README

Repository setup inspired by the Bosnadev/Repository package. This package is an extended, adjusted (but entirely independent) version of that, with its own interfaces.

One major difference to the Bosnadev repository is that this one is able to deal with repeated and varying calls to the same repository instance, without breaking down or undesirable repeated application of Criteria. You can instantiate a repository once and do anything with it in any order, and both queries and model manipulation methods will keep working.

Among the added functionality is the ability to override or 'temporarily' set and remove Criteria, post-processing models after retrieval.

I'm well aware that there is much to say against using Repositories like this (and the repository pattern in general), but I find they have their uses. I prefer using them to make for easier unit testing in large projects.

Version Compatibility

Laravel	Package
5.1	1.0.x
5.2	1.2.x
5.3	1.2.x
5.4 to 5.8	1.4.x
6.0 and up	2.x

Install

Via Composer

$ composer require czim/laravel-repository

If you want to use the repository generator through the make:repository Artisan command, add the RepositoryServiceProvider to your config/app.php:

Czim\Repository\RepositoryServiceProvider::class,

Publish the repostory configuration file.

php artisan vendor:publish --tag="repository"

Basic Usage

Simply extend the (abstract) repository class of your choice, either Czim\Repository\BaseRepository, Czim\Repository\ExtendedRepository or Czim\Repository\ExtendedPostProcessingRepository.

The only abstract method that must be provided is the model method (this is just like the way Bosnadev's repositories are used).

Make Repository

The make:repository command automatically creates a new Eloquent model repository class. It will also attempt to link the correct Eloquent model, but make sure to confirm that it is properly set up.

php artisan make:repository PostsRepository

The above command will create a repository class named PostsRepository and link the Post model to it.

If you want to set the related model explicitly, you can add the model class name:

php artisan make:repository PostsRepository "App\Models\AlternativePost"

Base-, Extended- and PostProcessing

Depending on what you require, three different abstract repository classes may be extended:

BaseRepository

Only has the retrieval and simple manipulation methods (create(), update() and delete()), and Criteria handling.
ExtendedRepository

Handles an active check for Models, which will by default exclude any model which will not have its active attribute set to true (configurable by setting hasActive and/or activeColumn). Handles caching, using dwightwatson/rememberable by default (but you can use your own Caching Criteria if desired). Allows you to set Model scopes, for when you want to use an Eloquent model scope to build your query.
ExtendedPostProcessingRepository

Just like Extended, but also allows for altering/decorating models after they are retrieved. By default, the only PostProcessor active is one that allows you to hide/unhide attributes on Models.

Using the repository to retrieve models

Apart from the basic stuff (inspired by Bosnadev), there are some added methods for retrieval:

query(): returns an Eloquent\Builder object reflecting the active criteria, for added flexibility
count()
first()
findOrFail(): just like find(), but throws an exception if nothing found
firstOrFail(): just like first(), but throws an exception if nothing found

Every retrieval method takes into account the currently active Criteria (including one-time overrides), see below.

For the ExtendedPostProcessingRepository goes that postprocessors affect all models returned, and so are applied in all the retrieval methods (find(), firstOrFail(), all(), allCallback, etc). The query() method returns a Builder object and therefore circumvents postprocessing. If you want to manually use the postprocessors, simply call postProcess() on any Model or Collection of models.

Handling Criteria

Just like Bosnadev's repository, Criteria may be pushed onto the repository to build queries. It is also possible to set default Criteria for the repository by overriding the defaultCriteria() method and returning a Collection of Criteria instances.

Criteria may be defined or pushed onto the repository by key, like so:

    $repository->pushCriteria(new SomeCriteria(), 'KeyForCriteria');

This allows you to later remove the Criteria by referring to its key:

    // you can remove Criteria by key
    $repository->removeCriteria('KeyForCriteria');

To change the Criteria that are to be used only for one call, there are helper methods that will preserve your currently active Criteria. If you use any of the following, the active Criteria are applied (insofar they are not removed or overridden), and additional Criteria are applied only for the next retrieval method.

    // you can push one-time Criteria
    $repository->pushCriteriaOnce(new SomeOtherCriteria());
    
    // you can override active criteria once by using its key
    $repository->pushCriteriaOnce(new SomeOtherCriteria(), 'KeyForCriteria');

    // you can remove Criteria *only* for the next retrieval, by key
    $repository->removeCriteriaOnce('KeyForCriteria');

Note that this means that only Criteria that have keys can be removed or overridden this way. A CriteriaKey Enum is provided to more easily refer to the standard keys used in the ExtendedRepository, such as 'active', 'cache' and 'scope'.

Configuration

No configuration is required to start using the repository. You use it by extending an abstract repository class of your choice.

Extending the classes

Some properties and methods may be extended for tweaking the way things work. For now there is no documentation about this (I will add some later), but the repository classes contain many comments to help you find your way (mainly check the ExtendedRepository class).

Traits

Additionally, there are some traits that may be used to extend the functionality of the repositories, see Czim\Repository\Traits:

FindsModelsByTranslationTrait (only useful in combination with the dimsav/laravel-translatable package)
HandlesEloquentRelationManipulationTrait
HandlesEloquentSavingTrait
HandlesListifyModelsTrait (only useful in combination with the lookitsatravis/listify package)

I've added these mainly because they may help in using the repository pattern as a means to make unit testing possible without having to mock Eloquent models.

sindria / laravel-repository

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