Your first fluent mapping file

Mapping files in the Fluent driver are PHP classes. Each mapping file will be associated with either an Entity, an Embeddable or a MappedSuperClass. As each of these mappings behave differently for Doctrine, we have a specific Mapping abstract class to extend from:

• LaravelDoctrine\Fluent\EntityMapping for Entities
• LaravelDoctrine\Fluent\EmbeddableMapping for Embeddables
• LaravelDoctrine\Fluent\MappedSuperClassMapping for MappedSuperClasses

Mapping an entity

Let's say we have a Scientist entity that we want to persist to a database.

<?php
namespace App\Entities;

class Scientist
{
    /**
     * @var int
     */
    private $id;

    /**
     * @var string
     */
    private $firstName;

    /**
     * @var string
     */
    private $lastName;

    /**
     * @var \Doctrine\Common\Collections\Collection
     */
    private $theories;

    // methods omitted for simplicity
}

Lets start by creating the mapping class for the Scientist. For that we will extend LaravelDoctrine\Fluent\EntityMapping.

<?php
namespace App\Mappings;

use App\Entities\Scientist;
use App\Entities\Theory;
use LaravelDoctrine\Fluent\EntityMapping;

class ScientistMapping extends EntityMapping
{
    /**
     * Returns the fully qualified name of the class that this mapper maps.
     *
     * @return string
     */
    public function mapFor()
    {
        return Scientist::class;
    }

    /**
     * Load the object's metadata through the Metadata Builder object.
     *
     * @param Fluent $builder
     */
    public function map(Fluent $builder)
    {
        // This will result in an autoincremented integer
        $builder->increments('id');

        // Both strings will be varchars
        $builder->string('firstName')->nullable();
        $builder->string('lastName')->nullable();

        // This will map an association with Theory as one-to-many
        $builder->hasMany(Theory::class, 'theories');
    }
}

As you can see, the syntax used in the Fluent builder is similar to what you'd use in Laravel migrations. The Builder object is fully documented in code and with all concrete methods that will hint on every modern IDE.