Laravel + Datatables, how to pass id to the controller? - laravel

Question

I want to start using Datatables on my Laravel project, so I have followed this tutorial: https://youtu.be/ejj-078OvfY
It works well, but I can't figure it out how to pass a parameter to my controller since that route is being called by an AJAX call through a JavaScript function on the view.
It may sound a bit weird if you are not familiarized with the tutorial, so let me show you how this is setup:
ROUTE:
Route::get('/client/{id}', array('before' => 'auth', 'as' => 'getClient', 'uses' => 'ClientsController#getClient'));
Route::get('getAllParticipants', array('before' => 'auth', 'as' => 'getAllParticipants', 'uses' => 'ClientsController#showAllParticipants'));
CONTROLLER:
public function getClient() {
return View::make('/forms/dashboard_clients');
}
public function showAllParticipants () {
$allParticipants = User::where('users.id', '=', $id) //I need the ID parameter here
->join('users_roles', 'users.id', '=', 'users_roles.user_id')
->where('users_roles.role_id', '!=', Role::USER_PARTICIPANT)
->groupBy('users.id')
->get();
return Datatable::collection($allParticipants)
->searchColumns('firstname', 'lastname', 'email')
->orderColumns('firstname', 'lastname', 'email')
->addColumn('firstname', function ($model) {
return $model->firstname;
})
->addColumn('lastname', function ($model) {
return $model->lastname;
})
->addColumn('email', function ($model) {
return $model->email;
})
->make();
}
VIEW:
<div class="row">
<div class="col-md-12">
<table id="allParticipants" class="table table-striped table-hover">
<thead>
<tr>
<th scope="col">#lang('table.headers.fname')</th>
<th scope="col">#lang('table.headers.lname')</th>
<th scope="col">#lang('table.headers.email')</th>
<th scope="col">#lang('table.headers.action')</th>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td></td>
<td></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
</div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
var allParticipants=null;
$(document).ready(function(){
allParticipants = $('#allParticipants').dataTable({
"ajax": "/getAllParticipants",
"lengthMenu": [[10, 50, 100, -1], [10, 50, 100, "All"]]
});
});
</script>
So to summarize, the user lands into the /client/{id} route where the view gets printed. From that view, the JavaScript identifies the table by its id and it sends an Ajax call that triggers the getAllParticipants route where a collection of participants gets sent to the view.
Any idea on how can I specify an ID parameter to that showAllParticipants function on my controller?

Answer 1

From what i can see you want to be able to set an ID parameter on a route, that's simple enough, the question is how Datatables makes that AJAX request, does it send an ID when it makes the "getAllParticipants" call?
If so you can go about it in two ways, either you set an ID on that route like you did for the client route. Or you use a traditional GET parameter and fetch it by calling $request->input('paramname') in your controller.
What confuses me is that your Datatable is not sending any data it's just calling the Controller route without sending any data.
To send data it should i believe look like this
$('#example').dataTable( {
"ajax": {
"url": "/getAllParticipants",
"data": {
"id": 451
}
}
} );
or alternatively
$('#example').dataTable( {
"ajax": {
"url": "/getAllParticipants?id=" + 451
}
} );
This way in my controller i would inject the Request class and get the "id" from that
public function showAllParticipants (Request $request) {
$id = $request->input('id');
$allParticipants = User::where('users.id', '=', $id) //I need the ID parameter here
->join('users_roles', 'users.id', '=', 'users_roles.user_id')
->where('users_roles.role_id', '!=', Role::USER_PARTICIPANT)
->groupBy('users.id')
->get();
return Datatable::collection($allParticipants)
->searchColumns('firstname', 'lastname', 'email')
->orderColumns('firstname', 'lastname', 'email')
->addColumn('firstname', function ($model) {
return $model->firstname;
})
->addColumn('lastname', function ($model) {
return $model->lastname;
})
->addColumn('email', function ($model) {
return $model->email;
})
->make();
}