Laravel update if not exists (duplicate check)

Question

I don't want to have dupliactes into my users table. This would be ok:

╔═══╦════════════╦═════════════╦═════════════╗
║   ║ firstname  ║ lastname    ║ dateOfBirth ║
╠═══╬════════════╬═════════════╬═════════════╣
║ 1 ║ John       ║ Mat         ║ 1999-12-01  ║
║ 2 ║ Dave       ║ Bittner     ║ 1950-06-02  ║
║ 3 ║ John       ║ Mat         ║ 1900-11-02  ║
╚═══╩════════════╩═════════════╩═════════════╝

In my Laravel application (UserController), I am checking if the user already exists by calling the firstOrCreate Method (creating a new user):

public function store(UserRequest $request) {

   $user = User::firstOrCreate([
        'firstname'             => request('firstname'),
        'lastname'              => request('lastname'),
        'dateOfBirth'           => request('dateOfBirth'),
    ]);

    if($user->wasRecentlyCreated) {
        // new
    }else {
        // existing
    }

    return redirect('/users');
}

This worked pretty well. Now, I can create a similar user successful (like the entry with the id=3 in the example table above). If I edit the birthday from entry 3 into 1999-12-01, Laravel says it is OK, but it isn't (duplicate with id=1) !

I also want to check on update, if the entry already exists (duplicate check after every update). I am searching a updateIfNotDuplicate method or something like that (like the firstOrCreate for updates).

This is my update function in the UserController:

public function update(User $user, UserRequest $request) {
    $user->update([
        'firstname'             => request('firstname'),
        'lastname'              => request('lastname'),
        'dateOfBirth'           => request('dateOfBirth'),
    ]);

    return redirect('/users');
}

You have a UserRequest object, why not add a unique constraint to the dateOfBirth column? — Ohgodwhy
– Ohgodwhy, Commented Dec 30, 2017 at 19:59
@Ohgodwhy: It is also possible that two users with the same birthday but a different name exists. I tried to create a MCVE. My real table is a much bigger. You could see it as a hole-table-composite-key (instead of the id field). — mhellmeier
– mhellmeier, Commented Dec 30, 2017 at 20:07
Maybe this feed can help you https://laracasts.com/discuss/channels/eloquent/how-to-check-for-unique-column-combanation-from-the-validation-rule?page=2 — SomethingElse
– SomethingElse, Commented Dec 30, 2017 at 20:18

Mathieu Ferre · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-01 14:31:09Z

1

You can try this

public function update(User $user, UserRequest $request) {

    $update = [
        'firstname'             => request('firstname'),
        'lastname'              => request('lastname'),
        'dateOfBirth'           => request('dateOfBirth'),
    ];

    // find if your updated user already exists 
    $new_user = $user->firstOrNew($update);

    // Update if the no changes has been made or if no user have been founded
    if($new_user->id == $user->id OR !$new_user->exists){
        $user->update($update);

    }

}

edited Jan 1, 2018 at 14:31

answered Dec 31, 2017 at 11:53

Mathieu Ferre

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1 Comment

mhellmeier Over a year ago

Thanks! You need to change !$new_user->exists() into !$new_user->exists (stackoverflow.com/a/41082793/2056125). After this, is worked pretty well. Thanks a lot for this solution!

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