Adding a public method to retrieve input from the request as an array

[lkeio]

In the Illuminate\Http\Concerns\InteractsWithInput trait, we can see some helpers to retrieve data already typed like:

    /**
     * Retrieve input from the request as a Stringable instance.
     *
     * @param  string  $key
     * @param  mixed  $default
     * @return \Illuminate\Support\Stringable
     */
    public function string($key, $default = null)
    {
        return str($this->input($key, $default));
    }

I was wondering if it could be a good idea to add a method for an array:
Something like this:

    /**
     * Retrieve input from the request as a Stringable instance.
     *
     * @param  string  $key
     * @param  mixed  $default
     * @return array
     */
    public function array(string $key, array $default = []): array
    {
        $value = $this->input($key, $default);

        return is_array($value) ? $value : $default;
    }

Let me know, if it makes sense to have a feature like this.

[ghost]

?param[]=1
\request()->get('param', []); // is array from php

or

?param=1
(array)\request()->get('param', '');

The logic that if not array it should return default I see it as validation... so better rename the function to arrayOr

[lkeio]

I don't get what you saying, it's not a validation it's a helper, you can see similar helpers in here: Illuminate\Http\Concerns\InteractsWithInput::string, Illuminate\Http\Concerns\InteractsWithInput::enum etc...

The idea is in your controller or whatever, you can use this new helper to fetch data already validated as an array:

i'll explain in detail how to use it:
Validator:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Validator;

Validator::make($input, [
    'user' => 'array:name,username',
]);

Usage:

$request->array('user');

i hope i explained better now.

[ghost]

I am saying that if you want analog function for array, just like ->string function is, that is just a cast without if in it, then you should rename your function arrayOr to make it obvious that it has a condition in it.

[ghost]

I don't know who created that ->string function but it's poorly documented. It throws exceptions... for this case:

?param[]=1 //(you can have this also as a form param not just as query param and it is transformed into an array in php.)
\request()->string('param', '');

Oh how I wish I could NOT load this kind of happy flow code into my laravel projects... Useless overhead..

Stringable class:

[ghost]

Also makes no sense in validating the input as array and then calling ->array function. \request()->get('param', []); will be an array in that case.

[henzeb]

You have ->json(). That returns an array.

[ghost]

He is not talking about the whole request, but just a key from it.

[henzeb]

That's what you can do with json...

https://laravel.com/docs/11.x/requests#retrieving-json-input-values