Column Sorting for Laravel - Sortable - Sort By

Larasort : Column Sorting For Laravel - Sort Easily

Introduction - Larasort

This package allows you to automate the ORDER BY of your SQL queries, as well as to automate the generation of sortable links.

This Open Source library allows you to create sortable columns in an automated way with Laravel.

You have two packages in one: Larasort (for sorting with Eloquent ORM) and LarasortManual (for sorting without Eloquent ORM).

Sort easily in an automated way 🚀

Basic Example

• Example in Model:

private array $sortables = [ // The attributes that are sortable.
    'email',
    'first_name',
    'created_at',
];

• Example in Controller:

$customers = Customer::whereNotNull('confirmed_at')
    ->autosort() // Automate ORDER BY and its direction.
    ->paginate();

• Example in View (in blade template):

@sortableLink('email', 'Email')

Example rendering of a link in a table:

Author

This package is developed by Stephen Damian.

Requirements

• PHP 8.0 || 8.1 || 8.2 || 8.3 || 8.4
• Laravel 8 || 9 || 10 || 11

Summary

• Installation
• Customization with "vendor:publish"
• Larasort - For Eloquent ORM
  • Basic usage
  • Aliasing
    • Example with ->join()
  • Relationships
    • One To One
    • One To Many
    • Belongs To
    • Relationships - Conventions
  • For a column, specify its table
  • Put "desc" or "asc" by default for some columns
  • Clear Larasort static methods
  • Larasort - API Doc
    • Model properties
    • Larasort class
    • AutoSortable trait
    • Blade directives
• LarasortManual - For without Eloquent ORM
  • LarasortManual - Basic usage
  • LarasortManual - For a column, specify its table
  • LarasortManual - Put "desc" or "asc" by default for some columns
  • LarasortManual - API Doc
    • LarasortManual class
• Support
• License

Installation

Installation via Composer:

composer require s-damian/larasort

Customization With "vendor:publish"

Custom Config and Lang and CSS

After installing the package, you have to run the vendor:publish command:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="SDamian\Larasort\LarasortServiceProvider"

The vendor:publish command will generate these files:

• config/larasort.php
• public/vendor/larasort/css/larasort.css (you must include this CSS in your website)
• public/vendor/larasort/images/order.webp

You can of course customize these files.

"vendor:publish" with "--tag" argument

Publish only config file:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="SDamian\Larasort\LarasortServiceProvider" --tag=config

Publish only CSS file:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="SDamian\Larasort\LarasortServiceProvider" --tag=css

Publish only images file:

php artisan vendor:publish --provider="SDamian\Larasort\LarasortServiceProvider" --tag=images

Larasort - For Eloquent ORM

Larasort is useful when using the Eloquent ORM.

Basic Usage

First, your Model must use the AutoSortable Trait.

Then it is necessary that in your Model you declare $sortables. This property is useful for defining the columns (columns in your DB table) allowed to be sorted in the ORDER BY.

Note: the first column of the array $sortables will be the column used by default for the SQL ORDER BY.

Example:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\AutoSortable;

class Customer extends Model
{
    use AutoSortable;
    
    /**
     * The attributes that are sortable.
     */
    private array $sortables = [
        'id', // "id" column will be the default column for the ORDER BY.
        'first_name', 
        'email',
        'created_at',
    ];
}

You can override the column used by default for ORDER BY with this static method:

Note: the advantage of using the setDefaultSortable method is that even if in the URL there are no ?orderby={column}&order={direction}, the icon will still appear in the link for the default column.

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\Larasort;

Larasort::setDefaultSortable('email') // "email" column will be the default column for the ORDER BY.

If by default (when in the URL there is no ?orderby={column}), you don't want to apply ORDER BY in the SQL query:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\AutoSortable;

class Customer extends Model
{
    use AutoSortable;
    
    /**
     * The attributes that are sortable.
     */
    private array $sortables = [
        null, // Will be null by default (by default there will be no ORDER BY).
        'id',
        'first_name', 
        'email',
        'created_at',
    ];
}

Then with eloquent, you can use the ->autosort() magic method:

<?php

use App\Models\Customer;

class CustomerController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $customers = Customer::whereNotNull('confirmed_at')
            ->autosort() // Automate ORDER BY and its direction.
            ->paginate();

        return view('customer.index', [
            'customers' => $customers,
        ]);
    }
}

And in the view you can do this in the thead of a table for example:

Note: You must put the CSS class with-larasort on a HTML tag which encloses the blade directive (on the table or thead tag by example).

