Access Controller method from another controller in Laravel 5

Question

You can access your controller method like this:

app('App\Http\Controllers\PrintReportController')->getPrintReport();

This will work, but it's bad in terms of code organisation (remember to use the right namespace for your PrintReportController)

You can extend the PrintReportController so SubmitPerformanceController will inherit that method

class SubmitPerformanceController extends PrintReportController {
     // ....
}

But this will also inherit all other methods from PrintReportController.

The best approach will be to create a trait (e.g. in app/Traits), implement the logic there and tell your controllers to use it:

trait PrintReport {

    public function getPrintReport() {
        // .....
    }
}

Tell your controllers to use this trait:

class PrintReportController extends Controller {
     use PrintReport;
}

class SubmitPerformanceController extends Controller {
     use PrintReport;
}

Both solutions make SubmitPerformanceController to have getPrintReport method so you can call it with $this->getPrintReport(); from within the controller or directly as a route (if you mapped it in the routes.php)

You can read more about traits here.

If you need that method in another controller, that means you need to abstract it and make it reusable. Move that implementation into a service class (ReportingService or something similar) and inject it into your controllers.

Example:

class ReportingService
{
  public function getPrintReport()
  {
    // your implementation here.
  }
}
// don't forget to import ReportingService at the top (use Path\To\Class)
class SubmitPerformanceController extends Controller
{
  protected $reportingService;
  public function __construct(ReportingService $reportingService)
  {
     $this->reportingService = $reportingService;
  }

  public function reports() 
  {
    // call the method 
    $this->reportingService->getPrintReport();
    // rest of the code here
  }
}

Do the same for the other controllers where you need that implementation. Reaching for controller methods from other controllers is a code smell.

Calling a Controller from another Controller is not recommended, however if for any reason you have to do it, you can do this:

Laravel 5 compatible method

return \App::call('bla\bla\ControllerName@functionName');

Note: this will not update the URL of the page.

It's better to call the Route instead and let it call the controller.

return \Redirect::route('route-name-here');

You shouldn’t. It’s an anti-pattern. If you have a method in one controller that you need to access in another controller, then that’s a sign you need to re-factor.

Consider re-factoring the method out in to a service class, that you can then instantiate in multiple controllers. So if you need to offer print reports for multiple models, you could do something like this:

class ExampleController extends Controller
{
    public function printReport()
    {
        $report = new PrintReport($itemToReportOn);
        return $report->render();
    }
}

First of all, requesting a method of a controller from another controller is EVIL. This will cause many hidden problems in Laravel's life-cycle.

Anyway, there are many solutions for doing that. You can select one of these various ways.

Case 1) If you want to call based on Classes

Way 1) The simple way

But you can't add any parameters or authentication with this way.

app(\App\Http\Controllers\PrintReportContoller::class)->getPrintReport();

Way 2) Divide the controller logic into services.

You can add any parameters and something with this. The best solution for your programming life. You can make Repository instead Service.

class PrintReportService
{
    ...
    public function getPrintReport() {
        return ...
    }
}

class PrintReportController extends Controller
{
    ...
    public function getPrintReport() {
        return (new PrintReportService)->getPrintReport();
    }
}

class SubmitPerformanceController
{
    ...
    public function getSomethingProxy() {
        ...
        $a = (new PrintReportService)->getPrintReport();
        ...
        return ...
    }
}

Case 2) If you want to call based on Routes

Way 1) Use MakesHttpRequests trait that used in Application Unit Testing.

I recommend this if you have special reason for making this proxy, you can use any parameters and custom headers. Also this will be an internal request in laravel. (Fake HTTP Request) You can see more details for the call method in here.

class SubmitPerformanceController extends \App\Http\Controllers\Controller
{
    use \Illuminate\Foundation\Testing\Concerns\MakesHttpRequests;

    protected $baseUrl = null;
    protected $app = null;

    function __construct()
    {
        // Require if you want to use MakesHttpRequests
        $this->baseUrl = request()->getSchemeAndHttpHost();
        $this->app     = app();
    }

    public function getSomethingProxy() {
        ...
        $a = $this->call('GET', '/printer/report')->getContent();
        ...
        return ...
    }
}

However this is not a 'good' solution, too.

Way 2) Use guzzlehttp client

This is the most terrible solution I think. You can use any parameters and custom headers, too. But this would be making an external extra http request. So HTTP Webserver must be running.

$client = new Client([
    'base_uri' => request()->getSchemeAndhttpHost(),
    'headers' => request()->header()
]);
$a = $client->get('/performance/submit')->getBody()->getContents()

---

Finally I am using Way 1 of Case 2. I need parameters and