Create method not handling arrays properly

[DeltaBravo]

Consider the following form data:

array [  
    "_token" => "NAt5dIWp1KBzyR4ToEdfeHxl8C2sCl6guNcO6vVx"  
    "nameDisplay" => "ArrayTest"  
    "roleAttributes" => array [  
        0 => "a4a03816-1c25-4e8a-a2aa-459f1f18545c"  
        1 => "f7abdb46-937a-4737-803c-07467e2ef52e"  
    ]  
]

Now we saves a new Role and returns the instance:

class Role extends NeoEloquent {
    public static function create(array $attributes = []) {
        $newRole = parent::create($attributes);

        return $newRole;
    }
}

SyntaxException: Invalid input ''': expected whitespace, comment or a property key name (line 1, column 99 (offset: 98))  
"CREATE (:`Role` { nameDisplay: 'ArrayTest', roleAttributes: 'a4a03816-1c25-4e8a-a2aa-459f1f18545c',  
'f7abdb46-937a-4737-803c-07467e2ef52e'})"  
^

It seems the "roleAttributes" array is being split into strings. The second and subsequent strings then have no property and so the Cypher is invalid.

I understand that Neo4j property arrays only support basic types (number, Boolean, string) and therefore SETting associative or multidimensional arrays cannot be supported by NeoEloquent.

In this case an array ($arguments) is being parsed into property/value pairs which are used to build a Cypher query. It seems to me that where an array element is an array the key should be used as a property (as usual) and the array values should be set as an array that Cypher can use.

I tried converting the array to a string before passing it to NeoEloquent:

$attributes['roleAttributes'] = '[' . implode(',', $attributes['roleAttributes']) . ']';

..but this only results in roleAttributes being a string property:

"roleAttributes": "[a4a03816-1c25-4e8a-a2aa-459f1f18545c,f7abdb46-937a-4737-803c-07467e2ef52e]"

..rather than an array property:

"roleAttributes": ["a4a03816-1c25-4e8a-a2aa-459f1f18545c","f7abdb46-937a-4737-803c-07467e2ef52e"]

[KinaneD]

Hi @DeltaBravo , NeoEloquent doesn't handle setting array properties yet it will be available for the next release. On a side note, there is no need to override the create method, you can do something like this return $this->create($attributes)

[DeltaBravo]

Thank you for responding!

I am overriding the create method for three reasons:

• so I can inject additional data into $attributes
• because I was not able to figure out createWith() at the time (I should revisit this!)
• as part of a workaround to the lack of array property support in NeoEloquent.

public static function create(array $attributes = []) {
    $attributes['uuid'] = (string)UUID::generate(4);

    // #DRB #REVIEW Vinelab/NeoEloquent 1.3.1 does not seem to properly support creating nodes with array properties
    $roleAttributes = '["' . implode('","', $attributes['roleAttributes']) . '"]';
    unset($attributes['roleAttributes']);

    $newRole = parent::create($attributes);

    $masterRole = session()->get('client')->masterRole;

    DB::connection('neo4j')->select('
        MATCH (mr {uuid:"' . $masterRole . '"}), (new {uuid:"' . $newRole->uuid . '"})
        MERGE (mr)<-[:HAS_ROLE]-(new)
        SET new.roleAttributes = ' . $roleAttributes . ';');

    return $newRole;
}

[KinaneD]

@DeltaBravo For some reason you create method is static, so you would only be able to call the parent's create. I would recommend using the creating event if you need to manipulate the attributes before persisting to neo4j. https://laravel.com/docs/4.2/eloquent#model-events

[alegargar]

Any news about this? Array attributes will be supported or there is any alternative to store an attribute representing a collection or a sub-object?

[stale[bot]]

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