AlgoliaSearch \ AlgoliaException (400) _geoloc attribute cannot contains a string

[mikestratton]

Cannot send location data (_geoloc{ 'lat'=> 0.00, 'lng'=>0.00}) to Algolia from Laravel application.

Here is the error:
AlgoliaSearch \ AlgoliaException (400) _geoloc attribute cannot contains a string near line:1 column:587 C:\xampp\htdocs\laravel\vendor\algolia\algoliasearch-client-php\src\AlgoliaSearch\Client.php

Here is the code in the controller:
$geoloc = array('lat'=>$lat,'lng'=>$lng); $input['_geoloc'] = json_encode($geoloc);

[mikestratton]

Everything else is working with Algolia Search and Laravel. Algolia just will not accept latitude/longitude in the required _geoloc format.

[nunomaduro]

@mikestratton Thanks for reporting this! We will take a look next Monday.

[mikestratton]

More information:

// composer.json
"algolia/algoliasearch-client-php": "^1.27",
"algolia/laravel-scout-algolia-macros": "^0.6.0",
"laravel/scout": "^5.0",

// In the model
use Laravel\Scout\Searchable;
use Searchable;

// Migration
$table->string('_geoloc')->nullable();

Database
table name: '_geoloc'
type varchar(191)
Table row created when form submitted
Column: _geoloc:
Value: {"lat":41.2461518,"lng":-81.3509416}

/* Latitude and Longitude are generated by submitting zip code to Google's GeoCoding API. Array is returned $geo[13.456, 91.2345] */
$zip = $request->zip_code;
$geo = $this->geoCoding($zip);
$lat = $geo[0];
$lng = $geo[1];
$input['lat'] = $lat;
$input['lng'] = $lng;

[TomKlotzPro]

Hi @mikestratton, thanks for reporting this issue.

Keep in mind that _geoloc should be an array, so you can't use a json_encode on it.
To make it work, you should send the _geoloc as array:

$geoloc = array('lat'=>$lat,'lng'=>$lng);
$input['_geoloc'] = $geoloc;

Give it a try, and tell me if it works for you.

[mikestratton]

I already tried that - I get an array to string conversion error from illuminate.

ErrorException (E_NOTICE) Array to string conversion C:\xampp\htdocs\laravel\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Support\Str.php
I then convert to a string with implode and get the original error.

[mikestratton]

Can't save an array in the database without serialize or conversion to string or object. Algolia is receiving the data after it has been stored as a record in MySQL, correct?

[mikestratton]

Serialize showing the same AlgoliaSearch string error, obviously.

$geoloc = array('lat'=>$lat,'lng'=>$lng);          
$input['_geoloc'] = serialize($geoloc);

[TomKlotzPro]

Thanks @mikestratton for providing me more details.

I've tested your problem locally and I have the same issue. This is what you should do to avoid the conflicts between your local storage and your Algolia index.

On your model you must add this :

public function toSearchableArray()
{
    $input = $this->toArray();

    $input['_geoloc'] = [
        'lat' => $input['lat'],
        'lng' => $input['lng'],
    ];

    unset($input['lat'], $input['lng']);

    return $input;
}

If you want more informations there is an article written by one of our engineer @julienbourdeau : GeoSearch

Give it a try, and tell me if it works for you.

[mikestratton]

Hooray, it works! Thank you.