347

I have two tables, User and Post. One User can have many posts and one post belongs to only one user.

In my User model I have a hasMany relation...

public function post(){
    return $this->hasmany('post');
}

And in my post model I have a belongsTo relation...

public function user(){
    return $this->belongsTo('user');
}

Now I want to join these two tables using Eloquent with() but want specific columns from the second table. I know I can use the Query Builder but I don't want to.

When in the Post model I write...

public function getAllPosts() {
    return Post::with('user')->get();
}

It runs the following queries...

select * from `posts`
select * from `users` where `users`.`id` in (<1>, <2>)

But what I want is...

select * from `posts`
select id,username from `users` where `users`.`id` in (<1>, <2>)

When I use...

Post::with('user')->get(array('columns'....));

It only returns the column from the first table. I want specific columns using with() from the second table. How can I do that?

1
  • This might be obvious to everyone else but me, but on all these answers, you NEED to include the relationship's primary key (usually id) as well as any other column, or else your relationship will just return null. Took me a minute to figure this one out. Commented Jan 4, 2024 at 21:27

22 Answers 22

583

This can be done one by passing a closure function in with() as second index of array

Post::query()
    ->with(['user' => function ($query) {
        $query->select('id', 'username');
    }])
    ->get()

It will only select id and username from the other table.


Remember that the primary key (id in this case) needs to be the first param in the $query->select() to actually retrieve the necessary results.

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18 Comments

That's odd, I couldn't get this to work. As soon as I added in $query->select('id','username');, I was getting Trying to get property of non-object
Weird! still returns all the fields of the user. @AwaisQarni
Thank you for sharing this. Where did you discover this possibility? I didn't find this in the Laravel docs.
For those who see this, remember that the primary key (id in this case) is necessary in the $query->select() to actually retrieve the necessary results. I omitted this in my code and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't find any results. Silly me! Hope this helps anyone else with the same problem
great, just need to add foreign key, over here its post_id otherwise result will be empty. Mentioning Foreign key is important here. Thanks :)
|
315

You can do it like this since Laravel 5.5:

Post::with('user:id,username')->get();

Care for the id field and foreign keys as stated in the docs:

When using this feature, you should always include the id column and any relevant foreign key columns in the list of columns you wish to retrieve.

For example, if the user belongs to a team and has a team_id as a foreign key column, then $post->user->team is empty if you don't specifiy team_id

Post::with('user:id,username,team_id')->get();

Also, if the user belongs to the post (i.e. there is a column post_id in the users table), then you need to specify it like this:

Post::with('user:id,username,post_id')->get();

Otherwise $post->user will be empty.

12 Comments

Don't forget to include the foreign key (assuming it is post_id here) to resolve the relationship, otherwise you will get empty results for your relation.
This should really be the selected answer. Works like a charm :)
@Adam, This will restrict columns in the child table, how can I restrict columns from table Parent table along with child table?
@GauravGenius everything you want to restrict from parant belogns in the get() method Post::with('user:id,username')->get(['age', 'color']);
@Imran_Developer whats the primary key on your users table? Maybe Post::with('user:id,username')->get(['age', 'color', 'id']); works?
|
119

For loading models with specific column, though not eager loading, you could:

In your Post model

public function user()
{
    return $this->belongsTo('User')->select(['id', 'username']);
}

Original credit goes to Laravel Eager Loading - Load only specific columns

9 Comments

But this relation will make it just like hardcoded. In all condition it will always return me these two fields. It may happen that I need more fields in some other situations
Then you must use the query builder.
This should be the accepted answer. This is the correct way to do it.
Is there a way to do this in the Laravel 5.3 version? I think they changed it... again.... and now it returns null when I try with this approach
It's been a while, but you could add a $fields parameter.
|
107

When going the other way (hasMany):

User::with(['post'=>function($query){
    $query->select('id','user_id');
}])->get();

Don't forget to include the foreign key (assuming it is user_id in this example) to resolve the relationship, otherwise you'll get zero results for your relation.

5 Comments

Yes, exactly, "Don't forget to include the foreign key (assuming it is user_id in this example)"
you should include column that defines your relationship in select fields, in this case user_id
Nice catch brother.
awesome bro, that use of foreign key is really important, lucky i saw your ans otherwise I would have scratched my head for hours lol. Thanks man!
aha, i missed that important foreign key , and now this code is working
46

In Laravel 5.7 you can call specific field like this

$users = App\Book::with('author:id,name')->get();

It is important to add foreign_key field in the selection.