<thead class="with-larasort">
    <tr>
        <th>
            @sortableLink('first_name', 'First name')
        </th>
        <th>
            @sortableLink('email', 'Email')
        </th>
        <th>
            @sortableLink('created_at', 'Register on')
        </th>
    </tr>
</thead>

Note: 1st parameter is the column in database, 2nd parameter is the title (label). The 2nd parameter is optional. If you don't specify pass, the label will be generated automatically based on the column name.

If you need to keep more control inside a th, for more control you can replace @sortableLink by @sortableHref and @sortableIcon.

Example:

<th>
    <a @sortableHref('email')>
        Email
        @sortableIcon('email')
    </a>
</th>

Aliasing

If for some columns you do not want to specify the table in prefix, you must use the $sortablesAs property.

In a concrete case, aliases are especially useful when you make an SQL query with a join.

Example with ->join()

• Example in the Customer Model:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\AutoSortable;

class Customer extends Model
{
    use AutoSortable;
    
    /**
     * The attributes that are sortable.
     */
    private array $sortables = [
        'id',
        'first_name', 
        'email',
        'created_at',
    ];

    /**
     * The attributes that are sortable without table in prefix.
     */
    private array $sortablesAs = [
        'article_title', // Here.
    ];
}

• Example in a CustomerController:

<?php

class CustomerController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $customers = Customer::select([
                'customers.*',
                'articles.title AS article_title', // Here.
            ])
            ->join(
                'articles',
                'customers.id', '=', 'articles.customer_id'
            )
            ->autosort() // Automate ORDER BY and its direction.
            ->paginate();

        return view('customer.index', [
            'customers' => $customers,
        ]);
    }
}

• Example in View (in blade template):

@sortableLink('article_title', 'Article Title')

Relationships

With Larasort you can automate the ORDER BY of your relations One To One and One To Many.

To do this, you can use the autosortWith method.

One To One

In this example, a user has created one article, and an article has been created by a single user.

This therefore creates a One To One relationship between users and articles.

• Example in User Model:

<?php

/**
 * The attributes of its sortable relations.
 */
private array $sortablesRelated = [
    // Convention: {relationship name}{separator}{column in this relationship table}.
    'article.title',
];

public function article()
{
    return $this->hasOne(Article::class, 'user_id_created_at', 'id');
}

• Example in UserController:

<?php

$users = User::autosortWith('article', [
        'join_type' => 'join', // Optional - "leftJoin" by default.
        'columns' => ['id', 'username', 'email', 'role'], // Optional - "*" by default.
        'related_columns' => ['title AS article_title', 'h1'], // Optional - "*" by default.
    ])
    ->paginate();

• Example in View (in blade template):

@sortableLink('article.title', 'Article Title')

Note: for the 1st argument of @sortableLink, use the same convention as in the $sortablesRelated property of the Model.

One To Many

In this example, a user has created multiple articles, and an article has been created by a single user.

This therefore creates a One To Many relationship between users and articles (several articles per user, and only one user per article).

• Example in User Model:

<?php

/**
 * The attributes of its sortable relations.
 */
private array $sortablesRelated = [
    // Convention: {relationship name}{separator}{column in this relationship table}.
    'articles.title',
];

public function articles()
{
    return $this->hasMany(Article::class, 'user_id_created_at', 'id');
}

• Example in UserController:

<?php

$users = User::autosortWith('articles', [
        'join_type' => 'join', // Optional - "leftJoin" by default.
        'columns' => ['id', 'username', 'email', 'role'], // Optional - "*" by default.
        'related_columns' => ['title AS article_title', 'h1'], // Optional - "*" by default.
    ])
    ->paginate();

• Example in View (in blade template):

@sortableLink('articles.title', 'Article Title')

Note: for the 1st argument of @sortableLink, use the same convention as in the $sortablesRelated property of the Model.

