Add Support for Hiding Nested JSON Attributes in Models using Dot Notation

[faridibin]

Hi everyone,

I'd like to propose adding support for dot notation in Laravel's Model $hidden property to hide nested attributes within JSON columns.

Current Situation

Right now, if we have a JSON column in our model, we can't easily hide nested attributes using the $hidden property.
For example:

class User extends Model
{
    protected $casts = [
        'settings' => 'json'
    ];

    protected $hidden = [
        'settings.api_key' // This doesn't work for JSON columns
    ];
}

Proposed Solution

Add support for dot notation in $hidden to allow hiding nested JSON attributes:

class User extends Model
{
    protected $casts = [
        'settings' => 'json'
    ];

    protected $hidden = [
        'settings.api_key' // Would hide 'api_key' from the settings JSON
    ];
}

[shaedrich]

Isn't it the same as with $fillable, that arrow notation?

class User extends Model
{
    protected $casts = [
        'settings' => 'json'
    ];

    protected $hidden = [
        'settings->api_key' // Would hide 'api_key' from the settings JSON
    ];
}

[faridibin]

@shaedrich I have tried using that as well as dot notations and they do not work.

[shaedrich]

Ah, thanks for the explanation 👍🏻 I actually never had to hide a nested JSON attribute in Laravel, I just assumed, it would work the same way—that's definitely weird then 🤔

[faridibin]

I thought it would as well. But then tried and realized it does not support json columns