Laravel 10.x Model Attribute Mutators support for both snake_case and camelCase Columns.

[jcrawford]

Laravel Version

10.8

PHP Version

8.2.10

Database Driver & Version

MySQL on AWS

Description

I am trying to use Laravel 10.8 mutators using the Attribute return type. The issue I am having is that some of our database columns are snake_case and some are camelCase. Having both column types is something that we currently have to live with as modifying the table with millions of records is not an option at this time. What I am finding is that when I call $model->toArray() the mutators are being executed for our snake_case columns but not for our camelCase columns.

It appears to be failing in the HasAttributes trait on the following lines. It seems to think the camelCase attribute is snake_case and since it does not find the snake case attribute it continues.

I have found that for some reason in the HasAttributes.php file our column of camelCaseName is listed in the static::$snakeAttributes array on the model as snake_case_name, therefore it thinks there is a column snake_case_name on our model so I assume that the mutator is trying to mutate that attribute which does not exist. Currently all of our camelCase attributes are ignored when the mutator is executed when the model is converted to an Array.

The camelCase mutators only seem to work if we manually call $model->camelCaseName. In this case the mutator is executed. I have tried setting the models $snakeAttributes property to false as it is true by default, when I do this it causes issues with our mutators for snake_case columns. Is there a way to make Laravel support both snake and camel case attributes when using mutators?

I have found a work-around but it is tedious and requires all developers to remember they have to do this, we would have to set $snakeAttributes = false which will allow the snakeCase column and mutator to run, however if we then add mutators for our snake_case columns we have to define two methods for it to work. If we define only the snake_case mutator then an error is thrown that it cannot find the camelCaseName() method. If we don't define the camelCaseName mutator method then the mutation is not completed on the snake_case attribute.

In order to make this work for both camelCase and snake_case columns on a model where both will have Attribute mutators you need to set $snakeAttributes = false and then for all snake_case columns that have mutators you will need to do the following

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class MyModel extends Model {

  public static $snakeAttributes = false;
  
  /**
   * This is the mutator for the camelCase column
   */
  public function camelCaseColumnName() : Attribute
  {
    return Attribute::make(
      get: fn (float $value) => intval($value * 100),
      set: fn (int $value) => $value / 100.0
    );
  }

 /**
  * This has to be here otherwise the mutation does not happen.
  */
  public function snake_case_column_name(): Attribute
  {
    return $this->snakeCaseColumnName();
  }

  /**
   * This is the camel case mutator for the snake_case_column_name column
   */
  public function snakeCaseColumnName(): Attribute
  {
    return Attribute::make(
      get: fn (float $value) => intval($value * 100),
      set: fn (int $value) => $value / 100.0
    );
  }
}

I have been trying to trace the issue through HasAttributes but was unable to determine why this is happening and ran out of time at the moment.

Steps To Reproduce

Create a database with a table having both snake_case and camelCase columns of type Decimal.
Create a model for the table using the code in the description naming your mutators to match your column names.
Add the following model property public static $snakeAttributes = false;
Start Tinker
Find a record and assign to a variable $variable = MyModel::find(1);
Call $variable->toArray() and notice the outcome is as explained in the description.

Remove the snake_case mutator from your model
Restart Tinker for code changes.
Find a record and assign to a varable $variable = MyModel::find(1);
Call $variable->toArray() notice there are no errors but the snake_case mutator did not mutate the data.

Remove the camelCase mutator for the snake_case column from your model
Restart Tinker for code changes.
Find a Find a record and assign to a varable $variable = MyModel::find(1);
Call $variable->toArray() notice the erorr that camelCaseName method was not defined.

Remove the $snakeAttributes = false from the model and then
Restart Tinker for code changes.
Find a record and assign to a variabel $variable = MyModel::find(1);
call $variable->toArray() and notice the camelCase column value is not mutated but the snake_case value was.

[Eforen]

Nice catch

[josephcrawfordSRH]

Why was this changed to a discussion? This seems to be a legitimate issue with Eloquent when it comes to snake_case and camelCase columns being used at the same time. The accessors work perfectly fine when you directly access the column on the model, they only start acting strange when toArray() is being called.

The documentation for mutators/accessors state that you should use the camelCase version of the column name when applicable.

Defining An Accessor
An accessor transforms an Eloquent attribute value when it is accessed. To define an accessor, create a protected method on your model to represent the accessible attribute. This method name should correspond to the "camel case" representation of the true underlying model attribute / database column when applicable.

In our case the columns is camelCaseName and the mutator/accessor is camelCaseName. When the following code is executed it is adding the column camel_case_name to the list of mutator columns since by default $snakeAttributes is set to true.

Once the code gets to this point in the execution it says there is no such column camel_case_name so we will just continue on and ignore the mutator/accessor modifications to the column. It is true there is no camel_case_name column in the model attributes array since it is camelCaseName.

Wouldn't it just make more sense in the following method to first check for the snake case attribute and then if not found check for the camel case attribute?

I am honestly not sure why this is such a large issue either, when I search the Illuminate folder for the string $snakeAttributes it is only found in this trait in 3 places outside of the property definition, two of which are in the cacheMutatedAttributes method.

1. relationsToArray
2. cacheMutatedAttributes

It seems like a check could be made on the attributes to see if the column is camel or snake case before just assuming it is and applying based on a property value that can be set by a developer.

[Angel5a]

I think, because having both snake cased and camel cased columns at the same time is a "bad practice". So, should it really be handled by the core framework, with a penalty for a "proper setup" is a question.

[josephcrawfordSRH]

Yea I get that but why not simply modify this block of code to not check the snakeAttributes and instead check the $attributes for both versions? Why do mutators require snake_case but other features do not? It seems to only be in use in the attributes trait.