Belongs To

Whether for a One To One or One To Many relationship, you must put the belongsTo method in the Article Model.

• Example in Article Model:

<?php

private array $sortablesRelated = [
    // Convention: {relationship name}{separator}{column in this relationship table}.
    'user.email',
];

public function user()
{
    return $this->belongsTo(User::class, 'user_id_created_at', 'id');
}

• Example in ArticleController:

<?php

$articles = Article::autosortWith('user', [
        'join_type' => 'join', // Optional - "leftJoin" by default.
        'columns' => ['id', 'slug', 'h1', 'updated_at'], // Optional - "*" by default.
        'related_columns' => ['email AS user_email', 'first_name'], // Optional - "*" by default.
    ])
    ->paginate();

• Example in View (in blade template):

@sortableLink('user.email', 'User Email')

Note: for the 1st argument of @sortableLink, use the same convention as in the $sortablesRelated property of the Model.

Relationships - Conventions

Model $sortablesRelated property

For the columns you put in the $sortablesRelated property, the convention is: {relationship name}{separator}{column in this relationship table}.

Larasort will use {relationship name} to do the ORDER BY on its table.

By default the separator is a period. If you wish, you can change it in the config with relation_column_separator.

->autosortWith() method options

To do the join, you must specify the name of the relation in the first parameter of ->autosortWith().

Inside, you must pass the name of your relation (the name of the relation method that you put in your Model). Larasort will use this name to do the join.

Options:

PS: If at the first parameter of ->autosortWith() you put a relation name different from what you had put at {relationship name} of the property $sortablesRelated, the ORDER BY simply won't happen on the relationship.

• "join_type" (optional):

To make another join than the default (the one specified in the config), you can specify the join_type option.

• "columns" (optional):

If you want to specify the columns to SELECT for your Model, you can specify the columns option.

You can put either an array or a string. Example with an array: ['id', 'email', 'username']. Example with a string: 'id, email, username'.

By default the SELECT will be done on all the columns.

• "related_columns" (optional):

If you want to specify which columns to SELECT for your Model's relationship, you can specify the related_columns option.

You can put either an array or a string. Example with an array: ['title AS article_title', 'content']. Example with a string: 'title AS article_title, content'.

By default the SELECT will be done on all the columns.

For a Column, Specify its Table

With Larasort you can for columns, specify their table (this is useful when you make a SQL query with join).

By default, Larasort will do the ORDER BY on the table where the AutoSortable trait is included.

Let's take an example where in an SQL query you want to retrieve articles (from a articles table) and categories (from a categories table), and that for these 2 tables you want to retrieve the id column. But you want to do ORDER BY id on the categories table instead of the articles table.

You can solve this problem with these 2 solutions

Solution 1 - With $sortablesToTables property

The $sortablesToTables property can optionally be put in the Model:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\AutoSortable;

class Article extends Model
{
    use AutoSortable;
    
    /**
     * The attributes that are sortable.
     */
    private array $sortables = [
        'id',
        'title',
        'updated_at',
    ];

    /**
     * The sortable attributes to which their table is specified.
     */
    private array $sortablesToTables = [
        'id' => 'categories.id', // Here.
    ];
}

Solution 2 - With Larasort::setSortablesToTables(array $sortablesToTables)

The Larasort::setSortablesToTables(array $sortablesToTables) method can optionally be put just before the SQL query where you will use ->autosort() (in the Controller or in the Model, for example).

Example in a ArticleController:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\Larasort;

class ArticleController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        Larasort::setSortablesToTables(['id' => 'categories.id']); // Here.

        // Here your SQL query with ->autosort()
        // Then the rest of the code...
    }
}

If the $sortablesToTables property and the Larasort::setSortablesToTables(array $sortablesToTables) method are used at the same time for the same column, the Larasort::setSortablesToTables(array $sortablesToTables) method will override the $sortablesToTables property.

