README

A Laravel 5.1 package designed to enhance Eloquent users with connections between users, including approvals by both users and additional data.

Friendly includes many shortcuts to creating one's own Friend system, but the developer is free to implement the details however they require.

Installation

1. Run composer require gridprinciples/friendly from your project directory.

2. Add the following to the providers array in config/app.php:

   GridPrinciples\Friendly\Providers\FriendlyServiceProvider::class,

3. Publish the migrations and config file:

   php artisan vendor:publish --provider="GridPrinciples\Friendly\Providers\FriendlyServiceProvider"
   

4. Run the migrations:

   php artisan migrate
   

   This will add a friends table to your database to track relationships between models.

Usage

Add the Friendly trait to your User model:
use Friendly;

You may now relate users to each other:

// Using the "requesting" user model...
$dad = User::where('name', 'darth')->first();

// ...and the one receiving the friend request...
$kid = User::where('name', 'luke')->first();

// may include "pivot" data.
$dad->befriend($kid, [
    'name'       => 'Father',
    'other_name' => 'Son',
    'start'      => '1980-05-21',
]);

// ...and later, the secondary user approves the request:
$kid->approve($dad);

// At this point, either user is associated with the other via their `friends` attribute (a Collection):
$relatives = $kid->friends->toArray();

// Either user may sever the relationship, resulting in a type of block:
$kid->block($dad);

Pivot Data

The included implementation table includes the following additional information about each friend request:

• name: Describes the requesting user's relationship with the secondary user.
• other_name: Describes the secondary user's relationship with the requesting user.
• start: When the relationship started, or will start.
• end: When the relationship

Reloading the Connections

When time you access the "friends" property on a user Model, the connections will be loaded and cached. If you make changes to a different relationship which would affect a loaded user's friends, you might need to reload them:

$user->resetFriends();