laravel endpoint hide field - laravel

Question

How can i hide some fields ?
i want to hide the file field
Eloquent :
$reports = Report::select('id', 'file','company_id', 'title', 'year', 'created_at')
->orderBy('id', 'desc')
->paginate(10);
return ReportResource::collection($reports);
Model :
...
public function getFileSizeAttribute()
{
return Storage::disk('files')->size($this->attributes['file']);
}
....
ReportResource:
...
public function toArray($request)
{
return [
'id' => $this->id,
'title' => $this->title,
'year' => $this->year,
'views' => $this->whenNotNull($this->views),
'file' => $this->whenNotNull($this->file), <-- i want to hide the file field
'file_size' => $this->fileSize, <-- but always show file_size
'created_at' => $this->created_at,
'company' => new CompanyResource($this->company),
];
}
to get file_size field i must select the file field , because it's depends on it to calculate the file size.
but i want to hide the file field before send the response.
i know i can use the protected $hidden = [] method in the model , but i don't want that, because file field it's required on others place. i just want to hide it on this endpoint only.

Answer 1

Since you are using API resources the best and clean way to do this is by using a Resource class for your collection.
Said that, you will have 3 Resources:
The first one, as it is, just for retrieving a single Model with file and file_size attributes. The one you already have ReportResource.php
...
public function toArray($request)
{
return [
'id' => $this->id,
'title' => $this->title,
'year' => $this->year,
'views' => $this->whenNotNull($this->views),
'file' => $this->whenNotNull($this->file),
'file_size' => $this->fileSize,
'created_at' => $this->created_at,
'company' => new CompanyResource($this->company),
];
}
A new second resource to be used in your endpoint, without the file attribute. IE: ReportIndexResource.php
...
public function toArray($request)
{
return [
'id' => $this->id,
'title' => $this->title,
'year' => $this->year,
'views' => $this->whenNotNull($this->views),
'file_size' => $this->fileSize,
'created_at' => $this->created_at,
'company' => new CompanyResource($this->company),
];
}
Now you need to create a Resource collection which explicitly defines the Model Resource to use. IE: ReportCollection.php
<?php
namespace App\Http\Resources;
use Illuminate\Http\Resources\Json\ResourceCollection;
class ReportCollection extends ResourceCollection
{
/**
* The resource that this resource collects.
*
* #var string
*/
public $collects = ReportIndexResource::class;
}
Finally, use this new resource collection in your endpoint
$reports = Report::select('id', 'file','company_id', 'title', 'year', 'created_at')
->orderBy('id', 'desc')
->paginate(10);
return new ReportCollection($reports);
Of course, you can make use of makeHidden() method, but IMO is better to write a little more code and avoid a non desired attribute in your response because you forgot to make it hidden.
Also, in case you make use of makeHidden() method and you want to show the attribute in a future, you will have to update all your queries instead of a silgle resource file.

Answer 2

If you want to make it Hide From All Returns , you can Do this in model
protected $hidden = ['file'];
and if you want to do it temporirly with this query , you can Use MakeHidden method
$users = $reports->makeHidden(['file']);
It's clear in laravel docs , take a look
https://laravel.com/docs/9.x/eloquent-collections#method-makeHidden