Where NOT in pivot table

Question

In Laravel we can setup relationships like so:

class User {
    public function items()
    {
        return $this->belongsToMany(\'Item\');
    }
}
         


        

Answer 1

It's not that simple but usually the most efficient way is to use a subquery.

$items = Item::whereNotIn('id', function ($query) use ($user_id)
    {
        $query->select('item_id')
            ->table('item_user')
            ->where('user_id', '=', $user_id);
    })
    ->get();

If this was something I did often I would add it as a scope method to the Item model.

class Item extends Eloquent {

    public function scopeWhereNotRelatedToUser($query, $user_id)
    {
        $query->whereNotIn('id', function ($query) use ($user_id)
        {
            $query->select('item_id')
                ->table('item_user')
                ->where('user_id', '=', $user_id);
        });
    }

}

Then use that later like this.

$items = Item::whereNotRelatedToUser($user_id)->get();