Table Laravel Package

Getting Started

Minimal Setup

1. Installation:

   composer require ekyna/table
   

   Add the service provider to config/app.php:

   'providers' => [
       // ...
       Ekyna\Table\TableServiceProvider::class,
   ],
   

2. Basic Usage: Register a table in a controller:

   use Ekyna\Table\Table;
   
   public function showTable()
   {
       $table = Table::make('users')
           ->addColumn('id', 'ID')
           ->addColumn('name', 'Name')
           ->addColumn('email', 'Email');
   
       return view('tables.users', ['table' => $table]);
   }
   

3. First View: Create a Blade template (resources/views/tables/users.blade.php):

   {!! $table->render() !!}
   

First Use Case: Displaying Eloquent Results

public function index()
{
    $users = User::all();
    $table = Table::make('users')
        ->setData($users)
        ->addColumn('id', 'ID')
        ->addColumn('name', 'Name')
        ->addColumn('email', 'Email')
        ->addColumn('created_at', 'Joined', function ($value) {
            return $value->format('M d, Y');
        });

    return view('tables.users', compact('table'));
}

Implementation Patterns

Data Binding

• Eloquent Models:

  $table = Table::make('users')
      ->setModel(User::class)
      ->addColumn('name', 'Name')
      ->addColumn('email', 'Email');
  

  Automatically resolves columns from the model.

• Array Data:

  $data = [['id' => 1, 'name' => 'John'], ['id' => 2, 'name' 'Jane']];
  $table = Table::make('custom')
      ->setData($data)
      ->addColumn('id', 'ID')
      ->addColumn('name', 'Name');
  

Column Customization

• Callbacks for Dynamic Data:

  $table->addColumn('status', 'Status', function ($value) {
      return $value ? 'Active' : 'Inactive';
  });
  

• HTML Attributes:

  $table->addColumn('name', 'Name')
      ->setAttribute('class', 'text-bold');
  

• Sorting:

  $table->addColumn('name', 'Name')
      ->setSortable(true);
  

Pagination

$users = User::paginate(10);
$table = Table::make('users')
    ->setData($users)
    ->addColumn('id', 'ID')
    ->addColumn('name', 'Name');

return view('tables.users', compact('table'));

The package integrates with Laravel's pagination out of the box.

Integration with Forms

• Row Actions:

  $table->addRowAction('Edit', route('users.edit', $user->id), 'edit')
      ->addRowAction('Delete', route('users.destroy', $user->id), 'delete', ['method' => 'DELETE']);
  

Gotchas and Tips

Pitfalls

1. Deprecated Package:

   • Last updated in 2015. Ensure compatibility with your Laravel version (likely works with Laravel 5.x).
   • No active maintenance; fork or extend if needed.

2. No Built-in CRUD:

   • This is a read-only table component. For editable tables, consider pairing with a frontend framework (e.g., Vue/Alpine.js) or a package like yajra/laravel-datatables.

3. Column Naming:

   • Column names must match the data keys exactly (case-sensitive). Use callbacks for transformations:

     $table->addColumn('user_name', 'Name', function ($value) {
         return $value['name']; // If data uses 'user_name' key
     });
     

Debugging

• Check Rendered HTML: Use {{ dd($table->render()) }} to inspect the output for misconfigurations.

• Data Validation: Ensure setData() receives an iterable (e.g., Collection, array). Non-iterable data will break rendering.

Extension Points

1. Custom Styling: Override the default Blade template by publishing views:

   php artisan vendor:publish --tag=table-views
   

   Then modify resources/views/vendor/table/.

2. Add JavaScript: Extend functionality with client-side sorting/filtering by attaching scripts to the Blade template:

   {!! $table->render() !!}
   <script>
       // Custom JS logic
   </script>
   

3. Fork and Update: Since the package is unmaintained, consider forking the GitHub repo to add features like:

   • Server-side processing (for large datasets).
   • Export to CSV/Excel.
   • Column visibility toggles.