Updated 2017-01-14: implemented more correct approach
Quick example:
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Notification;
use App\Notifications\SomethingCoolHappen;
Route::get('/step1', function () {
// example - my followers
$followers = App\User::all();
// notify them
Notification::send($followers, new SomethingCoolHappen(['arg1' => 1, 'arg2' => 2]));
});
Route::get('/step2', function () {
// my follower
$user = App\User::find(10);
// check unread subnotifications
foreach ($user->unreadSubnotifications as $subnotification) {
var_dump($subnotification->notification->data);
$subnotification->markAsRead();
}
});
How to make it work?
Step 1 - migration - create table (subnotifications)
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Schema;
use Illuminate\Database\Schema\Blueprint;
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
class CreateSubnotificationsTable extends Migration
{
/**
* Run the migrations.
*
* @return void
*/
public function up()
{
Schema::create('subnotifications', function (Blueprint $table) {
// primary key
$table->increments('id')->primary();
// notifications.id
$table->uuid('notification_id');
// notifiable_id and notifiable_type
$table->morphs('notifiable');
// follower - read_at
$table->timestamp('read_at')->nullable();
});
}
/**
* Reverse the migrations.
*
* @return void
*/
public function down()
{
Schema::dropIfExists('subnotifications');
}
}
Step 2 - let's create a model for new subnotifications table
<?php
// App\Notifications\Subnotification.php
namespace App\Notifications;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Notifications\DatabaseNotification;
use Illuminate\Notifications\DatabaseNotificationCollection;
class Subnotification extends Model
{
// we don't use created_at/updated_at
public $timestamps = false;
// nothing guarded - mass assigment allowed
protected $guarded = [];
// cast read_at as datetime
protected $casts = [
'read_at' => 'datetime',
];
// set up relation to the parent notification
public function notification()
{
return $this->belongsTo(DatabaseNotification::class);
}
/**
* Get the notifiable entity that the notification belongs to.
*/
public function notifiable()
{
return $this->morphTo();
}
/**
* Mark the subnotification as read.
*
* @return void
*/
public function markAsRead()
{
if (is_null($this->read_at)) {
$this->forceFill(['read_at' => $this->freshTimestamp()])->save();
}
}
}
Step 3 - create a custom database notification channel
Updated: using static variable $map to keep first notification id and insert next notifications (with the same data) without creating a record in notifications table
<?php
// App\Channels\SubnotificationsChannel.php
namespace App\Channels;
use Illuminate\Notifications\DatabaseNotification;
use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;
class SubnotificationsChannel
{
/**
* Send the given notification.
*
* @param mixed $notifiable
* @param \Illuminate\Notifications\Notification $notification
*
* @return void
*/
public function send($notifiable, Notification $notification)
{
static $map = [];
$notificationId = $notification->id;
// get notification data
$data = $this->getData($notifiable, $notification);
// calculate hash
$hash = md5(json_encode($data));
// if hash is not in map - create parent notification record
if (!isset($map[$hash])) {
// create original notification record with empty notifiable_id
DatabaseNotification::create([
'id' => $notificationId,
'type' => get_class($notification),
'notifiable_id' => 0,
'notifiable_type' => get_class($notifiable),
'data' => $data,
'read_at' => null,
]);
$map[$hash] = $notificationId;
} else {
// otherwise use another/first notification id
$notificationId = $map[$hash];
}
// create subnotification
$notifiable->subnotifications()->create([
'notification_id' => $notificationId,
'read_at' => null
]);
}
/**
* Prepares data
*
* @param mixed $notifiable
* @param \Illuminate\Notifications\Notification $notification
*
* @return mixed
*/
public function getData($notifiable, Notification $notification)
{
return $notification->toArray($notifiable);
}
}
Step 4 - create a notification
Updated: now notification supports all channels, not only subnotifications
<?php
// App\Notifications\SomethingCoolHappen.php
namespace App\Notifications;
use App\Channels\SubnotificationsChannel;
use Illuminate\Bus\Queueable;
use Illuminate\Notifications\Notification;
use Illuminate\Contracts\Queue\ShouldQueue;
use Illuminate\Notifications\Messages\MailMessage;
class SomethingCoolHappen extends Notification
{
use Queueable;
protected $data;
/**
* Create a new notification instance.
*
* @return void
*/
public function __construct($data)
{
$this->data = $data;
}
/**
* Get the notification's delivery channels.
*
* @param mixed $notifiable
* @return array
*/
public function via($notifiable)
{
/**
* THIS IS A GOOD PLACE FOR DETERMINING NECESSARY CHANNELS
*/
$via = [];
$via[] = SubnotificationsChannel::class;
//$via[] = 'mail';
return $via;
}
/**
* Get the mail representation of the notification.
*
* @param mixed $notifiable
* @return \Illuminate\Notifications\Messages\MailMessage
*/
public function toMail($notifiable)
{
return (new MailMessage)
->line('The introduction to the notification.')
->action('Notification Action', 'https://laravel.com')
->line('Thank you for using our application!');
}
/**
* Get the array representation of the notification.
*
* @param mixed $notifiable
* @return array
*/
public function toArray($notifiable)
{
return $this->data;
}
}
Step 5 - helper trait for "followers"
<?php
// App\Notifications\HasSubnotifications.php
namespace App\Notifications;
trait HasSubnotifications
{
/**
* Get the entity's notifications.
*/
public function Subnotifications()
{
return $this->morphMany(Subnotification::class, 'notifiable')
->orderBy('id', 'desc');
}
/**
* Get the entity's read notifications.
*/
public function readSubnotifications()
{
return $this->Subnotifications()
->whereNotNull('read_at');
}
/**
* Get the entity's unread notifications.
*/
public function unreadSubnotifications()
{
return $this->Subnotifications()
->whereNull('read_at');
}
}
Step 6 - update your Users model
Updated: no required followers method
namespace App;
use App\Notifications\HasSubnotifications;
use Illuminate\Notifications\Notifiable;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Auth\User as Authenticatable;
class User extends Authenticatable
{
use Notifiable;
/**
* Adding helpers to followers:
*
* $user->subnotifications - all subnotifications
* $user->unreadSubnotifications - all unread subnotifications
* $user->readSubnotifications - all read subnotifications
*/
use HasSubnotifications;
/**
* The attributes that are mass assignable.
*
* @var array
*/
protected $fillable = [
'name', 'email', 'password',
];
/**
* The attributes that should be hidden for arrays.
*
* @var array
*/
protected $hidden = [
'password', 'remember_token',
];
}
toMailis missing, I have some logic to find followers who want email, but then where do I put that logic? Since the example uses$user->notify(new FollowersUpdate(...it emails the$userwhen I puttoMailin step 4, which is not what we want, as we want to email the followers, using some of the user details. I don't think putting it inFollowerChannelis correct since it handles the db tables entry? Any idea what's the correct location to implement? – Howie