Adding key-value to Laravel result object/collection - laravel

Question

New to Laravel. Have what seems like should be a non-issue, but is causing a headache.
I'm trying to insert a key-value pair (bookingRef) within the result object/collection returned, such that the result would be:
[{"class_id":7,"class_name":"beginner","class_slots_avail":100,"class_slots_booked":53,"class_date":"2020-12-07 21:47:23","class_time":"09:25:00","class_reg_price":350, bookingRef: 127}]
I've tried methods such as push, put and merge that will insert the key-value after the object returned, but this is not what I require.
Here is my controller:
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\Booking;
use App\Http\Controllers\Auth;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;
use DB;
class BookingsController extends Controller
{
//
function store(Request $request) {
$id = $request->input('class');
if(DB::table('classes')->where('class_id', '=', $id)->exists()) {
if(DB::table('classes')->where('class_id', '=', $id)->value('class_slots_booked')
< DB::table('classes')->where('class_id', '=', $id)->value('class_slots_avail')) {
$booking = new Booking();
$booking->class_id = $id;
$booking->user_id = \Auth::id();
$booking->save();
DB::table('classes')->where('class_id', '=', $id)->increment('class_slots_booked', 1);
if($booking) {
$confBook = DB::table('classes')->where('class_id', '=', $id)->get();
$confBook->bookingRef = $booking->id;
\error_log($confBook);
}
}
else return('CLASS FULLY BOOOOKED');
}
else return('CLASS NOT Available');
}
}

Answer 1

You can cut down on your queries and put this extra data in place with some adjustments:
function store(Request $request)
{
$id = $rquest->input('class');
$class = DB::table('classes')->where('class_id', $id)->first();
if ($class) {
if ($class->class_slots_booked < $class->class_slots_avail) {
$booking = new Booking();
$booking->class_id = $id;
$booking->user_id = $request->auth()->id;
if ($booking->save()) {
// adding the extra data
$class->bookingRef = $booking->id;
DB::table('classes')->where('class_id', $id)
->increment('class_slots_booked', 1);
$class->class_slots_booked++;
return view('view-booking', [
'bookings' => collect($class),
]);
}
// booking did not save
}
// unavailable
}
// class not found
}
This would be a little more convenient with a Model for the classes table and a relationship setup to Booking would be a plus as well.

Answer 2

I managed to resolve it, thanks to Lagbox's suggestion of using a model:
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use App\Models\Booking;
use App\Models\Classes;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Mail;
class BookingsController extends Controller
{
//
function store(Request $request) {
$id = $request->input('class');
$class = Classes::where('class_id', $id)->first();
if($class) {
if($class->class_slots_booked < $class->class_slots_avail) {
$booking = new Booking();
$booking->class_id = $id;
$booking->user_id = Auth::id();
if($booking->save()){
$class->where('class_id', $id)->increment('class_slots_booked');
$class->bookingRef = $booking->id;
return view('view-booking', ['bookings' => $class]);
}
}
else return('Class Fully Booked');
}
else return('Class Not Available');
}
};
From what I can see, the get() method returns an array with object(s), which is why object->new_property = value would not work. The first() method, however, seems to return a single object, which is why it would.
Seems I've got some reading up on models and collections to do.