Introduction

This Laravel extension adds support for common table expressions (CTE) to the query builder and Eloquent.

Supports Laravel 5.5+.

Compatibility

• MySQL 8.0+
• MariaDB 10.2+
• PostgreSQL 9.4+
• SQLite 3.8.3+
• SQL Server 2008+

Installation

composer require staudenmeir/laravel-cte:"^1.0"

Use this command if you are in PowerShell on Windows (e.g. in VS Code):

composer require staudenmeir/laravel-cte:"^^^^1.0"

Usage

• SELECT Queries
  • Recursive Expressions
  • Materialized Expressions
  • Custom Columns
  • Cycle Detection
• INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE Queries
• Eloquent
  • Recursive Relationships
• Package Conflicts
• Lumen

SELECT Queries

Use withExpression() and provide a query builder instance, an SQL string or a closure:

$posts = DB::table('p')
    ->select('p.*', 'u.name')
    ->withExpression('p', DB::table('posts'))
    ->withExpression('u', function ($query) {
        $query->from('users');
    })
    ->join('u', 'u.id', '=', 'p.user_id')
    ->get();

Recursive Expressions

Use withRecursiveExpression() for recursive expressions:

$query = DB::table('users')
    ->whereNull('parent_id')
    ->unionAll(
        DB::table('users')
            ->select('users.*')
            ->join('tree', 'tree.id', '=', 'users.parent_id')
    );

$tree = DB::table('tree')
    ->withRecursiveExpression('tree', $query)
    ->get();

Materialized Expressions

Use withMaterializedExpression()/withNonMaterializedExpression() for (non-)materialized expressions (PostgreSQL, SQLite):

$posts = DB::table('p')
    ->select('p.*', 'u.name')
    ->withMaterializedExpression('p', DB::table('posts'))
    ->withNonMaterializedExpression('u', function ($query) {
        $query->from('users');
    })
    ->join('u', 'u.id', '=', 'p.user_id')
    ->get();

Custom Columns

You can provide the expression's columns as the third argument:

$query = 'select 1 union all select number + 1 from numbers where number < 10';

$numbers = DB::table('numbers')
    ->withRecursiveExpression('numbers', $query, ['number'])
    ->get();

Cycle Detection

MariaDB 10.5.2+ and PostgreSQL 14+ support native cycle detection to prevent infinite loops in recursive expressions. Provide the column(s) that indicate(s) a cycle as the third argument to withRecursiveExpressionAndCycleDetection():

$query = DB::table('users')
    ->whereNull('parent_id')
    ->unionAll(
        DB::table('users')
            ->select('users.*')
            ->join('tree', 'tree.id', '=', 'users.parent_id')
    );

$tree = DB::table('tree')
    ->withRecursiveExpressionAndCycleDetection('tree', $query, 'id')
    ->get();

On PostgreSQL, you can customize the name of the column that shows whether a cycle has been detected and the name of the column that tracks the path:

$tree = DB::table('tree')
    ->withRecursiveExpressionAndCycleDetection('tree', $query, 'id', 'is_cycle', 'path')
    ->get();

INSERT/UPDATE/DELETE Queries

You can use common table expressions in INSERT(Laravel 5.7.17+), UPDATE and DELETE queries:

DB::table('profiles')
    ->withExpression('u', DB::table('users')->select('id', 'name'))
    ->insertUsing(['user_id', 'name'], DB::table('u'));

DB::table('profiles')
    ->withExpression('u', DB::table('users'))
    ->join('u', 'u.id', '=', 'profiles.user_id')
    ->update(['profiles.name' => DB::raw('u.name')]);

DB::table('profiles')
    ->withExpression('u', DB::table('users')->where('active', false))
    ->whereIn('user_id', DB::table('u')->select('id'))
    ->delete();

Eloquent

You can use common table expressions in Eloquent queries.

In Laravel 5.5–5.7, this requires the QueriesExpressions trait:

class User extends Model
{
    use \Staudenmeir\LaravelCte\Eloquent\QueriesExpressions;
}

$query = User::whereNull('parent_id')
    ->unionAll(
        User::select('users.*')
            ->join('tree', 'tree.id', '=', 'users.parent_id')
    );

$tree = User::from('tree')
    ->withRecursiveExpression('tree', $query)
    ->get();

Recursive Relationships

If you want to implement recursive relationships, you can use this package: staudenmeir/laravel-adjacency-list

Package Conflicts

• staudenmeir/eloquent-eager-limit: Replace both packages with staudenmeir/eloquent-eager-limit-x-laravel-cte to use them on the same model.

Lumen

If you are using Lumen, you have to instantiate the query builder manually:

$builder = new \Staudenmeir\LaravelCte\Query\Builder(app('db')->connection());

$result = $builder->from(...)->withExpression(...)->get();

In Eloquent, the QueriesExpressions trait is required for all versions of Lumen.

Contributing

Please see CONTRIBUTING and CODE OF CONDUCT for details.