Fixing PHPStan Issues with Laravel's MorphTo Relations and Model Properties

Learn how to effectively resolve PHPStan issues in Laravel 10 concerning `MorphTo` relations and model properties, ensuring your code is robust and well understood by IDEs.
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Navigating PHPStan Issues in Laravel's MorphTo Relations

When working on a Laravel 10 project, you may encounter various checks and validations from PHPStan, particularly when it comes to MorphTo relations in your models. One common issue involves PHPStan being unable to fully understand the polymorphic relationships and their related models, leading to frustration during development. In this guide, we'll break down how to resolve these issues, ensuring that your PHPStan setup accurately reflects your code structure.

Understanding the Problem

In our example, we have an ArticlePrice model that uses a MorphTo relationship named types. After implementing PHPStan level 6, we're greeted with some error messages indicating that PHPStan doesn't understand the exact types involved in this relationship.

Here’s a summary of the PHPStan complaints:

It doesn't recognize the specific types returned by the types() method.

It fails to acknowledge the properties of the related model—specifically the name and vdm_code properties.

The underlying challenge is getting PHPStan to understand these relations while retaining the capability to leverage IDE helper tools for autocompletion and type checking.

Solutions to Address PHPStan's Complaints

Let’s tackle each issue one at a time.

1. Clarifying the MorphTo Return Type

To provide PHPStan with a better understanding of the types() morph relationship, you should update the method to specify the returned relation types more accurately.

Original Method:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

Revised Method with Type Information:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

While this alters the method return type, PHPStan will still flag an issue, stating it returns an incorrect type related to ArticlePrice.

2. Workaround for Understanding Properties

To solve the problem of PHPStan not recognizing the $types model properties, we need to establish the properties of related models in the class-level docblock.

Add the Following Docblock:

[[See Video to Reveal this Text or Code Snippet]]

By defining $types this way, you ensure PHPStan knows what potential models can be assigned to it, thus reducing the likelihood of errors related to properties like name and vdm_code.

Considerations and Limitations

Trade-off with IDE Helpers: The downside of adding the property definition in this way is that it may hinder the usage of ide-helper:models, potentially undoing the clarity you've added with the PHPStan fixes. Always weigh the benefits against what might be lost in developer experience.

Check Implementation Consistency: Ensure that anywhere you reference types, you're doing so with an awareness of the actual models involved, and perform the necessary type checks within your logic.

Final Thoughts

While tackling PHPStan issues can feel daunting, especially concerning polymorphic relationships in Laravel, these solutions provide a clear pathway to both compliance with type checking and maintainable code. Remember, clarity in your model relationships leads not only to better code quality but also an improved development experience overall.

Now that you’ve gained insight into fixing these PHPStan issues, feel free to reach out if you encounter further challenges or have questions about your own implementations!

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