How to make empty values have a default value? - laravel

Question

Im trying to give model attribute values another value when they are blank,
At the moment this is what I'm working with in my model:
public function getAttribute($property){
if(blank($this->attributes[$property])){
return $this->attributes[$property] = '-';
}else{
return $this->attributes[$property];
}
}
It works, but I dont think this is the right way to do it.
Im looking for a proper way of doing this.
example:
lets say the value in the database is NULL,
I want it to show "-" when displaying, but I dont want to save "-" in the database.
(I also don't want to use "get...Value" mutators for every value)

Answer 1

Solution 1
Since PHP 7 there is a new feature called the Null Coalescing operator. It returns the first operator when it exists and is not NULL:
{{ $model->attribute ?? '-' }}
Which is the same as this:
{{ isset($model->attribute) ? $model->attribute : '-' }}
Solution 2
Another solution would be a little bit harder, but doable:
Create a base model to which you extend all the other models:
class BaseModel extends Model {
protected $emptyAttributes = [];
protected function getAttribute($property)
{
if (in_array($property, $this->emptyAttributes) && blank($this->attributes[$property])) {
return '-';
}
else {
return $this->attributes[$property];
}
}
}
Now extend all the models you want to this new class and create an array of 'attributes to replace':
class User extends BaseModel {
protected $emptyAttributes = ['name', 'email'];
}
This should automatically replace the attributes name and email when they are empty, NULL or a string of only spaces.
Side note:
You could also move the functionality to a trait (which could be a more elegant solution, but that's up to you).