Import CSV file to Laravel controller and insert data to two tables

Question

So I am a complete noob to Laravel and am trying something here. I want to import a CSV file into two tables, I have a table called lists that will get the list name and a client_id.

Then I have a table called customers that will get name surname contact number as well as client_id and a list_id.

What I want to achieve is to import a CSV file that will take the file name and store it in the list table, then create an array through the CSV file and import the data into the customers table with the list and client id's.

I have the first part done, and it inserts into the lists table correctly, How do I now create an array from the CSV that is located in storage/documents and then insert that into the customers table?

namespace App\Http\Controllers;  use Input; use DB; use Illuminate\Http\Request; use App\Http\Requests\ListsRequest; use App\Lists; use App\Clients; use App\Http\Requests; use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;  class ListsController extends Controller {      public function index()     {         // $list_items = Lists::all();         $clients = Clients::all();          return view('lists.show', compact('clients'));     }      public function store(Requests\ListsRequest $request)     {         $input = $request->input();         Lists::create($input);          if (Input::hasFile('name'))         {              $file = Input::file('name');             $name = time() . '-' . $file->getClientOriginalName();              $path = storage_path('documents');              $file->move($path, $name);              // All works up to here             // All I need now is to create an array             // from the CSV and insert into the customers database         }     } } 

I chose to use the answer that I had accepted but I also played with the other answer and got it to work like this.

public function store(Requests\ListsRequest $request) {     $input = $request->input();     $client_id = $request->input('client_id');      if (Input::hasFile('name'))     {         $file = Input::file('name');         $name = time() . '-' . $file->getClientOriginalName();         $path = storage_path('documents');          Lists::create(['client_id' => $client_id, 'name' => $name]);          $reader = Reader::createFromPath($file->getRealPath());         // Create a customer from each row in the CSV file         $headers = array();          foreach ($reader as $index => $row)         {             if ($index === 0)             {                 $headers = $row;             } else             {                 $data = array_combine($headers, $row);                 Customers::create($data);             }         }          $file->move($path, $name);          return view('clients');     } } 

Answer 1

There are 3 steps to read CSV file and import it in database in Laravel.

1. Read CSV file
2. Convert it to array
3. Finally create records in our database.

Before we start, I have created a sample test.csv file and put it on my public folder under file folder:

name,email,password user1,[email protected],pasxxxxxxxxxword user2,[email protected],pasxxxxxxxxxword user3,[email protected],pasxxxxxxxxxword 

Step 1 and 2; I created a helper function called csvToArray, I just put it in my controller for now (this function is inspired from this link) it simply reads the CSV file and convert it to array:

function csvToArray($filename = '', $delimiter = ',') {     if (!file_exists($filename) || !is_readable($filename))         return false;      $header = null;     $data = array();     if (($handle = fopen($filename, 'r')) !== false)     {         while (($row = fgetcsv($handle, 1000, $delimiter)) !== false)         {             if (!$header)                 $header = $row;             else                 $data[] = array_combine($header, $row);         }         fclose($handle);     }      return $data; } 

Step 3; And here is my final step, read array and insert it in our database:

public function importCsv() {     $file = public_path('file/test.csv');      $customerArr = $this->csvToArray($file);      for ($i = 0; $i < count($customerArr); $i ++)     {         User::firstOrCreate($customerArr[$i]);     }      return 'Jobi done or what ever';     } 

Note: this solution assume that you have a model in your Laravel project and has the proper table in your database.

if you use dd($customerArr) you will get this