Searchable

Pattern-matching search for Laravel eloquent models.

• Currently supports MySQL only.
• Helpful for complex table queries with multiple joins and derived columns.
• Fluent columns definitions.

Demo Project

See demo project.

Overview

Simple setup for searchable model and can search on derived columns.

use AjCastro\Searchable\Searchable;

class Post
{
    use Searchable;

    protected $searchable = [
        // This will search on the defined searchable columns
        'columns' => [
            'posts.title',
            'posts.body',
            'author_full_name' => 'CONCAT(authors.first_name, " ", authors.last_name)'
        ],
        'joins' => [
            'authors' => ['authors.id', 'posts.author_id']
        ]
    ];

    public function author()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(Author::class);
    }
}

// Usage
Post::search("Some title or body content or even the author's full name")
    ->with('author')
    ->paginate();

Imagine we have an api for a table or list that has searching and column sorting and pagination. This is a usual setup for a table or list. The internal explanations will be available on the documentation below. Our api call may look like this:

http://awesome-app.com/api/posts?per_page=10&page=1&sort_by=title&descending=true&search=SomePostTitle

Your code can look like this:

class PostsController
{
    public function index(Request $request)
    {
        $query = Post::query();

        return $query
            ->with('author')
            // advance usage with custom search string parsing
            ->when($request->parse_using === 'exact', function ($query) {
                $query->parseUsing(function ($searchStr) {
                    return "%{$searchStr}%";
                });
            })
            ->search($request->search)
            ->when(
                $request->has('sort_by') && $query->getModel()->isColumnValid($request->sort_by),
                function ($query) use ($request) {
                    $query->orderBy(
                        DB::raw($query->getModel()->getColumn($request->sort_by)),
                        $request->descending ? 'desc' : 'asc'
                    );
                },
                function ($query) {
                    $query->sortByRelevance();
                },
            )
            ->paginate();
    }

}

Documentation

Installation

composer require ajcastro/searchable

Searchable Model

use AjCastro\Searchable\Searchable;

class Post extends Model
{
    use Searchable;

    /**
     * Searchable model definitions.
     */
     protected $searchable = [
        // Searchable columns of the model.
        // If this is not defined it will default to all table columns.
        'columns' => [
            'posts.title',
            'posts.body',
            'author_full_name' => 'CONCAT(authors.first_name, " ", authors.last_name)'
        ],
        // This is needed if there is a need to join other tables for derived columns.
        'joins' => [
            'authors' => ['authors.id', 'posts.author_id'], // defaults to leftJoin method of eloquent builder
            'another_table' => ['another_table.id', 'authors.another_table_id', 'join'], // can pass leftJoin, rightJoin, join of eloquent builder.
        ]
    ];

    /**
     * Can also be written like this for searchable columns.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $searchableColumns = [
        'title',
        'body',
        'author_full_name' => 'CONCAT(authors.first_name, " ", authors.last_name)'
    ];

    /**
     * Can also be written like this for searchable joins.
     *
     * @var array
     */
    protected $searchableJoins = [
        'authors' => ['authors.id', 'posts.author_id']
    ];
}

// Usage
// Call search anywhere
// This only search on the defined columns.
Post::search('Some post')->paginate();
Post::where('likes', '>', 100)->search('Some post')->paginate();

If you want to sort by relevance, call method sortByRelevance() after search() method. This will addSelect field sort_index which will be used to order or sort by relevance.

Example:

Post::search('Some post')->sortByRelevance()->paginate();
Post::where('likes', '>', 100)->search('Some post')->sortByRelevance()->paginate();

Set searchable configurations on runtime.

$post = new Post;
$post->setSearchable([ // addSearchable() method is also available
    'columns' => [
        'posts.title',
        'posts.body',
    ],
    'joins' => [
        'authors' => ['authors.id', 'posts.author_id']
    ]
]);
// or
$post->setSearchableColumns([ // addSearchableColumns() method is also available
    'posts.title',
    'posts.body',
]);
$post->setSearchableJoins([ // addSearchableJoins() method is also available
    'authors' => ['authors.id', 'posts.author_id']
]);

Easy Sortable Columns

You can define columns to be only sortable but not be part of search query constraint. Just put it under sortable_columns as shown below . This column can be easily access to put in orderBy of query builder. All searchable columns are also sortable columns.

class Post {
     protected $searchable = [
        'columns' => [
            'title' => 'posts.title',
        ],
        'sortable_columns' => [
            'status_name' => 'statuses.name',
        ],
        'joins' => [
            'statuses' => ['statuses.id', 'posts.status_id']
        ]
    ];
}

// Usage

Post::search('A post title')->orderBy(Post::make()->getSortableColumn('status_name'));
// This will only perform search on `posts`.`title` column and it will append "order by `statuses`.`name`" in the query.
// This is beneficial if your column is mapped to a different column name coming from front-end request.

Custom Search String Parser - Exact Search Example

Override the deafultSearchQuery in the model like so:

use AjCastro\Searchable\BaseSearch;

class User extends Model
{
    public function defaultSearchQuery()
    {
        return BaseSearch::make($this->buildSearchableColumns())
            ->parseUsing(function ($searchStr) {
                return $searchStr; // produces "where `column` like '{$searchStr}'"
                return "%{$searchStr}%"; // produces "where `column` like '%{$searchStr}%'"
            });
    }
}

You may also check the build query by dd-ing it:

$query = User::search('John Doe');
dd($query->toSql());

which may output to

select * from users where `column` like 'John Doe'
// or
select * from users where `column` like '%John Doe%'

Using derived columns for order by and where conditions

Usually we have queries that has a derived columns like our example for Post's author_full_name. Sometimes we need to sort our query results by this column.

$query = Post::query();
$post = $query->getModel();
// (A)
$query->search('Some search')->orderBy($post->getColumn('author_full_name'), 'desc')->paginate();
// (B)
$query->search('Some search')->where($post->getColumn('author_full_name'), 'William%')->paginate();

which may output to

-- (A)
select * from posts where ... order by CONCAT(authors.first_name, " ", authors.last_name) desc limit 0, 15;
-- (B)
select * from posts where ... and CONCAT(authors.first_name, " ", authors.last_name) like 'William%' limit 0, 15;

Helper methods available

TableColumns::get() [static]

• Get the table columns.

TableColumns::get('posts');

isColumnValid

• Identifies if the column is a valid column, either a regular table column or derived column.
• Useful for checking valid columns to avoid sql injection especially in orderBy query, see post.

$query->getModel()->isColumnValid(request('sort_by'));

enableSearchable

• Enable the searchable behavior.

$query->getModel()->enableSearchable();
$query->search('foo');

disableSearchable

• Disable the searchable behavior.
• Calling search() method will not perform a search.

$query->getModel()->disableSearchable();
$query->search('foo');

setSearchable

• Set or override the model's $searchable property.
• Useful for building searchable config on runtime.

$query->getModel()->setSearchable([
  'columns' => ['title', 'status'],
  'joins' => [...],
]);
$query->search('foo');

addSearchable

• Add columns or joins in the model's $searchable property.
• Useful for building searchable config on runtime.

$query->getModel()->addSearchable([
  'columns' => ['title', 'status'],
  'joins' => [...],
]);
$query->search('foo');

Warning

Calling select() after search() will overwrite sort_index field, so it is recommended to call select() before search(). Or you can use addSelect() instead.

Credits

• Ray Anthony Madrona @raymadrona, for the tips on using MySQL LOCATE() for sort relevance.
• nicolaslopezj/searchable, for the $searchable property declaration style.