Using either of these solutions, the result of the SQL query will be: ORDER BY `categories`.`id` ASC instead of ORDER BY `articles`.`id` ASC .

Put "desc" or "asc" by Default For Some Columns

It is possible for some columns, that the order (the direction of the ORDER BY) to want it to be by default (or on the 1st click on its link) at desc instead of asc.

This can optionally be put just before the SQL query where you will use ->autosort() (in the Controller or in the Model, for example).

Example in a InvoiceController:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\Larasort;

class InvoiceController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        Larasort::setSortablesDefaultOrder([
            'desc' => ['id', 'created_at', 'price_with_vat'], // Here.
        ]);

        // Here your SQL query with ->autosort()
        // Then the rest of the code...
    }
}

If you change "default_order" in "config/larasort.php" file - Put "asc" by default for some columns

In the config/larasort.php config file, you can change the value of default_order (which defaults to asc).

If you do this: it is possible for some columns, than the order of wanting it to be at asc instead of desc.

Example in a InvoiceController:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\Larasort;

class InvoiceController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        Larasort::setSortablesDefaultOrder([
            'asc' => ['customer_email', 'customer_first_name'], // Here.
        ]);

        // Here your SQL query with ->autosort()
        // Then the rest of the code...
    }
}

Clear Larasort static methods

If you need to, you can clear (reset) the static methods of Larasort:

<?php

Larasort::clearDefaultSortable();

Larasort::clearSortablesToTables();

Larasort::clearSortablesDefaultOrder();

Larasort - API Doc

Model properties

Type	Property	Description
array	$sortables	Define columns that are sortable.
array	$sortablesAs	Define alias columns that are sortable.
array	$sortablesToTables	For column(s), specify its table.

Larasort class

For SDamian\Larasort\Larasort class:

Return type	Method	Description
void	::setDefaultSortable(string $defaultSortable)	Change the default column (for the SQL ORDER BY).
void	::clearDefaultSortable()	Clear "setDefaultSortable" method.
void	::setSortablesToTables(array $sortablesToTables)	For column(s), specify its table.
void	::clearSortablesToTables()	Clear "setSortablesToTables" method.
void	::setSortablesDefaultOrder(array $sortablesDefaultOrder)	Assign default order ("desc" or "asc") for some columns.
void	::clearSortablesDefaultOrder()	Clear "setSortablesDefaultOrder" method.

AutoSortable trait

For SDamian\Larasort\AutoSortable trait:

Return type	Method	Description
Builder	scopeAutosort(Builder $query)	scope to generate the ORDER BY of the SQL query.

Blade directives

Return type	Directive	Description	Return example
string	@sortableUrl(string $column)	Returns the URL of a column.	http://www.website.com/utilisateurs?orderby=email&order=asc
string	@sortableHref(string $column)	Returns the href (with its URL in it) of a column.	href='http://www.website.com/utilisateurs?orderby=email&order=asc'
string	@sortableIcon(string $column)	Returns the icon (image) of a column, in the correct order.	<span class="larasort-icon-n-1"></span>
string	@sortableLink(string $column, string $label)	Return link of a column = href + label + icon.	<a href="http://www.website.com/utilisateurs?orderby=email&amp;order=asc">Email<span class="larasort-icon-n-1"></span></a>

LarasortManual - For Without Eloquent ORM

Larasort is useful when you weren't using the Eloquent ORM.

If you want to do a manual SQL query (or if you want to do a file listing), an alternative exists: LarasortManual.

LarasortManual - Basic Usage

With LarasortManual, the setSortables(array $sortables) method is useful to define the columns allowed to be sorted in the ORDER BY.

