How to retrieve a url parameter from request in Laravel 5?

Question

I want to perform certain operations with a model in a middleware. Here is an example of what I want to achieve:

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    $itemId = $request->param('item'); // <-- invalid code, serves for illustration purposes only
    $item   = Item::find($itemId);

    if($item->isBad()) return redirect(route('dont_worry'));

    return $next($request);
}

My question is, how can I retrieve the desired parameter from the $request?

Answer 1

Use this after Laravel 5.5

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    $item = Item::find($request->route()->parameter('item'));
    if($item->isBad()) return redirect(route('dont_worry'));
    return $next($request);
}

Answer 2

If the parameter is part of a URL and this code is being used in Middleware, you can access the parameter by it's name from the route given:

public function handle($request, Closure $next)
{
    $itemId = $request->route()->getParameter('item');
    $item   = Item::find($itemId);

    if($item->isBad()) return redirect(route('dont_worry'));

    return $next($request);
}

This is based on having a route like: '/getItem/{item}'