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nevadskiy/laravel-tree
======================

Tree-like structure for Eloquent models.

0.6.1(11mo ago)6693.9k↑36.7%7[4 issues](https://github.com/xalaida/laravel-tree/issues)[2 PRs](https://github.com/xalaida/laravel-tree/pulls)3MITPHPPHP ^7.3|^8.0CI passing

Since Jan 8Pushed 11mo ago1 watchersCompare

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🌳 Tree-like structure for Eloquent models
=========================================

[](#-tree-like-structure-for-eloquent-models)

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The package provides you with a simple solution that allows you to effortlessly create hierarchical structures for your Eloquent models. It leverages the [materialized path](#materialized-path) pattern to represent the hierarchy of your data. It can be used for a wide range of use cases such as managing categories, nested comments, and more.

🔌 Installation
--------------

[](#-installation)

Install the package via Composer:

```
composer require nevadskiy/laravel-tree
```

✨ How it works
--------------

[](#-how-it-works)

When working with hierarchical data structures in your application, storing the structure using a self-referencing `parent_id` column is a common approach. While it works well for many use cases, it can become challenging when you need to make complex queries, such as finding all descendants of a given node. One of the simples and effective solutions is the [materialized path](#materialized-path) pattern.

### Materialized path

[](#materialized-path)

The "materialized pattern" involves storing the full path of each node in the hierarchy in a separate `path` column as a string. The ancestors of each node are represented by a series of IDs separated by a delimiter.

For example, the categories database table might look like this:

idnameparent\_idpath1Sciencenull12Physics11.23Mechanics21.2.34Thermodynamics21.2.4With this structure, you can easily retrieve all descendants of a node using a SQL query:

```
SELECT * FROM categories WHERE path LIKE '1.%'
```

#### PostgreSQL Ltree extension

[](#postgresql-ltree-extension)

Using the [PostgreSQL ltree](https://www.postgresql.org/docs/current/ltree.html) extension we can go even further. This extension provides an additional `ltree` column type designed specifically for this purpose. In combination with a GiST index it allows executing lightweight and performant queries across an entire tree.

Now the SQL query will look like this:

```
SELECT * FROM categories WHERE path ~ '1.*'
```

🔨 Configuration
---------------

[](#-configuration)

All you have to do is to add a `AsTree` trait to the model and add a `path` column alongside the self-referencing `parent_id` column to the model's table.

Let's get started by configuring a `Category` model:

```