PHP Laravel - Controller does not exist

Question

I am new to PHP and Laravel. I am creating my first Laravel API where I am working with Post object.

In order to do so I use a PostController. I have created this controller using the php artisan command: php artisan make:controller PostController --api. This created a PostController class inside the app\Http\Controllers.

When I want to append this controller to the api routes using the Route::resource function I came across something strange. The course I followed told me to declare the controller like so: Route::resource('posts', 'PostController');. When testing the api php artisan route:list this gave the following error:Target class [PostController] does not exist.

Then I did some research and found an other way to declare the controller inside the api routes using:

use App\Http\Controllers\PostController;

Route::resource('posts', PostController::class);

This worked for me but I don't have any clue why the first declaration failed. I have looked inside my PostController class to see any typo's. But I couldn't find any:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class PostController extends Controller
{
   ...
}

You may have followed a course related to Laravel version less than 8. In Laravel 8 the route file (and defining routes) has changed a bit. — Rouhollah Mazarei
– Rouhollah Mazarei, Commented Jan 31, 2021 at 9:33

Lupinity Labs · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-31 09:34:06Z

2

The reason for this is just like the exception says: it could not find the PostController in your declared namespace.

The reason for that highly depends on the Laravel version you are using. Laravel 8 removed the default namespacing to App\Http\Controllers, so if you are using Laravel 8 but have followed a tutorial for an earlier Laravel version, that might be the reason.

However, using the declaration using class imports is the better way to do it anyways, so I would stick with that.

answered Jan 31, 2021 at 9:34

Lupinity Labs

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gclark18 · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-31 09:35:17Z

1

Since Laravel 8, there were some changes to the automatic controller namespace prefixing.

https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/upgrade#routing

You can continue to use the original auto-prefixed controller routing, see the 4th paragraph on the upgrade documentation. But the new way is recommended.

answered Jan 31, 2021 at 9:35

gclark18

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BABAK ASHRAFI · Accepted Answer · 2021-01-31 09:46:22Z

0

You should tell Route::resource method the controller's namespace. As you did in your second try.

If you wanna do it with your first attempt, you can tell it the required namespace

Route::resource('posts', 'App\Http\Controllers\PostController');

You can also set the namespace in your App\Providers\RouteServiceProvider:

public function boot()
{

    $this->routes(function () {
        Route::prefix('api')
            ->middleware('api')
            ->namespace('App\Http\Controllers\Api')
            ->group(base_path('routes/api.php'));
    });
}

edited Jan 31, 2021 at 9:46

answered Jan 31, 2021 at 9:33

BABAK ASHRAFI

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