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Customize records

Scout Extended transforms your model into Algolia records with the toSearchableArray method. You can override this method to customize what data you want to index.
PHP
class Article extends Model
{
    use Searchable;

    /**
     * Get the indexable data array for the model.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function toSearchableArray()
    {
        $array = $this->toArray();

        // Applies Scout Extended default transformations:
        $array = $this->transform($array);

        // Add an extra attribute:
        $array['added_month'] = substr($array['created_at'], 0, 7);

        return $array;
    }
}
To know more about the transform method check the section Transformers.

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Relationships

Algolia doesn’t perform any JOIN operations. All searchable data must exist in each record. This means that model relationships aren’t indexed by default. If you want to index relationships within a record, you need to override the toSearchableArray method in your model and include the relationships you want to index.

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Add attributes from relations

For example, if you are indexing articles and each article has one author, all you need to do is add its full name or email.
PHP
public function toSearchableArray()
{
    $array = $this->toArray();

    $array = $this->transform($array);

    $array['author_name'] = $this->author->name;
    $array['author_email'] = $this->author->email;

    return $array;
}

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Many-to-many

If you want to index the entire relationship you can do it by loading them before calling the toArray method. The resulting object has categories, converted to an array by Laravel:
PHP
public function toSearchableArray()
{
    /**
     * Load the categories relation so that it's
     * available in the Laravel toArray() method
     */
    $this->categories;

    $array = $this->toArray();

    $array = $this->transform($array);

    return $array;
}
It could be that not all data from the relation. To clean up the data, you can do something like this:
PHP
public function toSearchableArray()
{
    $array = $this->toArray();

    $array = $this->transform($array);

    $array['categories'] = $this->categories->map(function ($data) {
        return $data['name'];
    })->toArray();

    return $array;
}
Algolia has a size limit per record, so you should just index the data you need.

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Update relations when parents or children change

After embedding information from a relation in your record, you might want to keep them up to date when you change the relation. Depending on the relationship type between your models, you have two solutions: using the $touches property, and listening for the saved event.

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The $touches property

Laravel has a built-in feature to let the parent relationship know that one of their children has changed. In a typical Article <=> Comment example, all you would need to do is add article to the $touches property.
PHP
class Comment extends Model
{
    use Searchable;

    protected $touches = ['article'];

    public function article()
    {
        return $this->belongsTo(Article::class);
    }
}
This method only works with belongsTo and belongsToMany relationships.

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The saved event

If you use any other relationship, listen to the saved event and trigger the indexing.
PHP
class Author extends Model
{
    public static function boot()
    {
        parent::boot();

        static::saved(function ($model) {
            $model->articles->filter(function ($item) {
                return $item->shouldBeSearchable();
            })->searchable();
        });
    }

    public function articles()
    {
        return $this->hasMany(Article::class);
    }
}

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Transformers

Some builder methods such as where and whereBetween require numeric values. For this reason, if toSearchableArray isn’t defined, Scout Extended transforms, by default:
  • Dates into timestamps
  • Numeric strings into integers or floats.
You can overwrite this behavior by implementing the toSearchableArray method:
PHP
public function toSearchableArray()
{
    $array = $this->toArray();

    // If you want, apply the default transformations
    $array = $this->transform($array);

    // Apply custom treatment

    return $array;
}

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Custom transformers

One of the primary benefits of creating a Transformer class is the ability to type-hint any dependencies your transformer may need in its constructor. The declared dependencies are automatically resolved and injected into the transformer instance. To write a transformer:
1

Create a new class

The class implements Algolia\ScoutExtended\Contracts\TransformerContract. The transform method should transform the given $value as needed:
PHP
namespace App\Search\Transformers;

use App\Contracts\TransformService;
use Algolia\ScoutExtended\Contracts\TransformerContract;

class CustomTransformer implements TransformerContract
{
    /**
     * @var \App\Contracts\TransformService
     */
    protected $service;

    /**
     * Creates a new instance of the class.
     *
     * @param  \App\Contracts\TransformService $service
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function __construct(TransformService $service)
    {
        $this->service = $service;
    }

    /**
     * Transforms the given array.
     *
     * @param  object $searchable
     * @param  array $array
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function transform($searchable, array $array): array
    {
        $array = $this->service->transform($searchable->articleType, $array);

        return $array;
    }
}
2

Apply a custom transform

Send the $array into the transform method and specify the transformers to apply.
PHP
public function toSearchableArray()
{
    $array = $this->toArray();

    // Apply the custom transformations
    $array = $this->transform($array, [
        \App\Search\Transformers\CustomTransformer::class
    ]);

    return $array;
}