Frameworks

Laravel: toggles, macros and process settings

Gate and macro registrations, static switches like Carbon::setTestNow(), and the settings PHP keeps per process.

Registrations in a request#

Gate::define(), Gate::before(), Auth::viaRequest(), and macros on Request, Response and Route all add to an object that outlives the request. Do them at boot. viaRequest() hands its callback the request, so the callback does not have to be registered per request:

// AppServiceProvider::boot()
Auth::viaRequest('token', fn (Request $request) => User::byToken($request->bearerToken()));

Static toggles#

These write a static that every request reads:

Call	Reads it
`Carbon::setTestNow()`	every date and time created by Carbon
`Number::useLocale()`, `useCurrency()`	number formatting
`Str::createUuidsUsing()` and the other `Str` factories	generated ids
`Sleep::fake()`	every `Sleep::for()`
`Model::unguard()`, `Model::withoutEvents()`	mass assignment, model events

Set in a request, they stay set for the requests after it, as on Octane. Design: set them at boot when they are configuration, and in a test when they are fakes. For a value that varies by request, hold it in a scoped object (shareable services) and pass it to the call: Number::format($n, locale: $locale) takes the locale as an argument, and a clock can be an injected dependency.

The scoped forms switch the static for the length of a callback and switch it back: Model::unguarded(), Carbon::withTestNow(), Number::withLocale(). After the callback nothing is left behind. While it runs, a request that waits inside it lets another run with the switch on. Keep the callback free of waiting:

$user = Model::unguarded(fn () => User::create($attributes));   // the insert waits inside the callback

Instead, build the model first and do the waiting after:

$user = Model::unguarded(fn () => new User($attributes));
$user->save();

Process-level#

PHP keeps ini_set(), setlocale(), date_default_timezone_set() and mt_srand() per process, and an adapter cannot give a request its own. Set the ini values and the locale in php.ini or at boot, use config('app.timezone') and App::setLocale() in place of the PHP functions, and use an injected seed in place of mt_srand(). exit(), die() and dd() end the worker and every request in it; throw an exception or call abort() instead.

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