Eager load model using with but giving it another name - Laravel 5.2

Question

Is it possible to use eager loading using the with method but giving it another name? Something like:

->with('documents as product', 'documents.documents as categories')

I have a documents table that can be product or categories, eager loading is working but not that friendly to retrieve the documents by just the document name instead of what it really is.

Answer 1

This feature is currently not supported in any Laravel version. Your best bet is to duplicate your relations and name them according to your needs. E.g.:

class Post extends Model
    public function documents() {
        return $this->hasMany(Document::class);
    }

    public function products() {
        return $this->hasMany(Document::class)
            ->where('type', 'product'); // Scope the query, if necessary
    }

    public function categories() {
        return $this->hasMany(Document::class)
            ->where('type', 'category'); // Would a Document really be of type 'category', though? Looks like a code smell.
    }
}

$postsWithAllDocs = Post::with('documents')->get();
$postsWithProductsOnly = Post::with('products')->get(); // Only eager load Documents of type 'product'

On a side note, you mention that a Document can be a product or category, which logically doesn't seem to make much sense. Part of the issue could probably be resolved by rethinking the structure of your database and relations.