am I crazy? Implemented toArray but array() method never called?

[TimOgilvy]

Hello,

I'm trying to do an import dry-run for validation and to provide feedback to the user for correction of errors in the frontend before final import. Is there something dumb I'm doing here that is breaking this?

One of two things happens depending on how I run the import:

1. array() method is never called. Import call returns raw array.
2. array() method on import is called. Nothing is returned by the import call.

This way returns the raw spreadsheet array:

$rows = (new ContractScheduledChecksImport)->toArray(request()->file('schedule_import_file'), null, \Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::XLSX);

Returns

[
  [
    {
      "contract_number": "SC00001",
      "perform_before": "2022-04-01",
      "booked_on": null,
      "performed_on": null,
      "notes": null
    },
  ]
]

 
 

This way calls array() on the import but returns the chainable Excel static class, not the data

$rows = Excel::import(request()->file('schedule_import_file'), null, \Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::XLSX);

returns

  {}

my Import class: ContractScheduledChecksImport

<?php

namespace App\Imports;

use App\Models\Service\ContractScheduledCheck;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\ToArray;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Importable;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\WithHeadingRow;

class ContractScheduledChecksImport implements ToArray, WithHeadingRow
{
    use Importable;

    /**
     * @param array $row
     *
     * @return ContractScheduledCheck|null
     */
    public function array(array $rows)
    {
        Log::info($rows);
        foreach ($rows as $index => &$row) 
        {
            try {
                $rowArray = [
                    'error'              => 'fish',
                    'contract_id'        => preg_replace("/[\D]/",'', $row['contract_number']),
                    'perform_before'     => $row['perform_before'],
                    'booked_on'          => $row['booked_on'],
                    'performed_on'       => $row['performed_on'],
                    'notes'              => $row['nah'],
                ];
            } catch (\Exception $e) {
                $rowArray  = [
                    'error' => $e->getMessage(),
                    'contract_id'        => '',
                    'perform_before'     => '',
                    'booked_on'          => '',
                    'performed_on'       => '',
                    'notes'              => '',
                ];
            }
            Log::info($rowArray);
            $row = $rowArray;
            $rows[$index] = $rowArray;
        }
        return $rows;
    }
}

[TimOgilvy]

So this worked... but not sure if it's sensible practice:

Import

<?php

namespace App\Imports;

use App\Models\Service\ContractScheduledCheck;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Log;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\ToArray;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\Importable;
use Maatwebsite\Excel\Concerns\WithHeadingRow;

class ContractScheduledChecksImport implements ToArray, WithHeadingRow
{
    use Importable;

    private $parsedRows = [];

    private $rowCount = 0;

    public function getParsedRows()
    {
        return $this->parsedRows;
    }

    /**
     * @param array $row
     *
     * @return ContractScheduledCheck|null
     */
    public function array(array $rows)
    {
        $parsedRows = [];
        foreach ($rows as $index => &$row) 
        {
            $rowArray = [];
            try {
                $rowArray = [
                    'id'                 => $this->rowCount,
                    'error'              => null,
                    'contract_id'        => preg_replace("/[\D]/",'', $row['contract_number']),
                    'perform_before'     => $row['perform_before'],
                    'booked_on'          => $row['booked_on'],
                    'performed_on'       => $row['performed_on'],
                    'notes'              => $row['notes'],
                    'original_row'       => $row,
                ];
            } catch (\Exception $e) {
                $rowArray  = [
                    'id'                 => $this->rowCount,
                    'error'              => $e->getMessage(),
                    'contract_id'        => '',
                    'perform_before'     => '',
                    'booked_on'          => '',
                    'performed_on'       => '',
                    'notes'              => '',
                    'original_row'       => $row,
                ];
            }
            array_push($parsedRows, $rowArray);
            $this->rowCount = $this->rowCount + 1;
        }
        array_push($this->parsedRows, ...$parsedRows);
        return $rows;
    }
}

Controller

        
        if ($request->has('step') && $request->input('step') === 'validate') {
            $importer = new ContractScheduledChecksImport();
            $rows = $importer->import(
                    request()->file('schedule_import_file'),
                    null,
                    \Maatwebsite\Excel\Excel::XLSX
                );
            $parsedRows = $importer->getParsedRows();
            return [
                'data' => $parsedRows
            ];
        }

[patrickbrouwers]

That is the correct approach if you want to get the rows back into the controller, whilst first processing them inside the import object.