Proper Repository Pattern Design in PHP?

Question

Preface: I\'m attempting to use the repository pattern in an MVC architecture with relational databases.

I\'ve recently started learning TDD in PHP, and I\'

Answer 1

I think graphQL is a good candidate in such a case to provide a large scale query language without increasing the complexity of data repositories.

However, there's another solution if you don't want to go for the graphQL for now. By using a DTO where an object is used for carring the data between processes, in this case between the service/controller and the repository.

An elegant answer is already provided above, however I'll try to give another example that I think it's simpler and could serve as a starting point for a new project.

As shown in the code, we would need only 4 methods for CRUD operations. the find method would be used for listing and reading by passing object argument. Backend services could build the defined query object based on a URL query string or based on specific parameters.

The query object (SomeQueryDto) could also implement specific interface if needed. and is easy to be extended later without adding complexity.

getQueryBuilder();

        foreach ($query->getSearchParameters() as $attribute) {
            $qb->where($attribute['field'], $attribute['operator'], $attribute['value']);
        }

        return $qb->get();
    }
}

/**
 * Provide query data to search for tickets.
 *
 * @method SomeQueryDto userId(int $id, string $operator = null)
 * @method SomeQueryDto categoryId(int $id, string $operator = null)
 * @method SomeQueryDto completedAt(string $date, string $operator = null)
 */
class SomeQueryDto
{
    /** @var array  */
    const QUERYABLE_FIELDS = [
        'id',
        'subject',
        'user_id',
        'category_id',
        'created_at',
    ];

    /** @var array  */
    const STRING_DB_OPERATORS = [
        'eq' => '=', // Equal to
        'gt' => '>', // Greater than
        'lt' => '<', // Less than
        'gte' => '>=', // Greater than or equal to
        'lte' => '<=', // Less than or equal to
        'ne' => '<>', // Not equal to
        'like' => 'like', // Search similar text
        'in' => 'in', // one of range of values
    ];

    /**
     * @var array
     */
    private $searchParameters = [];

    const DEFAULT_OPERATOR = 'eq';

    /**
     * Build this query object out of query string.
     * ex: id=gt:10&id=lte:20&category_id=in:1,2,3
     */
    public static function buildFromString(string $queryString): SomeQueryDto
    {
        $query = new self();
        parse_str($queryString, $queryFields);

        foreach ($queryFields as $field => $operatorAndValue) {
            [$operator, $value] = explode(':', $operatorAndValue);
            $query->addParameter($field, $operator, $value);
        }

        return $query;
    }

    public function addParameter(string $field, string $operator, $value): SomeQueryDto
    {
        if (!in_array($field, self::QUERYABLE_FIELDS)) {
            throw new \Exception("$field is invalid query field.");
        }
        if (!array_key_exists($operator, self::STRING_DB_OPERATORS)) {
            throw new \Exception("$operator is invalid query operator.");
        }
        if (!is_scalar($value)) {
            throw new \Exception("$value is invalid query value.");
        }

        array_push(
            $this->searchParameters,
            [
                'field' => $field,
                'operator' => self::STRING_DB_OPERATORS[$operator],
                'value' => $value
            ]
        );

        return $this;
    }

    public function __call($name, $arguments)
    {
        // camelCase to snake_case
        $field = strtolower(preg_replace('/(?addParameter($field, $arguments[1] ?? self::DEFAULT_OPERATOR, $arguments[0]);
        }
    }

    public function getSearchParameters()
    {
        return $this->searchParameters;
    }
}

Example usage:

$query = new SomeEnitityQuery();
$query->userId(1)->categoryId(2, 'ne')->createdAt('2020-03-03', 'lte');
$entities = $someRepository->find($query);

// Or by passing the HTTP query string
$query = SomeEnitityQuery::buildFromString('created_at=gte:2020-01-01&category_id=in:1,2,3');
$entities = $someRepository->find($query);