Filterable Package for Laravel

Filterable Package is a Laravel package designed to simplify filtering Eloquent models in your application. It provides an easy-to-use interface to apply various types of filters to your Eloquent queries, such as exact matches, partial matches (LIKE), date ranges, JSON-based filters, and more, directly from incoming requests. This package is especially useful for building APIs where dynamic filtering is often required.

Features

• Easy Integration: Apply the Filterable trait to your Eloquent models to start using it.
• Multiple Filters: Supports a variety of filters such as exact matches, LIKE searches, greater than, less than, IN clauses, JSON-based filters, and date ranges.
• Custom Filter Mapping: Easily map request parameters to different column names in the database.
• Flexible Sorting: Allows for dynamic sorting of results based on request parameters.

Installation

To install the package, use Composer:

composer require devaction-labs/filterable-package

Usage

Step 1: Apply the Filterable Trait to Your Model

Apply the Filterable trait to any Eloquent model you want to filter.

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use DevactionLabs\FilterablePackage\Traits\Filterable;

class Expense extends Model
{
    use Filterable;

    // Define any custom filter map or allowed sorts if necessary
    protected array $filterMap = [
        'search' => 'description', // Example: map 'search' request parameter to 'description' column
    ];

    protected array $allowedSorts = ['expense_date', 'amount']; // Example: allow sorting by these columns
}

Step 2: Apply Filters in Your Controller

Apply filters in your controller methods using the filtrable scope provided by the Filterable trait.

namespace App\Http\Controllers\Api\Finance;

use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use App\Http\Resources\ExpenseCollection;
use App\Models\Expense;
use DevactionLabs\FilterablePackage\Filter;

class ExpenseController extends Controller
{
    public function index(): ExpenseCollection
    {
        $expenses = Expense::query()
            ->with(['category', 'period'])
            ->filtrable([
                Filter::like('description', 'search'),
                Filter::exact('expense_date', 'date'),
                Filter::json('attributes', 'user.name', 'LIKE', 'user_name'),
                Filter::json('attributes', 'user.age', '>', 'user_age'),
            ])
            ->customPaginate();

        return new ExpenseCollection($expenses);
    }
}

Available Filters

Filter::exact($attribute, $filterBy = null)

• Description: Filters records where the column value matches exactly with the provided value.
• Example: Filter::exact('status', 'status') filters records where the status column matches the value of the status parameter in the request.

Filter::like($attribute, $filterBy = null)

• Description: Filters records where the column value is similar to the provided value (uses SQL LIKE).
• Example: Filter::like('name', 'search') filters records where the name column contains the value of the search parameter in the request.

Filter::in($attribute, $filterBy = null)

• Description: Filters records where the column value is within a specified list of values.
• Example: Filter::in('category_id', 'categories') filters records where the category_id column matches any value provided in the categories parameter in the request.

Filter::gte($attribute, $filterBy = null)

• Description: Filters records where the column value is greater than or equal to the provided value.
• Example: Filter::gte('amount', 'min_amount') filters records where the amount column is greater than or equal to the value of the min_amount parameter in the request.

Filter::lte($attribute, $filterBy = null)

• Description: Filters records where the column value is less than or equal to the provided value.
• Example: Filter::lte('amount', 'max_amount') filters records where the amount column is less than or equal to the value of the max_amount parameter in the request.

Filter::json($attribute, $path, $operator = '=', $filterBy = null)

• Description: Filters records based on JSON attributes. Allows querying nested JSON data using a dot-notated path.
• Parameters:
  • $attribute: The column that contains the JSON data.
  • $path: The dot-notated path to the JSON attribute (e.g., 'user.name').
  • $operator: The comparison operator (e.g., '=', 'LIKE', '>', etc.).
  • $filterBy: The request parameter name to map to this filter.
• Example:
  • Filter::json('attributes', 'user.name', 'LIKE', 'user_name') filters records where the user.name attribute in the attributes JSON column matches the user_name request parameter using a LIKE comparison.
  • Filter::json('attributes', 'user.age', '>', 'user_age') filters records where the user.age attribute in the attributes JSON column is greater than the user_age request parameter.

Custom Filter Mapping

You can map request parameters to different column names in your database. For example:

protected array $filterMap = [
    'search' => 'description',
    'date' => 'expense_date',
];

Now, if the request contains filter[search]=Pizza, the query will filter the description column for the value Pizza.

Benefits and Differentiators

• Enhanced Code Readability: Filters are applied in a clean, readable manner without cluttering your controllers or models with complex query logic.
• Dynamic Filtering: Easily handle multiple filters from a single request without manually parsing input.
• Reusability: Filters can be reused across different queries and models, making your code DRY (Don't Repeat Yourself).
• Flexible Sorting: Allows sorting results dynamically based on request parameters, ensuring that your API remains flexible to client needs.
• JSON Support: Easily filter nested JSON attributes, enhancing the flexibility of your queries when dealing with JSON data types.

Example Usage in API Controller

public function index(): ExpenseCollection
{
    $expenses = Expense::query()
        ->with(['category', 'period'])
        ->filtrable([
            Filter::like('description', 'search'),
            Filter::exact('expense_date', 'date'),
            Filter::json('attributes', 'user.name', 'LIKE', 'user_name'),
            Filter::json('attributes', 'user.age', '>', 'user_age'),
        ])
        ->customPaginate();

    return new ExpenseCollection($expenses);
}

Pagination and Sorting

Custom Pagination

Use the customPaginate scope to apply pagination with customizable parameters.

$expenses = Expense::query()
    ->filtrable([...])
    ->customPaginate(); // Defaults to 15 items per page

// With custom parameters
$expenses = Expense::query()
    ->filtrable([...])
    ->customPaginate(false, ['per_page' => 10, 'sort' => '-amount']);

Allowed Sorts and Default Sort

Define allowed sorts and a default sort order in your model.

protected array $allowedSorts = ['expense_date', 'amount'];
protected string $defaultSort = 'expense_date';

// In your controller
$expenses = Expense::query()
    ->filtrable([...])
    ->allowedSorts(['expense_date', 'amount'])
    ->customPaginate();

Handling JSON Filters with Different Databases

The package supports JSON-based filters across different database systems by handling the JSON extraction appropriately.

Supported Databases:

• MySQL: Uses the ->> operator to extract JSON values.
• SQLite: Uses the json_extract function.
• PostgreSQL: Uses the ->> operator to extract JSON values.

Ensure that your database driver is correctly set to utilize the appropriate JSON extraction method.

Conclusion

The Filterable Package simplifies the process of filtering Eloquent models in Laravel. By leveraging the power of this package, you can create highly flexible and dynamic filtering solutions in your application, improving code quality and maintainability. With support for JSON-based filters, you can efficiently query nested JSON attributes, making your APIs more robust and versatile.

License

This package is open-sourced software licensed under the MIT license.