Laravel concat query return 0 items - database

Question

Here is my controller code:
if ($request->exists('tipo')) {
$valor = $request->value;
$candidates = Candidate::buscarpor($tipo, $valor)
->orderBy('id', 'desc')
->Paginate(5)
->withQueryString();
dd($candidates);
}
And this is the scope "buscarpor" inside my "Candidate" model:
public function scopeBuscarpor($query, $tipo, $valor)
{
if(($tipo) && ($valor)) {
if($tipo == 'names') {
// return $query->orWhereRaw("concat(name, ' ', last_name) like '%".$valor."%' ");
return $query->where(DB::raw("CONCAT('name', ' ', 'last_name')"), 'like', '%'.$valor.'%')
->orWhere(DB::raw("CONCAT('last_name', ' ', 'name')"), 'like', '%'.$valor.'%');
}
return $query->where($tipo, 'like', "%$valor%");
}
}
When the search is of type "names" I should query in the DB to search a candidate/person by using his first name or last name, I only have one input type text, I just writting all his names is this input type text.
The variable $valor inside of this scope has data and no problem with it.. I tested adding a name that exists in my database but it returns 0 items.
This my dd($candidates) output.
I don't know what I'm doing wrong, please guys if you have some idea about how fix this problem, I will appreciate it.. Thanks so much.

Answer 1

Maybe the where expressions are not correctly formed. Try writing it like this
$query->where(DB::raw("CONCAT('name', ' ', 'last_name') like '%?%'", [$valor]))
->orWhere(DB::raw("CONCAT('last_name', ' ', 'name') like '%?%'", [$valor]));
You can also use the whereRaw() syntax instead
$query->whereRaw("CONCAT('name', ' ', 'last_name') like '%?%'", [$valor])
->orWhereRaw("CONCAT('last_name', ' ', 'name') like '%?%'", [$valor]);
Or maybe the names are written with capital letters in the database? If you are using postgreSQL, you can use ilike instead of like for a case insensitive search.
If you're using MySQL, you might have to use lower() in your raw methods.
$query->whereRaw("LOWER(CONCAT('name', ' ', 'last_name')) like '%?%'", [$valor])
->orWhereRaw("LOWER(CONCAT('last_name', ' ', 'name')) like '%?%'", [$valor]);