Laravel factory enum

Creating Enums

First, define your enum in a separate file. For example, if you have a blog post state, you could create an enum like this:

php
namespace App\Enums;

enum BlogpostState: string {
    case DRAFT = 'state_draft';
    case PUBLISHED = 'state_published';
}

Model Setup

In your model, you can cast the enum for easier access:

php
namespace App\Models;

use App\Enums\BlogpostState;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;

class Blogpost extends Model {
    protected $casts = [
        'state' => BlogpostState::class,
    ];
}

Factory Definition

When defining your factory, you can directly use the enum values. Here's how you might set it up in your `BlogpostFactory`:

php
namespace Database\Factories;

use App\Enums\BlogpostState;
use App\Models\Blogpost;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Factories\Factory;

class BlogpostFactory extends Factory {
    protected $model = Blogpost::class;

    public function definition() {
        return [
            'title' => $this->faker->sentence,
            'content' => $this->faker->paragraph,
            'state' => BlogpostState::DRAFT, // Use enum directly
        ];
    }
}

Validation

For request validation, you can use Laravel's Enum validation rule to ensure that only valid enum values are accepted:

php
namespace App\Http\Requests;

use App\Enums\BlogpostState;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;
use Illuminate\Validation\Rules\Enum;

class BlogpostRequest extends FormRequest {
    public function rules() {
        return [
            'state' => ['required', new Enum(BlogpostState::class)],
        ];
    }
}

Summary

Using PHP enums in Laravel simplifies managing fixed sets of values and enhances type safety. By defining your enums, casting them in models, and using them directly in factories and validation rules, you can streamline your application development process. This approach is supported from Laravel 8.69 and onwards, making it a robust feature for modern PHP applications[4][5].