2 Comments

don't forget to add the foreign key field
Dont forget to notice @hendra1's comment, all foreign key fields are also necessary along with the primary key, otherwise you will get blank collection. Dude saved my time. Thanks
28

If you want to get specific columns using with() in laravel eloquent then you can use code as below which is originally answered by @Adam in his answer here in response of this same question, the answer's main code is as below :

Post::with('user:id,username')->get();

So i have used it in my code but it was giving me error of 1052: Column 'id' in field list is ambiguous, so if you guys are also facing same problem

Then for solving it you have to specify table name before the id column in with() method as below code:

Post::with('user:user.id,username')->get();

3 Comments

This returns null for me but i didn't know this was possible before! Ok, so I posted prematurley but I did find a result. To use this method (looks much cleaner) you must include the relationship link, for example the ID column when pulling the with data. Without this specifier, you get a null return.
yeah @Adsy2010, for getting related relationship data you also have to get id column or the primary key or whichever id is responsible for that relationship.
@Kamlesh Post::with('user:user.id,username')->get(); this code will return all fields of post model or table and only id and username field from the users table but keep in mind before using with() function you should have relationship to relevant table in your model, if you don't have relationship then you can use join from the query builder.
25

I came across this issue but with a second layer of related objects. @Awais Qarni's answer holds up with the inclusion of the appropriate foreign key in the nested select statement. Just as an id is required in the first nested select statement to reference the related model, the foreign key is required to reference the second degree of related models; in this example the Company model.

Post::with(['user' => function ($query) {
        $query->select('id','company_id', 'username');
    }, 'user.company' => function ($query) {
        $query->select('id', 'name');
    }])->get();

Additionally, if you want to select specific columns from the Post model you would need to include the user_id column in the select statement in order to reference it.

Post::with(['user' => function ($query) {
        $query->select('id', 'username');
    }])
    ->select('title', 'content', 'user_id')
    ->get();

1 Comment

wow, great @jwarshaw, this is what actually I was looking for, this "user_id" really works for me.
16

In your Post model:

public function userWithName()
{
    return $this->belongsTo('User')->select(array('id', 'first_name', 'last_name'));
}

Now you can use $post->userWithName

3 Comments

Really? For me this just returns nothing, i.e. it breaks it?
you deserve a hug !
@Sjwdavies you need to add the foreign key in the select as well
7

There is another alternative you can eager load specific columns

public function show(Post $post)
{
    $posts = $post->has('user')->with('user:id,name,email,picture')->findOrFail($post->id);
    return view('your_blade_file_path',compact('posts);
}

In your Post model you should have user relationship also

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

Note: It is mentioned in Laravel docs.

https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/eloquent-relationships#eager-loading-specific-columns

4 Comments

can you help with this, it returns me product name but not "user" object: $product = Product::where('id', $p_id)->with('user:id,name')->get(['name']);
@Imran_Developer because you returning name only in get(['name']). do this $product = Product::with('user:id,name')->where('id', $p_id)->get();
yes dear @Neeraj , but it returns me user object with all columns of product instead of 1 or 2. but I have solved this by using: $product = Product::with('user:id,name')->where('id', $p_id)->select('title', 'content', 'user_id')->get(); . Here "user_id" is important for reference.
@Imran_Developer ok great.
4

Note that if you only need one column from the table then using 'lists' is quite nice. In my case i am retrieving a user's favourite articles but i only want the article id's:

$favourites = $user->favourites->lists('id');

Returns an array of ids, eg:

Array
(
    [0] => 3
    [1] => 7
    [2] => 8
)

5 Comments

it return a collection!
if you want an array then call toArray() !!! $user->favourites->lists('id')->toArray();
The query will still get the other columns because the list() method just changes the results array ,so if you just need the 'id' from that table you may want to specify it in the query. It is always a good habit to keep performance in mind when doing queries. Enjoy coding!
-1 $user->favourites will be return Collection with all fields selecteds. The correct use is: $user->favourites()->lists('id').
Selecting everything to later use PHP filtering is a bad idea. It is best to use only the needed fields in Query. It's important to know the difference between Query\Builder::lists method and Collection::lists method.
3

If you use PHP 7.4 or later you can also do it using arrow function so it looks cleaner:

Post::with(['user' => fn ($query) => $query->select('id','username')])->get();

Comments

2

I faced the same issue while using belongsToMany relationship with my user model (Laravel 8.x.x).

After a long search and trial and test method. I found out this answer

You have to make sure you are selecting the id's and any foreign keys that would be needed for the relationship from either side of that relationship. This allows Eloquent to match up parents to their children.

Original credit goes to https://stackoverflow.com/a/64233242/1551102

So I included

Groups::select('groupid')
...

And it worked like a charm. Although now I want to know how to hide the groupid field after fetching. I know I can simply loop through the array and remove it. But is there any other method? potentially a simpler and better one.

