Database and Models

Relevant source files

• .github/workflows/tests.yml
• CHANGELOG.md
• app/Models/User.php
• composer.json
• database/factories/UserFactory.php
• database/seeders/DatabaseSeeder.php
• phpunit.xml
• tests/Feature/ExampleTest.php
• tests/TestCase.php
• tests/Unit/ExampleTest.php

This document covers the database layer and data modeling architecture of the Laravel application. It explains the Eloquent ORM implementation, model factories for test data generation, and database seeding mechanisms. This page focuses on the core data structures and their relationships within the application.

For information about database configuration files and service integration, see Service Integration and External Dependencies. For testing infrastructure that utilizes these models, see Testing Infrastructure.

Database Configuration and ORM Foundation

The application uses Laravel's Eloquent ORM as the primary database abstraction layer. Database configuration is managed through environment variables and configuration files, with different settings for development, testing, and production environments.

Testing Database Configuration

The testing environment uses an in-memory SQLite database for fast, isolated test execution. This configuration is defined in phpunit.xml25-26 which sets DB_CONNECTION=sqlite and DB_DATABASE=:memory: for all test runs.

Sources: phpunit.xml20-33 app/Models/User.php1-49 database/factories/UserFactory.php1-45

Eloquent Model Architecture

The application's primary model is the User class, which extends Laravel's Authenticatable base class and incorporates several traits for enhanced functionality.

User Model Structure

The User model demonstrates standard Eloquent patterns with mass assignment protection, attribute casting, and trait integration:

Component	Purpose	Implementation
Mass Assignment	Defines fillable attributes	$fillable array with name, email, password
Attribute Hiding	Protects sensitive data in serialization	$hidden array with password, remember_token
Type Casting	Automatic type conversion	casts() method defining email_verified_at as datetime, password as hashed
Factory Integration	Test data generation	HasFactory trait linking to UserFactory
Notifications	System notifications	Notifiable trait for email/SMS notifications

Sources: app/Models/User.php10-48 database/factories/UserFactory.php12-44

Model Factory System

The factory system provides a structured approach to generating test data using the UserFactory class. This factory extends Laravel's base Factory class and integrates with the Faker library for realistic data generation.

Factory Implementation Details

The UserFactory implements several key methods for data generation:

• definition() method: Returns default attribute values for User model instances
• unverified() method: State modifier that creates users with unverified email addresses
• Static password caching: Optimizes performance by reusing hashed passwords across factory instances

The factory definition includes these attributes:

• name: Generated using fake()->name()
• email: Generated using fake()->unique()->safeEmail()
• email_verified_at: Set to current timestamp via now()
• password: Cached hashed version of "password"
• remember_token: Random 10-character string via Str::random(10)

Sources: database/factories/UserFactory.php24-33 database/factories/UserFactory.php38-43

Database Seeding

The seeding system populates the database with initial or test data using the DatabaseSeeder class. This seeder demonstrates both factory usage and direct model creation patterns.

Seeder Configuration

The DatabaseSeeder class contains a run() method that defines the database population strategy:

The seeder currently creates a single test user with predetermined attributes, overriding the factory's default name and email values. The commented line shows how to generate multiple users using the factory's default definition.

Sources: database/seeders/DatabaseSeeder.php14-22

Autoloading and Namespace Organization

The Composer configuration establishes PSR-4 autoloading for database-related classes, ensuring proper class resolution for models, factories, and seeders.

Namespace Mapping

Namespace	Directory	Purpose
App\\	app/	Application models and core classes
Database\\Factories\\	database/factories/	Model factories for test data
Database\\Seeders\\	database/seeders/	Database seeding classes

This organization supports Laravel's convention-based class discovery and enables automatic factory resolution through the HasFactory trait.

Sources: composer.json22-27

Testing Integration

The database and model system integrates closely with the testing infrastructure, providing isolated, fast test execution through in-memory SQLite databases and factory-generated test data.

Test Environment Configuration

The PHPUnit configuration establishes a complete testing environment with:

• SQLite in-memory database for zero-persistence testing
• Array-based cache and session drivers for speed
• Synchronized queue processing for predictable test execution

Sources: phpunit.xml20-33 tests/TestCase.php1-11 tests/Feature/ExampleTest.php1-20