Undefined Array Key “”

I am new to laravel so this particular error is giving me headache. I am trying use a datatable in laravel vue.js app. I have the following code in my laravel backend and when I try retrieving the data from the data, I get the Undefined array key error message in the dev tools. How do I resolve the issue please? Your help would be greatly appreciated.

public function getAccommodations(Request $request)
{
    if ($request->input('showdata')) {
        return Accommodation::orderBy('id', 'desc')->get();
    }        

    $columns = ['name','town_city','district','email','phone'];

    $length = $request->input('length');
    $column = $request->input('column');

    $search_input = $request->input('search');

    $query = Accommodation::select('name','town_city','district','email','phone')->orderBy($columns [$column]);

    if ($search_input) {

        $query->where(function($query) use ($search_input) {

            $query->where('name', 'like', '%'. $search_input . '%')
            ->orWhere('town_city', 'like', '%'. $search_input . '%')
            ->orWhere('district', 'like', '%'. $search_input . '%')
            ->orWhere('email', 'like', '%'. $search_input . '%')
            ->orWhere('phone', 'like', '%'. $search_input . '%')

        });

    }

    $accommodations = $query->paginate($length);
    return ['data' => $accommodations];
}

Below is the stacktrace

[2022-04-24 20:00:17] local.ERROR: Undefined array key "" {"userId":2,"exception":"[object] (ErrorException(code: 0): Undefined array key "" at C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\app\Http\Controllers\AccommodationsController.php:50)
[stacktrace]
#0 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Foundation\Bootstrap\HandleExceptions.php(231): Illuminate\Foundation\Bootstrap\HandleExceptions->handleError(2, 'Undefined array...', 'C:\\Users\\Nat Os...', 50)
#1 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\app\Http\Controllers\AccommodationsController.php(50): Illuminate\Foundation\Bootstrap\HandleExceptions->Illuminate\Foundation\Bootstrap\{closure}(2, 'Undefined array...', 'C:\\Users\\Nat Os...', 50)
#2 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Routing\Controller.php(54): App\Http\Controllers\AccommodationsController->getAccommodations(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))
#3 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Routing\ControllerDispatcher.php(45): Illuminate\Routing\Controller->callAction('getAccommodatio...', Array)
#4 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Routing\Route.php(261): Illuminate\Routing\ControllerDispatcher->dispatch(Object(Illuminate\Routing\Route), Object(App\Http\Controllers\AccommodationsController), 'getAccommodatio...')
#5 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Routing\Route.php(204): Illuminate\Routing\Route->runController()
#6 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Routing\Router.php(725): Illuminate\Routing\Route->run()
#7 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline.php(141): Illuminate\Routing\Router->Illuminate\Routing\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))
#8 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings.php(50): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))
#9 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline.php(180): Illuminate\Routing\Middleware\SubstituteBindings->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))
#10 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken.php(78): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))
#11 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline.php(180): Illuminate\Foundation\Http\Middleware\VerifyCsrfToken->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))
#12 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession.php(49): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))
#13 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline.php(180): Illuminate\View\Middleware\ShareErrorsFromSession->handle(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Closure))
#14 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession.php(121): Illuminate\Pipeline\Pipeline->Illuminate\Pipeline\{closure}(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request))
#15 C:\Users\Nat Osei\Desktop\projects\gh_diary\vendor\laravel\framework\src\Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession.php(64): Illuminate\Session\Middleware\StartSession->handleStatefulRequest(Object(Illuminate\Http\Request), Object(Illuminate\Session\Store), Object(Closure))

Answer

The issue is that you’re trying to get an element from your array $columns with an empty string.

$columns = ['name','town_city','district','email','phone'];

$column = $request->input('column'); // empty string

$query->orderBy($columns[$column]);

You can fix the issue by setting a default value

$column = $request->input('column', 0); 
$query->orderBy($columns[$column]); // $columns[0]

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Answer