Array to string conversion (SQL: insert into

Question

I'm trying to insert data from a Seeder in Laravel 5.6 and I'm having a problem with the field that is json type. I want this field ('stops') to be an array (for example of ten integers not repeated).

The table seeder (RoutesTableSeeder.php) is something like this:

<?php

 use \Illuminate\Support\Facades\DB;
 use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
 use Faker\Factory as Faker;

 use App\Models\Route;

 class RoutesTableSeeder extends Seeder
 {
   /**
   * Run the database seeds.
   *
   * @return void
   */
   public function run()
   {
    //factory(Route::class, 20)->create();

    $faker = Faker::create();

    //$values= array();

    /*for($i=0; $i < 10; $i++) {
        $values []= $faker->unique()->randomDigit;
    }

    print_r(json_encode($values));*/

    foreach (range(1, 20) as $index)
    {
        $values = array();

        for($i=0; $i < 10; $i++) {
            $values []= $faker->unique()->randomDigit;
        }

        //print_r($values);

        DB::table('routes')->insert([
            'user_id' => $faker->numberBetween($min = 1, $max = 20),
            'name' => $faker->name,
            'description' => $faker->name,
            'route_photo' => $faker->image($dir = null, $width = 640, $height = 480, $category = null, $fullPath = true, $randomize = true, $word = null),
            'stops'=> [
                        //$values,
                        json_encode($values)
                        //implode(", ", $values)
            ],
        ]);
    }

  }
  }

I tried several ways to insert data. When I use json_encode($values) I have the following error:

Array to string conversion 
(SQL: insert into `routes` (`user_id`, `name`, `description`, `route_photo`, `stops`) 
values (19, Isaac 
  Feil, Holly Nolan, /tmp/bc8a3cf5e015d3afa96317485499e0ca.jpg, 
[8,6,0,7,3,1,5,2,4,9]))

This kind of value [8,6,0,7,3,1,5,2,4,9] is what I want to store in 'stops' field, for example, but I don't know what is going wrong....

Please, would you be so kind to help me? I'm desperate....

I post the model if it helps:

<?php

  namespace App\Models;

  use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

  class Route extends Model
    {
      protected $fillable = [
       'user_id',
       'name',
       'description',
       'route_photo',
       'stops'
 ];


   protected $casts = [
    'stops' => 'array'
  ];
 }

And the migration:

  public function up()
{
    Schema::create('routes', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->increments('id');
        //FK:users
        $table->integer('user_id')->unsigned();
        $table->foreign('user_id')->references('id')->on('users')->onDelete('cascade')->onUpdate('cascade');
        //FK:users
        $table->string('name');
        $table->string('description')->nullable();
        $table->string('route_photo');
        $table->json('stops');
        $table->timestamps();
    });
 }

Thanks a lot!!

You can use seralize and then on retrieve use unseralize to get back an array — Farrukh Ayyaz
– Farrukh Ayyaz, Commented Apr 18, 2018 at 16:40

Barmar · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-18 16:48:30Z

12

json_encode($values) returns a string, which you can use as the value of the stops column. There's no need to put [] around it, that creates an array, and you can't store an array directly into a column. Just leave out the brackets:

'stops' => json_encode($values)

However, storing arrays in database columns is generally a bad idea, it violates normalization principles. You should use a separate table with a row for each value.

answered Apr 18, 2018 at 16:48

Barmar

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6 Comments

Ber Tsacianegu del Tepuy Over a year ago

thank you so much!!...and anything else, could you know how to create $ values with no repeated values? Iḿ having problems using unique() in faker

Barmar Over a year ago

I'm not very familiar with Faker, but there's an example of unique() in the documentation: github.com/fzaninotto/Faker

RushVan Over a year ago

@Barmar, thanks for this it works. One question - the values and stored like this ["elOne", "elTwo"]. How do I store this without the [""]?

Barmar Over a year ago

If you leave out the quotes, it won't be valid JSON, so you won't be able to decode it when you retrieve it. Why do you want to do that?

Barmar Over a year ago

If you just want to store a comma-separated list, use implode() instead of json_encode.

|

Niklesh Raut · Accepted Answer · 2018-04-18 17:02:30Z

6

Don't cast stops to array, First remove

protected $casts = [
    'stops' => 'array'
];

And use json_encode to make string

'stops'=> json_encode($values),

answered Apr 18, 2018 at 17:02

Niklesh Raut

34.9k17 gold badges82 silver badges112 bronze badges

2 Comments

Ber Tsacianegu del Tepuy Over a year ago

thank you so much!!...and anything else, could you know how to create $ values with no repeated values? Iḿ having problems using unique() in faker

Niklesh Raut Over a year ago

create a function to make random number, check with in_array if found re generate if not store in a array. that a logic.

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