Simple search in laravel - laravel

Question

I'm trying to build a search system in my small laravel project but considering that I'm still a beginner I can't figure how this should work..
Basically, I have a controller which returns an index page with all the users. In the index page I have multiple select tags where you can choose an option and filter the users.
Here's my index method:
public function index(){
$users = User::all();
$service = Service::all();
return view('browse.index', compact('users','service'));
}
Now, the thing is, I have a relationship built between users and services. So, each user hasMany services. With that in mind, when I'm building the search function I want to be able to access the user service.
Something like this:
$category = $request->input('category');
foreach ($users as $user) {
$serviceFound = $user->service->where('category', 'LIKE', '%' . $category . '%');
}
Of course this doesn't work because considering that I have a get route for my index, I don't know how to set up the form so I can use the $request.. I hope this is clear...Maybe you guys can help me with setting up the form/route and clear my mind on how should I do this...

Answer 1

Build a simple form using GET as well. Simple Example
<form action="" method="GET">
<input type="text" name="category" required/>
<button type="submit">Submit</button>
</form>
In your controller you do
public function index(Request $request){
$category = $request->input('category');
//now get all user and services in one go without looping using eager loading
//In your foreach() loop, if you have 1000 users you will make 1000 queries
$users = User::with('services', function($query) use ($category) {
$query->where('category', 'LIKE', '%' . $category . '%');
})->get();
return view('browse.index', compact('users'));
}
Eager loading will work only if you have your relationships setup properly.
Keep your route unchanged the way it is now.

Answer 2

In your controller:
public function index(\Request $request)
{
return $request::all();
}
In your routes:
Route::get('searchtest', 'SearchController#index');
Example url:
http://localhost:8000/searchtest?search=search_string&category=socks
And finally, the output
{
"search": "search_string",
"category": "socks"
}
You can also do $category = $request::get('category'); to get only the category as a string.