Laravel: Storing an array of 3 strings inside one column of a table

Question

I am wondering what the best way to accomplish this would be. I need to store an array such as:

['hello', 'world', 'love']

Inside one column in a table. I do not want to create a new table where each value in the array becomes a separate row. Is there a better way? I guess my biggest concern is performance.

So when creating the migration for this column, ideally I would insert an array with 3 default/nullable values. Then I can set actual values for the array when needed in my application.

Simple scenario: I have a table called desk and I want to store 3 items that are on top of the desk such as ['pencil', 'ruler', 'stapler'], but I do not want to create a separate table desk_items to have a row for each item. Hope this makes sense.

Using Laravel and MYSQL

Thank you.

I'm not going to do all the work for you, but I will suggest you look at the following : 1. Storing arrays in a database as JSON. 2. Laravel's "casting" of attributes. — Giles Bennett
– Giles Bennett, Commented Oct 9, 2021 at 17:42
Sidenote. If your concern is performance then keep in mind that queries to find a row which has a specific element in that array will be much slower than if you had them as rows in a related table — apokryfos
– apokryfos, Commented Oct 9, 2021 at 22:07
Yea been reading up, hasMany relationship is probably the best way? — Etra
– Etra, Commented Oct 9, 2021 at 22:07
it depends on your use case but yes for a simple association of a row with a set of values that are specific to that row a hasMany relationship is the best way to go. — apokryfos
– apokryfos, Commented Oct 10, 2021 at 19:55

Ramiz Kongulov · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-09 18:17:39Z

6

make desc table as jsonb format

$table->jsonb('desk');

and in model use casts

protected $casts = [
    'desk' => 'array',
];

answered Oct 9, 2021 at 18:17

Ramiz Kongulov

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Cihan · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-09 19:09:02Z

0

If you want to store the array in Database table you should send it with json_encode .

$data = new Data; 
$data->Name = json_encode($request->DataName);
$data->save();

Thus, you can store an array in the name column of your data table. to use this data you need to call the data with json_decode.

 $data = json_decode(Data::find(1)->Name);

edited Oct 9, 2021 at 19:09

answered Oct 9, 2021 at 19:01

Cihan

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1 Comment

Ramiz Kongulov Over a year ago

@Etra This is not the best option for Laravel. You will always have to do json_decode wherever you output this data

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