How to create an optimized model, tables and the relationship between them? - database

Question

I have development custom project where have database tables:
users
candidates
companies
scopes
skills
Users table:
Schema::create('users', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('nickname')->unique();
$table->string('email')->unique();
$table->timestamp('email_verified_at')->nullable();
$table->string('password');
$table->boolean('type')->default(0); // 0 = candidate and 1 = company
$table->rememberToken();
$table->timestamps();
});
Candidates table:
Schema::create('candidates', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->unsignedInteger('user_id');
$table->foreign('user_id')
->references('id')
->on('users')
->onDelete('cascade');
$table->string('name')->nullable();
$table->string('lastname')->nullable();
$table->string('surname')->nullable();
$table->text('about')->nullable();
$table->timestamps();
});
Companies table:
Schema::create('companies', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->unsignedInteger('user_id');
$table->foreign('user_id')
->references('id')
->on('users')
->onDelete('cascade');
$table->unsignedInteger('logo');
$table->foreign('logo')
->references('id')
->on('images')
->onDelete('cascade');
$table->string('name')->nullable();
$table->text('about')->nullable();
$table->string('website')->nullable();
$table->integer('employees')->nullable();
$table->timestamps();
});
Scopes table:
Schema::create('scopes', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('name')->unique();
$table->timestamps();
});
Skills table:
Schema::create('skills', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('name')->unique();
$table->timestamps();
});
Here any users type have scopes and skills. I can solve this solution with creating one table:
Attributes table:
Schema::create('attributes', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->unsignedInteger('user_id');
$table->foreign('user_id')
->references('id')
->on('users')
->onDelete('cascade');
$table->morphs('model');
$table->timestamps();
});
Example data inside attributes table:
----------------------------------------
| id | user_id | model_id | model_type |
----------------------------------------
| 15 | 176 | 34458 | App\Scope |
----------------------------------------
| 29 | 245 | 17654 | App\Skill |
----------------------------------------
But in this solution there is one bad side for me, this is the repetition of the string name of the model on each line of the record in the table. For example:
Models table:
Schema::create('models', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->string('name')->unique();
$table->timestamps();
});
Note: It may be impossible to create a module with the name of the Model, so you may need to create it with a different name, for example: Reference
Example data inside models table:
-------------------
| id | name |
-------------------
| 10 | App\Scope |
-------------------
| 11 | App\Skill |
-------------------
After creating the models table, the structure of the attribute table changes to:
Attributes table:
Schema::create('attributes', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->increments('id');
$table->unsignedInteger('user_id');
$table->foreign('user_id')
->references('id')
->on('users')
->onDelete('cascade');
$table->foreign('model_id')
->references('id')
->on('models')
->onDelete('cascade');
$table->unsignedInteger('content_id');
$table->timestamps();
});
Now how can I create the right relationship inside models to get candidates or company user types skills or scopes?
I have custom relationships inside Users model:
public function candidate()
{
return $this->hasOne(Candidate::class);
}
public function company()
{
return $this->hasOne(Company::class);
}
Now, I need inside Candidate and Company model like this relationships:
public function skills()
{
// Some code here
}
public function scopes()
{
// Some code here
}
In general get users skills or scopes like this:
$user->candidate->scopes
$user->company->skills
If you have another suggestion for solving my problem, please offer your suggestion. If I made a mistake somewhere, correct me if it is possible.

Answer 1

Methink your primary ORM construction error is in this line:
$table->boolean('type')->default(0); // 0 = candidate and 1 = company
This is not solvable with the use of Laravel's ORM. You will have to replace this line with
$table->unsignedInteger('candidate_id')->nullable()->index();
$table->unsignedInteger('company_id')->nullable()->index();
and start from there. As it can either be a candidate or a company, one of the values will be empty. Easy to check. As there are only 2 possible options, a polymorphic relationship is not really needed. Once you get over that check, your ORM hierarchy will outline itself.
You only have to take care that if a candidate becomes a company or visa versa, you make sure the other value gets nullified. This can all be done in Model's mutators or a personalized public function so you don't have to worry about it in the Controllers/Views.
For example $user->choice->scopes; where you add a User Model function getChoiceAttribute()
public function getChoiceAttribute() {
if ($this->candidate) {
return $this->candidate;
}
if ($this->company) {
return $this->company;
}
return null;
}
The same applies to a setter function setChoiceAttribute() in case a candidate becomes a company. This only applies if you save or update a record.
To know in the view if you are working with candidates or companies, just check on $user->choice->getTable();.