Request::all();
    $query = Search::getQuery(Car::getQuery(), $input);
    $cars = $query->get();
	return view('cars.index', ['cars' => $cars]);

And that's it, the getQuery method will create the Query based on the Input content.

Installation

first add the dependency to uyour composer.json file :

	"require": {
		"elfif/MetaSearch_L5" : "*"
	}

and do a composer install.

Then edit your app.php file. Add the service provider for this package :

	'Elfif\MetaSearch\MetaSearchServiceProvider'

and add the facade :

	'Search' => 'Elfif\MetaSearch\Facades\Search'	

Now you are good to go !!

Syntax

Here is a list of all the keywords you can use with LaraSearch, based on their datatypes

All data types

• equals (alias: eq) - Just as it sounds.
• does_not_equal (alias : _noteq) - The opposite of equals, oddly enough.
• is_in - Takes an array, matches on equality with any of the items in the array.
• is_not_in - Like above, but negated.
• is_null - The column has an SQL NULL value.
• is_not_null - The column contains anything but NULL.

Strings

• _contains - Substring match.
• _does_not_contain - Negative substring match.
• _starts_with (alias: _sw) - Match strings beginning with the entered term.
• _does_not_start_with (alias: _dnsw) - The opposite of above.
• _ends_with (alias: _ew) - Match strings ending with the entered term.
• _does_not_end_with (alias: _dnew) - Negative of above.

Numbers, dates, and times

• _greater_than (alias: _gt) - Greater than.
• _greater_than_or_equal_to (alias: _gteq) - Greater than or equal to.
• _less_than (alias: _lt) - Less than.
• _less_than_or_equal_to (alias: _lteq) - Less than or equal to.

Booleans

• _is_true - Is true. Useful for a checkbox like "only show admin users".
• _is_false - The complement of _is_true.

Non-boolean data types

• _is_present - As with _is_true, useful with a checkbox. Not NULL or the empty string.
• _is_blank - Returns records with a value of NULL or the empty string in the column.

ORed conditions

If you'd like to match on one of several possible columns, you can do this:

	{{ Form::label('name : ') }}
    {{ Form::text('name_or_brand_equals') }}

Just keep in mind the condition will be the same for all columns.

Querying relation existence

Simple case

You can also check for a relation existence using the keyword "exist" like that. Let's say we have a relation called accessories in our car model :

	public function accessories(){
		return $this->hasMany('App\Accessory');
	}

We can request that relation's existence using the keyword "_exists" (or _ex in short) this way :

	{{ Form::label('has accessories : ') }}
	{{ Form::checkbox('accessories_exists') }}

If the checkbox is checked it will add that condition to the query builder

	->has('accessories');

With a count

You may also specify an operator and count to further customize the query using the keyword "_count" (or co in short) plus a keyword to define the condition

	{{ Form::label('has accessories : ') }}
	{{ Form::text('accessories_count_greater_than') }}

Will translate into :

	->has('accessories', '>=', $value);

Full condition

If you need even more control over your conditions regarding a relation you can use that notation, with a dot between the relation and the field's name, followed by a condition

	{{ Form::label('accessories : ') }}
	{{ Form::text('accessories.type_contains') }}

It will translate into :

	->whereHas('accessories', function($query){
		return $query->where('type', 'like', '%'.$value.'%');
	});