Generating Sequential Laravel Collections

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Generating Sequential Laravel Collections image

When you need to create a collection with a specific number of calculated elements, Laravel's times method provides an elegant solution. This method is particularly useful for generating sequences, time slots, pagination links, or any scenario requiring numbered iterations.

// Generate multiplication table of 5
$fives = Collection::times(10, function ($number) {
return $number * 5;
});
// [5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45, 50]

Let's explore a practical example of a meeting scheduler that generates available time slots:

<?php
 
namespace App\Services;
 
use Carbon\Carbon;
use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
 
class MeetingScheduler
{
public function generateTimeSlots(Carbon $date, array $config = []): Collection
{
$startTime = $config['start_time'] ?? '09:00';
$endTime = $config['end_time'] ?? '17:00';
$duration = $config['duration'] ?? 30;
 
$slots = $this->calculateSlotCount($startTime, $endTime, $duration);
return Collection::times($slots, function ($slot) use ($date, $startTime, $duration) {
$start = Carbon::parse($date->format('Y-m-d') . ' ' . $startTime)
->addMinutes(($slot - 1) * $duration);
 
$end = $start->copy()->addMinutes($duration);
return [
'id' => $slot,
'start_time' => $start->format('H:i'),
'end_time' => $end->format('H:i'),
'formatted' => sprintf(
'%s - %s',
$start->format('g:i A'),
$end->format('g:i A')
),
'is_available' => !$this->isSlotBooked($start, $end)
];
});
}
 
private function calculateSlotCount($start, $end, $duration): int
{
$startMinutes = Carbon::parse($start)->diffInMinutes(Carbon::parse($end));
return (int) floor($startMinutes / $duration);
}
 
private function isSlotBooked(Carbon $start, Carbon $end): bool
{
// Check against existing bookings
return false;
}
}

The times method simplifies the process of generating sequential data, providing a clean and efficient way to create collections with calculated values.

Harris Raftopoulos photo

Senior Software Engineer | 15+ years in PHP, 11+ with Laravel

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