Category Model

Hierarchical category system for organizing products and other entities.

Overview

The Category model provides a flexible, hierarchical system for organizing products and other categorizable entities. It supports parent-child relationships, metadata, and is used in conjunction with the Categorizable model for polymorphic categorization.

Attributes

Attribute	Type	Description
id	int	Primary key
uuid	string	Unique identifier for routing
name	string	Category name
description	string	Category description
slug	string	URL-friendly identifier
image_url	string	Category image URL
is_active	boolean	Active status flag
display_order	int	Display order
metadata	json	Additional JSON data
created_at	timestamp	Creation timestamp
updated_at	timestamp	Last update timestamp

Relationships

Belongs To

• belongsTo(Category) - Parent category

Has Many

• hasMany(Category) - Child categories

Belongs To Many

• belongsToMany(Product) - Categorized products (via Categorizable)

Key Features

Hierarchical Structure

• Parent-child category relationships
• Unlimited nesting
• Flexible category trees

Metadata & Customization

• Store additional data as JSON
• Custom display order
• Category images and branding

Active/Inactive Status

• Easily enable or disable categories
• Filter by active status

Routing & Slugs

• URL-friendly slugs for SEO
• Route key using UUID

Usage Examples

Creating a Category

$category = Category::create([
    'uuid' => Str::uuid(),
    'name' => 'Pain Relief',
    'description' => 'Medications for pain management',
    'slug' => 'pain-relief',
    'is_active' => true,
    'display_order' => 1,
    'metadata' => [
        'icon' => 'pain-relief-icon',
        'color' => '#FF5733'
    ]
]);

Getting Associated Data

// Get child categories
$children = $category->children;

// Get parent category
$parent = $category->parent;

// Get categorized products
$products = $category->products;

Scopes

Active Categories

// Get only active categories
Category::where('is_active', true)->get();

Route Key

The Category model uses the uuid as the route key for secure routing:

// Route model binding uses UUID
Route::get('/categories/{category}', function (Category $category) {
    return $category;
});

Related Models

• Product - Categorized products
• Categorizable - Categorization relationships