Laravel - Iterating pivot data (Property does not exist on this collection instance) - laravel

Question

I have a many-to-many relationship between Order and Product
Product.php
public function orders()
{
return $this->belongsToMany(Order::class)
->withTimestamps()
->withPivot('qty');
}
Order.php
public function products()
{
return $this->belongsToMany(Product::class)
->withTimestamps()
->withPivot('qty');
}
Now whenever I try to utilize an iteration in a view (in this case I am just trying to show the form which iterates through all available Products, I always receive the error...
Property [products] does not exist on this collection instance.
create.blade.php
#foreach ($products->orders as $product)
# Order inputs are here
{{ Form::text('qty', $product->pivot->qty, [
'type' => 'tel',
'min' => 0,
'max' => 20,
'step' => 1,
'placeholder' => '0',
'class' => 'meal'
]) }}
#endforeach
I have also attempted #foreach ($products->orders as $product) and both approaches give me that same error.
I have attempted many different ways in my Controller to fix this error, here is my last attempt:
OrderControlller.php
public function create()
{
$user = Auth::user();
$products = Product::get();
$orders = $user->orders;
return view('orders.create', compact('products', 'orders', 'user'));
}
UPDATE
#alan's answer is correct, I am sure, however...
I am still getting "Property [pivot] does not exist on this collection instance" whenever I try to run an iteration.
The concept of an iteration inside of an iteration in this instance is confusing for me.
I cannot visualize how Laravel is handling the pivot connection. In tinker when I load up just the Product table, there is no qty column. (This makes sense because that is on the pivot table). This also explains this new error.
Should I be doing something in the vein of this? :
changed create.blade.php
#foreach ($products as $product)
{{ Form::text('qty', $product->orders->pivot->qty }}
OrderController.php
$user = Auth::user();
$orders = $user->orders;
$products= []; #pass products to view as an array
$p = $orders->products; #this relationship brings in pivot data?
foreach ($p as $orders) {
#would I then somehow pass just this qty here?
}
Problem is I am always getting a "Property does not exist" error, be it with 'products', 'orders', or 'pivot'.

Answer 1

This should work. You were trying to access the orders property on the $products variable, which is a Laravel Collection (get method on model returns a collection). So instead of doing that you just iterate through the products and access the pivot table from the individual product model.
#foreach ($products as $product)
# Order inputs are here
{{ Form::text('qty', $product->orders->pivot->qty, [
'type' => 'tel',
'min' => 0,
'max' => 20,
'step' => 1,
'placeholder' => '0',
'class' => 'meal'
]) }}
#endforeach
Update:
Actually that makes sense. A record on the pivot table defines an association between an order and a product. So for you to access a record in the pivot table you must access the product or order from its relationship. This is what I would do.
OrderController.php
$user = Auth::user();
$user->load("orders.products"); // eager load relationship to avoid N+1 problem
$orders = $user->orders;
return view('orders.create', compact('orders', 'user'));
create.blade.php
#foreach ($orders as $order)
#foreach ($order->products as $product)
{{ Form::text('qty', $product->pivot->qty, [
'type' => 'tel',
'min' => 0,
'max' => 20,
'step' => 1,
'placeholder' => '0',
'class' => 'meal'
]) }}
#endforeach
#endforeach
Some resources:
Eager loading
Many to Many relations