Rowcast Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation

   composer require ascetic-soft/rowcast
   

   Add to config/app.php under providers:

   AsceticSoft\Rowcast\RowcastServiceProvider::class,
   

2. Basic Usage Register a cast in AppServiceProvider:

   use AsceticSoft\Rowcast\Rowcast;
   
   public function boot()
   {
       Rowcast::macro('toArray', function ($value) {
           return json_decode($value, true);
       });
   }
   

3. First Use Case Cast a JSON string to an array in a model attribute:

   use AsceticSoft\Rowcast\Rowcast;
   
   class Post extends Model
   {
       protected $casts = [
           'metadata' => Rowcast::toArray,
       ];
   }
   

Implementation Patterns

Common Workflows

1. Dynamic Casting Useful for API responses or database fields:

   Rowcast::macro('toDateTime', function ($value) {
       return Carbon::parse($value);
   });
   

2. Model Integration Apply casts in App\Models\Model for global reuse:

   class Model extends \Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model
   {
       protected $casts = [
           'created_at' => Rowcast::toDateTime,
           'updated_at' => Rowcast::toDateTime,
       ];
   }
   

3. API Request Handling Cast incoming request data:

   use AsceticSoft\Rowcast\Rowcast;
   
   $request->merge([
       'tags' => Rowcast::toArray($request->tags),
   ]);
   

Integration Tips

• Laravel Collections: Extend Illuminate\Support\Collection for batch casting:

  Collection::macro('cast', function ($macro) {
      return $this->map(fn ($item) => Rowcast::macro($macro, $item));
  });
  

• Form Requests: Validate and cast in handle():

  $validated = $this->validate();
  $validated['config'] = Rowcast::toArray($validated['config']);
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. Macro Overrides Avoid naming conflicts with Laravel’s built-in casts (e.g., toArray). Fix: Use unique prefixes (e.g., rowcast_toArray).

2. Null Handling Uncasted null values may break type checks. Fix: Add null checks in macros:

   Rowcast::macro('toArray', function ($value) {
       return $value ? json_decode($value, true) : [];
   });
   

3. Performance Heavy casting in loops (e.g., Model::all()) can slow queries. Fix: Use selectRaw or cast in application logic.

Debugging

• Macro Introspection List all registered macros:

  dd(Rowcast::getMacros());
  

• Error Logging Wrap macros in try-catch for graceful failures:

  Rowcast::macro('toDateTime', function ($value) {
      try {
          return Carbon::parse($value);
      } catch (\Exception $e) {
          Log::error("Rowcast failed: {$e->getMessage()}");
          return null;
      }
  });
  

Extension Points

1. Custom Cast Classes For reusable logic, create a trait:

   trait Castable
   {
       public static function castToArray($value) { ... }
   }
   

   Then use:

   Rowcast::macro('toArray', [Castable::class, 'castToArray']);
   

2. Database-Level Casting Combine with Laravel’s $attributes for raw SQL casting:

   protected $attributes = [
       'metadata' => '{}', // Default empty array
   ];
   

3. Testing Mock macros in PHPUnit:

   Rowcast::macro('toArray', fn ($x) => ['test']);
   $this->assertEquals(['test'], Rowcast::macro('toArray', '{}'));