Laravel generate object using model factory with parameter

Question

I have this model factory that generates new contact, it uses random company_id:

$factory->define(App\Models\Contact::class, function (Faker\Generator $faker) 
{
    $company_id = Company::all()->random()->id;

    return [
        'firstname' => $faker->firstName,
        'lastname' => $faker->lastName,
        'phone' => $faker->phoneNumber,
        'email' => $faker->email,
        'company_id' => $company_id,
        'lead_id' => \App\Models\Lead::where('company_id', $company_id)->get()->random()->id,
    ];
});

It is ok when I use it in seeds:

factory(App\Models\Contact::class)->create();

But for testing I need somehow to pass $company_id to factory, create contact for concrete company_id (I know that I can do ->create(['company_id', $company_id])) but this will rewrite only company_id from Contact.

When I select lead_id, I also need to know current company_id.

How to pass company_id to factory as parameter?

Answer 1

Try to use this example:

$factory->define(App\Models\Contact::class, function ($faker, $params) {
    $company_id = $params['company_id'];
    ....
});

and this to make a new object:

$newContact = factory(App\Models\Contact::class)->make(['company_id' => $current_company_id]);

Answer 2

Depends on your Laravel version it will be different.

For laravel 5.1 https://github.com/laravel/framework/issues/9245

• You will need to check if is passed manually

  // Testcase 
  $company = factory(App\Models\Company::class)->create(); 
  factory(App\Models\Contact::class)->create(['company_id' => $company->id]);
  
  // Factory
  $factory->define(App\Models\Contact::class, function (Faker\Generator $faker, $attribues) {
  
      // Manually check if id is passed 
      $company_id = (isset($attribues['company_id'])) ?: Company::all()->random()->id;
  
      return [
          'firstname' => $faker->firstName,
          'lastname' => $faker->lastName,
          'phone' => $faker->phoneNumber,
          'email' => $faker->email,
          'company_id' => $company_id,
          'lead_id' => \App\Models\Lead::where('company_id', $company_id)->get()->random()->id,
      ];
  });
  

• For Laravel 5.2 and above you can simply pass id https://laravel.com/docs/5.5/database-testing#relationships

  // Testcase 
  $company = factory(App\Models\Company::class)->create(); 
  factory(App\Models\Contact::class)->create(['company_id' => $company->id]);
  
  // Factory
  $factory->define(App\Models\Contact::class, function (Faker\Generator $faker, $attribues) {
  
      // Manually check if id is passed 
      $company_id = (isset($attribues['company_id'])) ?: Company::all()->random()->id;
  
      return [
          'firstname' => $faker->firstName,
          'lastname' => $faker->lastName,
          'phone' => $faker->phoneNumber,
          'email' => $faker->email,
          'company_id' => function(){
               return factory(\App\Models\Company::class)->create()
           },
          'lead_id' => \App\Models\Lead::where('company_id', $company_id)->get()->random()->id,
      ];
  });
  

So, for your case, get your random company_id first and pass it to factory. Depends on your Larval version change the ContactModel factory. Or if you have relation that you can query, you can do it as well.

// If you have a relation 
$contact = factory(App\Models\Contact::class)->create(); 

$company_id = $contact->company->id;