Sorting models is also straight forward like searching. You can define the database fields that shall be usable for sorting and just apply the sorting fields to the scope.

#Activate sortablility

Just add a $sortable Property the model that contains all sortable database fields and use the IsSortable trait

<?php

namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Lacodix\LaravelModelFilter\Traits\IsSortable;

class Post extends Model
{
    use IsSortable;

    protected array $sortable = [
        'title',
        'created_at',
        'content',
    ];
    
    // Alternative solution with method:
    public function sortable(): array
    {
        return [
            'title',
            'created_at',
            'content',
        ];
    }
}

#Sort by code

To sort posts by a given field just call

Post::sort(['title' => 'desc'])->get();

The above example is really useless since you could simply run Posts::orderBy('title', 'desc') but keep in mind you can simply create an array with multiple sorted fields and different directions. Internally it is checking if the given fields are allowed to sort, and only applies the sorting to allowed fields.

This also allows to use the sort by query string.

#Sort by a query string

Post::sortByQueryString()->get();

and open the url

https://.../posts?sort[title]=desc

You can change the name of query parameter with the config file value model-filter.sort_query_value_name

#Sort direction

You can use the both directions asc and desc. The usage is case insensitive.

You can also omit the direction if you want asc sorting

Post::sort(['title'])->get();

#Default sorting

Sometimes you need the possibility to sort by a column even if no sorting direction is given. Or you want to sort by another column even if some sortings are given. For such cases you can define a default sorting direction on your sortable columns:

    protected array $sortable = [
        'title',
        'created_at' => 'desc',
        'content',
    ];

In this example the columns will be sorted in descending order by create_at column even if it is not given.

Post::sort()->get();
...
Post::sortByQueryString()->get();

This is indeed more useful for usage with querystring, since you could just add the direction on your own by code.

ATTENTION: keep in mind that it is still necessary to call one of the scopes sort or sortByQueryString to apply the sorting functionality. If you want to sort your models even without calling one of this functions, take in account to use a default global scope on your model.

ATTENTION: kepp also in mind that given sort-parameters will automatically overwrite default sorting.

    protected array $sortable = [
        'title',
        'created_at' => 'desc',
        'content',
    ];

    Post::sort(['title' => 'desc'])->get();

in this example it will NOT sort by created_at but only by title. Default sorting will only be applied if no manual sorting is given.

#Security

For security reason it is only possible to sort for fields that are marked as sortable. If a field isn't available in the $sortable list, it will never be sorted by this field, even if added in querystring.

protected array $sortable = [
    'title',
    'content',
];

The following sort will not be executed for this case

https://.../posts?sort[created_at]=desc

#Usage together with spatie/eloquent-sortable

spatie/eloquent-sortable is a very popular package if you need to reorder your models by a column on creation or in runtime. If you just need the global configuration you can use both packages together without any issues.

But spatie/eloquent-sortable offers the option to set sort-columns and sorting behaviour on creation by model. For this you need to add a protected array $sortable Property to your model, what conflicts with our sortable trait (see this example)

public $sortable = [
    'order_column_name' => 'order_column',
    'sort_when_creating' => true,
];

You cannot combine both $sortable properties, but you can just overwrite this methods:

    public function determineOrderColumnName(): string
    {
        return 'order_column';
    }

    public function shouldSortWhenCreating(): bool
    {
        return true;
    }

With this solution spatie's trait doesn't need the $sortable property and you can use it for our IsSortable trait.