Simple example:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\Manual\LarasortManual;

class CustomerController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $larasortMan = new LarasortManual();
        $larasortMan->setSortables(['id', 'first_name', 'email', 'created_at']); // Here.
        $resultLarasortMan = $larasortMan->get();

        $customers = DB::select('
            SELECT *
            FROM customers
            ORDER BY '.$resultLarasortMan['order_by'].' '.$resultLarasortMan['order'].'
        ');

        return view('customer.index', [
            'customers' => $customers,
            'larasortManAttrs' => $resultLarasortMan['attrs'],
        ]);
    }
}

And in the view you can do this in the thead of a table for example:

<thead class="with-larasort">
    <tr>
        <th>
            <a {!! $larasortManAttrs['first_name']['href'] !!}>
                First name
                {!! $larasortManAttrs['first_name']['icon'] !!}
            </a>
        </th>
        <th>
            <a {!! $larasortManAttrs['email']['href'] !!}>
                Email
                {!! $larasortManAttrs['email']['icon'] !!}
            </a>
        </th>
        <th>
            <a {!! $larasortManAttrs['created_at']['href'] !!}>
                Register on
                {!! $larasortManAttrs['created_at']['icon'] !!}
            </a>
        </th>
        <th>Actions</th>
    </tr>
</thead>

Note: if you wish, you can also have access to $larasortManAttrs['column_name']['url'].

LarasortManual - For a Column, Specify its Table

With LarasortManual also you can for columns, specify their table (this is useful when you make a SQL query with join).

Unlike Larasort which makes the SQL query on the table where the AutoSortable trait is included, by default, LarasortManual will do the ORDER BY column without specifying a table in prefix.

So, when you join multiple tables, if you SELECT the same column name on several tables, you can end up with an error like: "Integrity constraint violation: 1052 Column '{colomn}' in order clause is ambiguous".

Let's take an example where in an SQL query you want to retrieve articles (from a articles table) and categories (from a categories table), and that for these 2 tables you want to retrieve the id column. And you want to do ORDER id on the categories table.

You can use the $larasortMan->setSortablesToTables(array $sortablesToTables) method to achieve this.

Example:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\Manual\LarasortManual;

class ArticleController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $larasortMan = new LarasortManual();
        $larasortMan->setSortables(['id', 'title', 'created_at']);
        $larasortMan->setSortablesToTables(['id' => 'categories.id']); // Here.
        $resultLarasortMan = $larasortMan->get();

        // Here your SQL query with $resultLarasortMan['order_by'] and $resultLarasortMan['order']
        // Then the rest of the code...
    }
}

$resultLarasortMan['order_by'] will generate the SQL query ORDER BY `categories`.`id` ASC instead of ORDER BY `id` ASC.

LarasortManual - Put "desc" or "asc" by Default for Some Columns

With LarasortManual also you can for some columns, have the order (the direction of ORDER BY) default (or on the 1st click on its link) to desc instead of asc.

You can do this with the $larasortMan->setSortablesDefaultOrder(array $sortablesDefaultOrder) method.

Example:

<?php

use SDamian\Larasort\Manual\LarasortManual;

class InvoiceController extends Controller
{
    public function index()
    {
        $larasortMan = new LarasortManual();
        $larasortMan->setSortables(['id', 'ref', 'customer_email', 'created_at', 'price_with_vat']);
        $larasortMan->setSortablesDefaultOrder([
            'desc' => ['id', 'created_at', 'price_with_vat'], // Here.
        ]);
        $resultLarasortMan = $larasortMan->get();

        // Here your SQL query with $resultLarasortMan['order_by'] and $resultLarasortMan['order']
        // Then the rest of the code...
    }
}

If you change "default_order" at "config/larasort.php" file - Put "asc" by default for some columns

You can do this in exactly the same way as with Larasort. By doing something like this:

<?php

$larasortMan->setSortablesDefaultOrder([
    'asc' => ['customer_email', 'customer_first_name'], // Here.
]);

LarasortManual - API Doc

LarasortManual class

For SDamian\Larasort\Manual\LarasortManual class:

Return type	Method	Description
void	setSortables(array $sortables)	To specify sortable columns.
void	setSortablesToTables(array $sortablesToTables)	For column(s), specify its table.
void	setSortablesDefaultOrder(array $sortablesDefaultOrder)	Assign default order ("desc" or "asc") for some columns.
array	get()	Return the result of LarasortManual instance.

Support

If you discover a bug or a security vulnerability, please send a message to Stephen. Thank you.

All bugs and all security vulnerabilities will be promptly addressed.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for more details.