Log all properties but only when a change in one is detected

[ifranlaloe]

I ran into a use case where these properties didn't cut it:

protected static $logAttributes = ['*'];
protected static $ignoreChangedAttributes = ['updated_at'];
protected static $logAttributesToIgnore  = ['updated_at'];
protected static $submitEmptyLogs = false;

$onlyDirty=true almost got me there in combination with $submitEmptyLogs=false.
They made it possible to log only with "real" changes, but I also want to see all the fields of the changed record.

The use case

Log all the properties when one of the properties in "old" and "new" are different. But ignore updated_at.

My solution

My solution for now is not pretty, but it makes updating the DetectsChanges.php simple
I decided to use the $onlyDirty functionaltity for finding changes but with maintaining all the properties

• Add static::logAllWhenChangesDetected with function shouldLogAllWhenChangesDetected().
• Perform the same functionality as $this->shouldLogOnlyDirty() && isset($properties['old'])
• Back-up the current properties, this will be used to log all of them when changes have been detected
• The result is:

        if ($this->shouldLogAllWhenChangesDetected() && isset($properties['old'])) {
            $backUpProperties = $properties;

            $properties['attributes'] = array_udiff_assoc(
                $properties['attributes'],
                $properties['old'],
                function ($new, $old) {
                    if ($old === null || $new === null) {
                        return $new === $old ? 0 : 1;
                    }
                    return $new <=> $old;
                }
            );
            $properties['old'] = collect($properties['old'])
                ->only(array_keys($properties['attributes']))
                ->all();

            if(empty($properties['attributes'] ?? []) && empty($properties['old'] ?? []))
                $properties = [];
            else
                $properties = $backUpProperties;
        }

As you can see it's a direct copy of the $onlyDirty functionality. Of course when it would be implemented it could be a lot cleaner. Copying causes a lot of overhead.

I hope that you will consider this feature. Feel free to contact me if you have any question.
Or let me know if I missed something in the documentation that does make this possible with another property.

[Gummibeer]

I've used your mentioned 4 configuration properties and added a testcase in #747 - below is the JSON dump of the logged changes after updating only the name.
If I've understood your requirements right it's exactly what you want?
If not could you post an example what you expect to be logged after running an update.

{
    "attributes":{
        "id":3,
        "name":"my changed name",
        "text":"my text",
        "user_id":null,
        "json":null,
        "price":null
    },
    "old":{
        "id":3,
        "name":"my name",
        "text":"my text",
        "user_id":null,
        "json":null,
        "price":null
    }
}

[ifranlaloe]

Thank you for attending to my request. Your output is exactly what I want in case of a change.
I saw that you used this line in the test case:

$changes = $activity->changes();

What does the output look like when no changes have been detected?

[Gummibeer]

With your example you won't be able to trigger an update activity without changes except you update updated_at.
So there simply won't be an activity. But lets say you add an ignored attribute unimportant and update only this you will also not get an activity because you said that this attribute should be ignored for change detection and also excluded from changes array and empty logs shouldn't be submitted.
So if there is an update activity it will include all attributes (except the excluded) - if only ignored attributes changed there will be no log at all.

Because all these config properties are always topic of issues: if you have any idea how to improve DX by renaming them or switching to a fluent config api or whatever you would prefer - feel free to tell! 🙂

[ifranlaloe]

That is exactly what I want. No activity without changes.

I understand your concern about the properties, it took me a while to understand them all and how they work together. From all the properties the naming of onlyDirty says the least about what the property does.

@offtopic
From reading the code in DetectsChanges.php I understood that an activity will be logged when a change occurred. In this case we have to look at what is considered a "change". To me personally a change is:

A visible difference between 2 objects

However DetectsChanges.php registers every update, for instance: model.update($request->all()) as a change even if $request->all() doesn't contain any changes. Except when you use onlyDirty. Then it aligns with my definition.

This difference of the meaning change caused my use case to break.
In my opinion the functionality in test case #747 should be the default behavior.
But of course in this case you would need to create another property to model the current default behavior.

• Something like alwaysLogOnUpdate
• And the config property onlyDirty could be changed to logDiff, since that is what it does.

@Ontopic
It is difficult for me to advise you about renaming all the properties, because I have gotten used to the current way, and most of them make sense to. I also understand the complexity in trying to support many use cases with properties. A lot is possible now and the advanced documentation helps a lot with that.

Thank you again for taking my request serious. I hope that I have given you a different perspective and some food for thought.