Introduction

The Laravel Model JSON package allows you to export data from a specific model in the form of a JSON file. It is based on the php artisan command and is easy to use.

Installation

To install this package, use the following command:

composer require vildanbina/laravel-model-json

Usage

Export

The command to export data from a model is php artisan model:export {model}, where {model} is the class name of the model you wish to export. After running this command, the data will be automatically saved in the storage/app folder.

For example, to export data from the User model, you would run the following command:

php artisan model:export User

If your model is located in a different folder, you can specify the exact location, like so:

php artisan model:export App\Models\User

Options

Choose your path to save

This package also has several options that allow you to customize the export functionality. For example, you can use the --path=public option to save the JSON data in a different folder. Here's an example:

php artisan model:export User --path=public

Filename

By default, the filename of the JSON data is "Model-Timestamp", but you can also specify a custom filename using the --filename=data option. For example:

php artisan model:export User --filename=data

Except Fields from export

You can also exclude certain columns from the export by using the --except-fields option. This is useful if you only want to export certain data from the model. For example:

php artisan model:export User --except-fields=id,deleted_at

Without timestamps

To exclude the created_at, updated_at, and deleted_at columns from the export, use the --without-timestamps option. For example:

php artisan model:export User --without-timestamps

Without global scopes

You can remove registered global scopes from the export with the --without-global-scopes option. For example:

php artisan model:export User --without-global-scopes

With hidden

By default, only visible fields are included in the export. To also include all hidden fields in the export, use the --with-hidden option. For example:

php artisan model:export User --with-hidden

This will also apply to any included relation(s) if used in combination with the --with-relationships option.

Select only specific fields

If a model has a large number of columns and you only want to export a subset of them, you can use the --only-fields option. This allows you to specify which columns you want to include in the export. For example:

php artisan model:export User --only-fields=name,email

Forget data

You can forget data from the export by using the dot notation, accepting wildcards using asterisks. For example:

php artisan model:export Post --forget-data=comments.*.moderated_at

This can be useful if you include relations with the --with-relationships option and you would like to remove chaperone()'d relations from the nested data.

The --forget-data option supports one or more keys, comma separated.

Apply a specific scope to the query

If you wish to apply a scope to the model query because you wish to exclude certain records, you can use the --scope={scope} option. This allows you to specify a scope for the records you want to include in the export. For example:

php artisan model:export User --scope=verified

On your User model you would have the following method:

    public function scopeVerified(Builder $query): void
    {
        $query->whereNotNull('email_verified_at');
    }

The --scope option also supports one or more arguments to be passed to the scope, comma separated. For example:

php artisan model:export User --scope=byEmail,foo@example.com

On your User model you would have the following method:

    public function scopeByEmail(Builder $query, string $email): void
    {
        $query->where('email', $email);
    }

Relationships

You can now export models along with their specified relationships using the new option --with-relationships={relations}. {relations} are the names of the relationships and can be separated by + symbol if you want to attach more than one relationship.

For example, if you want to export a Product model along with its Category relationship, you can use the command:

php artisan model:export Product --with-relationships=category

If you want to export a Product model along with both its Category and Supplier relationships, you can use the command:

php artisan model:export Product --with-relationships=category+supplier

Additionally, you can choose to only export specific columns of the relationship by using the syntax {relationship_name}:{columns_to_export}.

For example, if you want to export a Product model along with its Category relationship and only export the id and name columns of the Category, you can use the command:

php artisan model:export Product --with-relationships=category:id,name

If you want to save JSON in a file as a beautified version, you can use the --beautify option or its shorthand -b. For example:

php artisan model:export User --beautify

#or

php artisan model:export User -b

By default, it will be exported to an inline JSON.

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Import

The model:import command allows you to import data from a JSON file and store it in your database.

For example, to import data for the User model, you would run the following command:

Parameters

• model: Required. The name of the model to be imported.
• path: Required. The path to the JSON file, which must contain valid JSON data.

Example:

php artisan model:import User public/Users.json

This command will store all the data found in the JSON file in the database.

Except Fields from importing

You can exclude specific columns by using the --except-fields option, separated by commas, ex:

php artisan model:import User public/Users.json --except-fields=email_verified_at

You can also exclude timestamps by using the --without-timestamps option.

Select only specific fields to import

If you only want to store specific fields, you can use the --only-fields option, separated by commas. Ex:

php artisan model:import User public/Users.json --only-fields=first_name,last_name,email

Forget data

You can forget data from the import by using the dot notation, accepting wildcards using asterisks. For example:

php artisan model:import Post public/Posts.json --forget-data=comments.*.moderated_at

The --forget-data option supports one or more keys, comma separated.

Update existing records

You can update existing records in the database instead of creating duplicates by using the --update-when-exists option, ex:

php artisan model:import User public/Users.json --update-when-exists

If you want to group the updates based on a different column, you can use the --update-keys option. The records will be updated based on the matching existing records.

php artisan model:import User public/Users.json --update-when-exists --update-keys=email

Note: The --update-when-exists option must be present in order for the update feature to be enabled.

Relationships

In addition to importing models from JSON, this package also allows you to import relationships between models. Currently supported relationship types are:

• HasOne
• HasMany
• HasOneThrough
• HasManyThrough
• MorphOne
• MorphMany
• MorphToMany
• MorphTo
• BelongsTo
• BelongsToMany

You can import models along with their specified relationships using the new option --with-relationships={relations}. {relations} are the names of the relationships and can be separated by + symbol if you want to attach more than one relationship.

For example, if you want to import a Category model along with its Product relationship, you can use the command:

php artisan model:import Category public/Categories.json --with-relationships=products

If you want to import a Category model along with both its Product and User relationships, you can use the command:

php artisan model:import Category public/Categories.json --with-relationships=products+user

Additionally, you can choose to only import specific columns of the relationship by using the syntax {relationship_name}:{columns_to_import}.

For example, if you want to import a Category model along with its Product relationship and only import the id and name columns of the Product, you can use the command:

php artisan model:import Category public/Categories.json --with-relationships=products:id,name

Note: In addition to the assignment that will be done in the above examples for importing a product to a category with relationships, Category will also be updated with the attributes found in the JSON.

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Conclusion

The Laravel Model JSON package is a useful tool for exporting data from a specific model in a JSON format. It offers various options to customize the export process and make it more convenient for your needs. Give it a try and see how it can help you in your project.

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING for details.

Security Vulnerabilities

Please e-mail vildanbina@gmail.com to report any security vulnerabilities instead of the issue tracker.

Credits

• Vildan Bina
• All Contributors

License

The MIT License (MIT). Please see License File for more information.