Injecting property values

On this page

  1. Filling properties from a route parameter
  2. Filling properties from route parameter properties
  3. Route parameters take priority over request body
  4. Filling properties from the authenticated user
  5. Filling properties from the container
  6. Creating your own injectable attributes

When creating a data object, it is possible to inject values into properties from all kinds of sources like route parameters, the current user or dependencies in the container.

When creating data objects from requests, it's possible to automatically fill data properties from request route parameters, such as route models.

The FromRouteParameter attribute allows filling properties with route parameter values.

Route::patch('/songs/{songId}', [SongController::class, 'update']);

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromRouteParameter('songId')]
    public int $id;
    public string $name;
}

Here, the $id property will be filled with the songId route parameter value (which most likely is a string or integer).

Given that we have a route to create songs for a specific author, and that the route parameter uses route model binding to automatically bind to an Author model:

Route::post('/songs/{artist}', [SongController::class, 'store']);

class SongData extends Data {
    public int $id;
    #[FromRouteParameter('artist')]
    public ArtistData $author;
}

Here, the $artist property will be filled with the artist route parameter value, which will be an instance of the Artist model. Note that the package will automatically cast the model to ArtistData.

The FromRouteParameterProperty attribute allows filling properties with values from route parameter properties. The main difference from FromRouteParameter is that the former uses the full route parameter value, while FromRouteParameterProperty uses a single property from the route parameter.

In the example below, we're using route model binding. represents an instance of the Song model. FromRouteParameterProperty automatically attempts to fill the SongData $id property from $song->id.

Route::patch('/songs/{song}', [SongController::class, 'update']);

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromRouteParameterProperty('song')]
    public int $id;
    public string $name;
}

In the example below, $name property will be filled with $song->title (instead of `$song->name).

Route::patch('/songs/{song}', [SongController::class, 'update']);

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromRouteParameterProperty('song')]
    public int $id;
    #[FromRouteParameterProperty('song', 'title')]
    public string $name;
}

Nested properties are supported as well. Here, we fill $singerName from $artist->leadSinger->name:

Route::patch('/artists/{artist}/songs/{song}', [SongController::class, 'update']);

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromRouteParameterProperty('song')]
    public int $id;
    #[FromRouteParameterProperty('artist', 'leadSinger.name')]
    public string $singerName;
}

Route parameters take priority over request body

By default, route parameters take priority over values in the request body. For example, when the song ID is present in the route model as well as request body, the ID from route model is used.

Route::patch('/songs/{song}', [SongController::class, 'update']);

// PATCH /songs/123
// { "id": 321, "name": "Never gonna give you up" }

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromRouteParameterProperty('song')]
    public int $id;
    public string $name;
}

Here, $id will be 123 even though the request body has 321 as the ID value.

In most cases, this is useful - especially when you need the ID for a validation rule. However, there may be cases when the exact opposite is required.

The above behavior can be turned off by switching the replaceWhenPresentInPayload flag off. This can be useful when you intend to allow updating a property that is present in a route parameter, such as a slug:

Route::patch('/songs/{slug}', [SongController::class, 'update']);

// PATCH /songs/never
// { "slug": "never-gonna-give-you-up", "name": "Never gonna give you up" }

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromRouteParameter('slug', replaceWhenPresentInPayload: false )]
    public string $slug;
}

Here, $slug will be never-gonna-give-you-up even though the route parameter value is never.

The FromCurrentUser attribute allows filling properties with values from the authenticated user.

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromAuthenticatedUser]
    public UserData $user;
}

It is possible to specify the guard to use when fetching the user:

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromAuthenticatedUser('api')]
    public UserData $user;
}

Just like with route parameters, it is possible to fill properties with specific user properties using FromAuthenticatedUserProperty:

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromAuthenticatedUserProperty('name')]
    public string $username;
}

All the other features like custom property mapping and not replacing values when present in the payload are supported as well.

The FromContainer attribute allows filling properties with dependencies from the container.

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromContainer(SongService::class)]
    public SongService $song_service;
}

When a dependency requires additional parameters these can be provided as such:

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromContainer(SongService::class, parameters: ['year' => 1984])]
    public SongService $song_service;
}

It is even possible to completely inject the container itself:

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromContainer]
    public Container $container;
}

Selecting a property from a dependency can be done using FromContainerProperty:

class SongData extends Data {
    #[FromContainerProperty(SongService::class, 'name')]
    public string $service_name;
}

Again, all the other features like custom property mapping and not replacing values when present in the payload are supported as well.

All the attributes we saw earlier implement the InjectsPropertyValue interface:

interface InjectsPropertyValue
{
    public function resolve(
        DataProperty $dataProperty,
        mixed $payload,
        array $properties,
        CreationContext $creationContext
    ): mixed;

    public function shouldBeReplacedWhenPresentInPayload() : bool;
}

It is possible to create your own attribute by implementing this interface. The resolve method is responsible for returning the value that should be injected into the property. The shouldBeReplacedWhenPresentInPayload method should return true if the value should be replaced when present in the payload.

From a model
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