render data from array to select option laravel - laravel

Question

function getAllYears()
{
$year_array = array();
$posts_dates = Entries::orderBy( 'created_at', 'ASC' )->pluck( 'created_at' );
$posts_dates = json_decode( $posts_dates );
if ( ! empty( $posts_dates ) )
{
foreach ( $posts_dates as $unformatted_date )
{
$date = new \DateTime( $unformatted_date->date );
$year_value = $date->format( 'Y' );
$year_val = $date->format( 'y' );
//$year_array[$year_val ] = $year_value;
$year_array[] = $year_value;
}
} //return $year_array;
$array = $year_array;
// Deleting the duplicate items
$unique_years = array_unique($array);
return view('welcome',compact($unique_years));
<select name="YearFrom" id="YearFrom_input"">
<option selected="selected">Choose Year</option>
#foreach($unique_years as $years)
<option value='{{$years}}'> {{$years['years']}} </option>
#endforeach
</select>
!!getting error!!
compact(): Undefined variable: 2009

Answer 1

compact thinks the values of your array are the variables names, because you've passed it the actual array, not the name of the variable. See http://php.net/compact for details on how compact() works. Instead, you need:
return view('welcome',compact('unique_years'));
That said, I hate the compact approach for this reason. This is much more readable:
return view('welcome')->with('unique_years', $unique_years);

Answer 2

Your variabel name was incorrect in compact() - should be a string like 'variable_name' rather than $variable_name
function getAllYears()
{
$year_array = array();
$posts_dates = Entries::orderBy( 'created_at', 'ASC' )->pluck( 'created_at' );
$posts_dates = json_decode( $posts_dates );
if ( ! empty( $posts_dates ) ) {
foreach ( $posts_dates as $unformatted_date ) {
$date = new \DateTime( $unformatted_date->date );
$year_value = $date->format( 'Y' );
$year_val = $date->format( 'y' );
//$year_array[$year_val ] = $year_value;
$year_array[] = $year_value;
}
} //return $year_array;
$array = $year_array;
// Deleting the duplicate items
$unique_years = array_unique($array);
return view('welcome',compact('unique_years'));
}