Is there any helper function that assign form data into model in laravel?

I know that there is a resource functionality in laravel and as far as I know resource is something like json to model and its reverse..

So when I process form data, currently, use following custom helper method..

public function assignFormdata(Request $request, $model, $map = [])
{
    foreach($map as $input=>$field) {
        // $field is model's param. $input is form data key.
        $model->$field = $request->input($input) ?? $field;
    }
    return $model;
}

.. Is this method already exist in laravel? or something similar..?

Answer

There is no “standard” way in Laravel, that I am aware of, that will accomplish what you have above, where you assign a default value to an input if it is missing, and control what attributes are being set using the map.

The closest thing to what you are looking for is Mass Assignment, I believe.

There are many different methods and patterns to handle these types of requests, and your approach seems fine to me. I personally use Form Requests + DTO because the code documents itself quite well. As an example:

Controller:

class UsersController extends Controller
{
    ...

    public function store(CreateUserRequest $request)
    {
        $user = User::create($request->toCommand());

        // Return response however you like
    }

    ...
}

FormRequest

class CreateUserRequest extends FormRequest
{
    ...

    public function rules()
    {
        // Validate all the data here
    }

    ...

    public function toCommand() : CreateUserCommand
    {
        return new CreateUserCommand([
            'name' => $this->input('name'),
            'birthdate' => Carbon::parse($this->input('birthdate')),
            'role' => $this->input('role'),
            'gender' => $this->input('gender'),
            ...
        ]);
    }
}

Command DTO

class CreateUserCommand extends DataTransferObject
{
    /** @var string */
    public $name;

    /** @var CarbonCarbon */
    public $birthdate;

    /** @var string */
    public $role = 'employee'; // Sets default to employee

    /** @var null|string */
    public $gender;            // Not required  
}

class User extends Model
{
    ...

    protected $fillable = [
        'name',
        'birthdate',
        'role',
        'gender',
    ]; 

    ...


    public static function create(CreateUserCommand $command)
    {
        // Whatever logic you need to create a user
        return parent::create($command->toArray());
    }
}

That is a fairly “Laravel way” of doing things, and the code itself conveys a lot of information to anyone else (and you later :D) who needs to use it.