How to return complex objects in a Laravel API

Question

I'm building a REST API using Laravel and wondering if there's a standard and accepted way (Framework or Package) to return complex collections as the response.

What I'm currently doing is, returning the object with json method,

public function show() {
    $ad = Ad::with('category')->get()->find($id);
    return Response::json($ad);
}

Or, just return the object where it automatically return as json

public function show() {
    $ad = Ad::with('category')->get()->find($id);
    return $ad;
}

This way is fine with the above method because relations are pre-contained before coveting to json. However, let's say I need to return the saved object just after store() is called. Like this...

public function store(SaveAdRequest $request){
        $ad = new Ad();
        $ad->title = $request->title;
        $ad->description = $request->description;
        $ad->category = $request->category;
        $ad->save();

        return $ad;
}

In above store() method, I have no direct way to get relations of the just saved object.

So, how to overcome this problem and is there a standard way of returning these complex objects rather than using json ?

Thanks!

common sense · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-08 19:00:56Z

3

There is no standard way for returning data from a REST API. You can return JSON, XML, HTML. Whatever suits you.

The common thing is that you have somehow serialize your (PHP) object before sending it over the wire. Recently JSON is used a lot because its light-weight, easy to process and readable by humans too.

A complex object is just another JSON object inside a JSON object.

answered Jan 8, 2018 at 19:00

common sense

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Etibar · Accepted Answer · 2018-01-08 17:09:34Z

1

public function store(SaveAdRequest $request){
        $ad = new Ad();
        $ad->title = $request->title;
        $ad->description = $request->description;
        $ad->category = $request->category;
        $ad->save();

        $data = Ad::where('id', $ad->id)->with('category')->get();
        return Response::json($data );
}

answered Jan 8, 2018 at 17:09

Etibar

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2 Comments

Tharindu Thisarasinghe Over a year ago

Thanks. Your answer just fixed my problem . Anyway, I'm still looking for an answer about a standard and accepted way of returning data.

Etibar Over a year ago

did you check $ad['category'] = $ad->category(); return Response::json($ad); ?

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