Convert Eloquent boolean attributes to dates (and back)

Automatically convert Eloquent model boolean fields to dates (and back to booleans) so you always know when something was accepted or changed.

Say you've got a registration page for users where they need to accept your terms and perhaps can opt-in to certain features using checkboxes. With the new(-ish) GDPR privacy laws, you're somewhat required to not just keep track of the fact if they accepted those (or not), but also when they did.

Example

User registration controller:

$input = request()->input();

$user = User::create([
    'has_accepted_terms' => $input['terms'],
    'is_subscribed_to_newsletter' => $input['newsletter'],
]);

Anywhere else in your code:

// true or false (boolean)
$user->has_accepted_terms;

// 2018-05-10 16:24:22 (Carbon instance)
$user->accepted_terms_at;

Table of contents

• Requirements
• How to install
• How to use
  • Saving dates
  • Clearing saved values
  • Retrieving values
    • Retrieving fields as booleans
    • Retrieving fields as datetimes
  • Array conversion
• License
• Change log
• Testing
• Contributing
• Security
• Credits
• About

Requirements

• PHP 8.1 or 8.2
• Laravel 10

How to install

Add the package to your project using composer:

composer require sebastiaanluca/laravel-boolean-dates

Set up your Eloquent model by:

1. Adding your datetime columns to the $casts property or casts() method
2. Adding the boolean attributes to $appends
3. Creating attribute accessors and mutators for each field

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use SebastiaanLuca\BooleanDates\BooleanDateAttribute;

class User extends Model
{
    /**
     * The attributes that should be cast to native types.
     *
     * @var array<string, string>
     */
    protected $casts = [
        'accepted_terms_at' => 'immutable_datetime',
        'subscribed_to_newsletter_at' => 'datetime',
    ];

    /**
     * The accessors to append to the model's array form.
     *
     * @var array<int, string>
     */
    protected $appends = [
        'has_accepted_terms',
        'is_subscribed_to_newsletter',
    ];

    protected function hasAcceptedTerms(): Attribute
    {
        return BooleanDateAttribute::for('accepted_terms_at');
    }

    protected function isSubscribedToNewsletter(): Attribute
    {
        return BooleanDateAttribute::for('subscribed_to_newsletter_at');
    }
}

Optionally, if your database table hasn't got the datetime columns yet, create a migration to create a new table or alter your existing table to add the timestamp fields:

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;

return new class extends Migration {
    public function up(): void
    {
        Schema::table('users', static function (Blueprint $table): void {
            $table->timestamp('accepted_terms_at')->nullable();
            $table->timestamp('subscribed_to_newsletter_at')->nullable();
        });
    }
};

How to use

Saving dates

If a boolean date field's value is true-ish, it'll be automatically converted to the current datetime. You can use anything like booleans, strings, positive integers, and so on.

$user = new User;

// Setting values explicitly
$user->has_accepted_terms = true;
$user->has_accepted_terms = 'yes';
$user->has_accepted_terms = '1';
$user->has_accepted_terms = 1;

// Or using attribute filling
$user->fill(['is_subscribed_to_newsletter' => 'yes']);

$user->save();

All fields should now contain a datetime similar to 2018-05-10 16:24:22.

Note that the date stored in the database column is immutable, i.e. it's only set once. Any following updates will not change the stored date(time), unless you update the date column manually or if you set it to false and back to true (disabling, then enabling it).

For example:

$user = new User;

$user->has_accepted_terms = true;
$user->save();

// `accepted_terms_at` column will contain `2022-03-13 13:20:00`

$user->has_accepted_terms = true;
$user->save();

// `accepted_terms_at` column will still contain the original `2022-03-13 13:20:00` date

Clearing saved values

Of course you can also remove the saved date and time, for instance if a user retracts their approval:

$user = User::findOrFail(42);

$user->has_accepted_terms = false;
$user->has_accepted_terms = null;
$user->has_accepted_terms = '0';
$user->has_accepted_terms = 0;
$user->has_accepted_terms = '';
// $user->has_accepted_terms = null;

$user->save();

False or false-y values are converted to NULL.

Retrieving values

Retrieving fields as booleans

Use a boolean field's defined key to access its boolean value:

$user = User::findOrFail(42);

// true or false (boolean)
$user->has_accepted_terms;

Retrieving fields as datetimes

Use a boolean field's defined value to explicitly access its (Carbon) datetime value:

$user = User::findOrFail(42);

// 2018-05-10 16:24:22 (Carbon or CarbonImmutable instance)
$user->accepted_terms_at;

// null
$user->is_subscribed_to_newsletter;

Array conversion

When converting a model to an array, the boolean fields will be included if you've added them to the $appends array in your model.

$user = User::findOrFail(42);

$user->toArray();

/*
 * Which will return something like:
 * 
 * [
 *     'accepted_terms_at' => \Carbon\CarbonImmutable('2018-05-10 16:24:22'),
 *     'subscribed_to_newsletter_at' => \Illuminate\Support\Carbon('2018-05-10 16:24:22'),
 *     'has_accepted_terms' => true,
 *     'is_subscribed_to_newsletter' => true,
 * ];
 */

License

This package operates under the MIT License (MIT). Please see LICENSE for more information.

Change log

Please see CHANGELOG for more information what has changed recently.

Testing

composer install
composer test

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING and CONDUCT for details.

Security

If you discover any security related issues, please email [email protected] instead of using the issue tracker.

Credits

• Sebastiaan Luca
• All Contributors

About

My name is Sebastiaan and I'm a freelance back-end developer specializing in building custom Laravel applications. Check out my portfolio for more information, my blog for the latest tips and tricks, and my other packages to kick-start your next project.

Have a project that could use some guidance? Send me an e-mail at [email protected]!