Comments

1

You can also specify columns on related model at the time of accessing it.

Post::first()->user()->get(['columns....']);

Comments

1

You can try this code . It is tested in laravel 6 version.

Controller code
 public function getSection(Request $request)
{

  Section::with(['sectionType' => function($q) {
      $q->select('id', 'name');
  }])->where('position',1)->orderBy('serial_no', 'asc')->get(['id','name','','description']);
  return response()->json($getSection);
}
Model code
public function sectionType(){
    return $this->belongsTo(Section_Type::class, 'type_id');
}

Comments

1

Be careful that if you don't add the key column(s) it won't return anything. If you want to show only the username without the id you could instead define the $visible/$hidden properties within the Model, like so:

app/Models/User.php

protected $visible = ['username'];

Then it will retrieve only username column with:

Post::with('user')->get();

Hiding the key columns:

Alternatively you could hide the key column(s) and then retrieve only the columns you wish.

app/Models/User.php

protected $hidden = ['id'];

Specify which columns you want including the key or else it won't return anything, but this will actually only return the username, because id is $hidden.

Post::with('user:id,username')->get();

Comments

1

So this was my old code which is working fine but not as expected

$query = Book::withCount('bookReviews')
            ->withAvg('bookReviews', 'rating')
            ->with('createdBy:id,name')
            ->orderBy($sortField, $sortOrder);

meaning i am getting result like this

..................
{
    "id": 31,
    .....
    "created_by": {
        "id": 12,
        "name": "Darwin Grady"
    },
    .....
},
..................

But i only wanted to get the name of the created by user so i had to change it to

$query = Book::withCount('bookReviews')
            ->withAvg('bookReviews', 'rating')
            ->addSelect(['createdBy' => User::select('name')->whereColumn('id', 'books.created_by')])
            ->orderBy($sortField, $sortOrder);

Now this is the expected result

..................
{
    "id": 31,
    .........
    "createdBy": "Darwin Grady"
},
..................

Check this out : Advanced Subqueries

Comments

0

Now you can use the pluckmethod on a Collection instance:

This will return only the uuid attribute of the Post model

App\Models\User::find(2)->posts->pluck('uuid')
=> Illuminate\Support\Collection {#983
     all: [
       "1",
       "2",
       "3",
     ],
   }

Comments

0

Try with conditions.

$id = 1;
Post::with(array('user'=>function($query) use ($id){
    $query->where('id','=',$id);
    $query->select('id','username');
}))->get();

Comments

0

So, similar to other solutions here is mine:

// For example you have this relation defined with "user()" method
public function user()
{
    return $this->belongsTo('User');
}
// Just make another one defined with "user_frontend()" method
public function user_frontend()
{
    return $this->belongsTo('User')->select(array('id', 'username'));
}

// Then use it later like this
$thing = new Thing();
$thing->with('user_frontend');

// This way, you get only id and username, 
// and if you want all fields you can do this

$thing = new Thing();
$thing->with('user');

Comments

0

Sometimes, when creating a small application based on (a subset of) an existing database, it may be convenient to have all models fetch only the fields you need; even when loaded by with(). It may ease debugging and avoid confusion, to name an advantage. The '$visible' attribute (mentioned above) can only be used when the model is converted to array or JSON; see the Laravel docs. Otherwise, you could use a combination of local scopes and a 'public static $fields' property, as in the simplified 'User Class' example below.

class User extends Model
{
    public static $fields = [ 'id', 'full_name', 'image' ];
    
    public function scopeFields(Builder $query) : void {
        $query->select(self::$fields);
    }
    
    public function posts(): hasMany {
        return $this->hasMany(Post::class)->select(Post::$fields);
    }
}

Let's use the well-known class Post too:

class Post extends Model
{
    public static $fields = [ 'id', 'user_id', 'text', 'created_at' ];
    
    public function scopeFields(Builder $query) : void {
        $query->select(self::$fields);
    }

    public function user(): HasOne {
        return $this->hasOne(User::class)->select(User::$fields);
    }
}

As you can see, the functions scopeFields are identical, so you should put that in an in-between class. Anyway, after this you can use the models like:

User::fields()->with('posts')->get();
Post::fields()->with('user')->get();

All the returned objects will only contain the attributes that are listed in $fields. Tested with Laravel 10.

Comments

0

you must add foreign key in select

for example:

   public function expert(): HasOne
{
    return $this->hasOne(User::class, 'id', 'expert_id')
        ->select([
            'id',
            'name',
            'family',
            'image',
        ]);
}

Comments

-3
EmployeeGatePassStatus::with('user:id,name')->get();

1 Comment

This is the same syntax as in this answer (just different names for model and column)

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