how to create global function that can be accessed from any controller and blade file

Question

I have two controller file homecontroller and backendcontroller. What is the best way to create global function and access it from both files?

I found here Arian Acosta's answer helpful but I wonder if there is an easiest way. I would appreciate any suggestions.

Answer 1

Solution

One way to do this is to create a class and use its instance, this way you can not only access the object of the class within a controller, blade, or any other class as well.

AppHelper file

In you app folder create a folder named Helpers and within it create a file name AppHelper or any of your choice

<?php
namespace App\Helpers;

class AppHelper
{
      public function bladeHelper($someValue)
      {
             return "increment $someValue";
      }

     public function startQueryLog()
     {
           \DB::enableQueryLog();
     }

     public function showQueries()
     {
          dd(\DB::getQueryLog());
     }

     public static function instance()
     {
         return new AppHelper();
     }
}

Usage

In a controller

When in a controller you can call the various functions

public function index()
{
    //some code

   //need to debug query
   \App\Helpers\AppHelper::instance()->startQueryLog();

   //some code that executes queries
   \App\Helpers\AppHelper::instance()->showQueries();
}

In a blade file

Say you were in a blade file, here is how you can call the app blade helper function

some html code
{{ \App\Helpers\AppHelper::instance()->bladeHelper($value) }}
and then some html code

Reduce the overhead of namespace (Optional)

You can also reduce the overhead of call the complete function namespace \App\Helpers by creating alias for the AppHelper class in config\app.php

'aliases' => [
       ....
       'AppHelper' => App\Helpers\AppHelper::class
 ]

and in your controller or your blade file, you can directly call

\AppHelper::instance()->functioName();

Answer 2

Easy Solution:

1. Create a new Helpers folder in your app directory.

2. Create a php file named your_helper_function.php in that Helpers folder.

3. Add your function inside your_helper_function.php

   function your_function($parameters){
   
       //function logic
   
   } 
   
   function your_another_function($parameters){
   
       //function logic
   
   } 
   

4. Add this file to the Files key of your composer.json like

   
   "autoload": {
       ...
       "files": [
           "app/Helpers/your_helper_function.php"
       ]
       ...
   }
   

5. And then finally regenerate composer autoload files. (Run this in your project directory)

   composer dump-autoload

That's it! and now you can access your_function() or your_another_function() in any part of your Laravel project.

---

If you still have any confusion, check my blog post on how to do this:

How to Add a Global Function in Laravel Using Composer?

Answer 3

Updated:

Step 1 Add folder inside app folder app->Helper

Step 2 add php Class inside Helper folder Eg. Helper.php

Add namespace and class to the Helper.php

namespace App\Helper;

class Helper
{

}

Register this Helper.php into config/app.php file

'aliases' => [
       ....
       'Helper' => App\Helper\Helper::class
 ]

Now, write all the functions inside Helper.php and it will be accessible everywhere.

How to access from Controller?

Step 1 - Add a namespace at top of the controller.

use App\Helper\Helper;

Step 2 - Call function - Assume there a getInformation() inside the Helper Class.

$information = Helper::getInformation()

Answer 4

In your Controller.php which extends BaseController, you can create a function like;

public function data($arr = false)
{
 $data['foo'] = 'bar';
 return array_merge($data,$arr);
}

And from any controller when you send a data to a view;

public function example()
{
 $data['smthg'] = 'smthgelse';
 return view('myView',$this->data($data));
}

The data in the the main controller can be accessed from all controllers and blades.

Answer 5

Laravel uses namespaces by default. So you need to follow the method described in that answer to setup a helper file.

Though in your case you want to access a method in different controllers. For this there's a simpler way. Add a method to you base controller app/Http/Controllers/Controller.php and you can access them in every other controller since they extend it.

// in app/Http/Controllers/Controller.php
protected function dummy()
{
    return 'dummy';
}

// in homecontroller

$this->dummy();

Answer 6

The Laravel Service Provider way

I've been using global function within Laravel for a while and I want to share how I do it. It's kind of a mix between 2 answers in this post : https://stackoverflow.com/a/44021966/5543999 and https://stackoverflow.com/a/44024328/5543999

This way will load a file within a ServiceProvider and register it within your Laravel app.

Where is the difference, the scope, it's always about the scope.

Composer //Autload whitin composer.json method
|
|--->Laravel App //My method
     |
     |--->Controller //Trait method
     |--->Blade //Trait method
     |--->Listener //Trait method
     |--->...

This is a really simplist way to explain my point, all three methods will achieve the purpose of the "Global function". The Traits method will need you to declare use App\Helpers\Trait; or App\Helpers\Trait::function().

The composer and service provider are almost about the same. For me, they answer better to the question of what is a global function, because they don't require to declare them on each place you want to use them. You just use them function(). The main difference is how you prefer things.

How to

1. Create the functions file : App\Functions\GlobalFunctions.php

   //App\Functions\GlobalFunctions.php
   <?php
   
       function first_function()
       {
           //function logic
       }
   
       function second_function()
       {
           //function logic
       }
   

2. Create a ServiceProvider:

    //Into the console
    php artisan make:provider GlobalFunctionsServiceProvider
   

3. Open the new file App\Providers\GlobalFunctionsServiceProvider.php and edit the register method

    //App\Providers\GlobalFunctionsServiceProvider.php
   
    public function register()
    {
        require_once base_path().'/app/Functions/GlobalFunctions.php';
    }
   

4. Register your provider into App\Config\App.php wihtin the providers

    //App\Config\App.php
   
    'providers' => [
   
        /*
        * Laravel Framework Service Providers...
        */
        Illuminate\Auth\AuthServiceProvider::class,
        ...
        Illuminate\Validation\ValidationServiceProvider::class,
        Illuminate\View\ViewServiceProvider::class,
        App\Providers\GlobalFunctionsServiceProvider::class, //Add your service provider
   

5. Run some artisan's commands

    //Into the console
    php artisan clear-compiled
    php artisan config:cache
   

6. Use your new global functions

    //Use your function anywhere within your Laravel app
    first_function();
    second_function();
   

Answer 7

There are a few ways, depending on the exact functionality you're trying to add.

1) Create a function inside Controller.php, and make all other controller extend that controller. You could somewhat compair this to the master.blade.php

2) Create a trait, a trait can do a lot for you, and keeping ur controllers clean. I personally love to use traits as it will look clean, keep my Controller.php from being a mess with tons of different lines of code.

Answer 8

Creating a global function

create a Helpers.php file under a folder, let's name it 'core'.

core
 |
  -- Helpers.php


namespace Helpers; // define Helper scope

if(!function_exists('html')) {

  function html($string) {

    // run some code
    
    return $str;

  }

}

In your composer.json

"autoload": {
    "psr-4": {
        
    },
    "files": [
        "core/Helpers.php"
    ]
}

in the file that you want to use it

// the " use " statement is not needed, core/Helpers is loaded on every page

  if(condition_is_true) {

   echo Helpers\html($string);die(); 

  }

Remove the namespace in Helpers.php if you want to call your function without the need to prefix namespace. However I advise to leave it there.

Credit: https://dev.to/kingsconsult/how-to-create-laravel-8-helpers-function-global-function-d8n