When creating a service, various test data is prepared for posting information, image files, determining layouts, creating data retrieval logic, and so on.

In Laravel, using a feature called Seeder, you can easily share test data within the team.

It is a much more efficient method than individually inserting test data using tools like Tinker.

The content of this article is a summary of the official documentation (Seeding)

Verification environment

Laravel 6

Table design

We will create test data for this table state.

Generating files with a command

Generate a Seeder file with a command.

php artisan make:seeder UsersTableSeeder

databases/seeds/UsersTableSeeder.php has been generated.

Writing test data in the Seeder

UsersTableSeeder.php

<?php

use Illuminate\Database\Seeder;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Hash;

class UsersTableSeeder extends Seeder
{
    public function run()
    {
        DB::table('users')->delete();

        $data = [
            [
                'name' => 'User 1',
                'email' => 'user1@test.com',
                'password' => Hash::make('password'),
                'created_at' => now(),
                'updated_at' => now()
            ]
        ];

        DB::table('users')->insert($data);
    }
}

There are various ways to write, but I define $data like this and insert it.

Defining in DatabaseSeeder.php

Edit databases/seeds/DatabaseSeeder.php to load the Seeder file created earlier.

    public function run()
    {
        $this->call(UsersTableSeeder::class);
    }

Once defined like this, run the command.

composer dump-autoload

When classes are loaded like below, it's OK.

composer dump-autoload
Generating optimized autoload files
> Illuminate\Foundation\ComposerScripts::postAutoloadDump
> @php artisan package:discover --ansi
Discovered Package: diglactic/laravel-breadcrumbs
Discovered Package: facade/ignition
Discovered Package: fideloper/proxy
Discovered Package: laravel/tinker
Discovered Package: laravel/ui
Discovered Package: nesbot/carbon
Discovered Package: nunomaduro/collision
Package manifest generated successfully.
Generated optimized autoload files containing 5233 classes

Then, all you have to do is run the seeder with a command.

Commands

php artisan db:seed
or
php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

php artisan db:seed is used when you simply want to load Seeder files without affecting the database.

php artisan migrate:fresh --seed is used when you want to refresh the data (initialization) and then insert test data using Seeder.

In the development environment, using Seeder to generate test data is usually the best approach, so personally, I often use

php artisan migrate:fresh --seed

Using a for loop in the Seeder file

A sample is provided below.

Please refer to it.

    public function run()
    {
        DB::table('users')->delete();

        for($i = 0; $i < 100; $i++){
            $data[] =
            [
                'name' => "User ${i}",
                'email' => "user${i}@test.com",
                'password' => Hash::make('password'),
                'created_at' => now(),
                'updated_at' => now()
            ];
        }

        DB::table('users')->insert($data);
    }

You can simply add to the array.

Summary

How was it?

The above are the steps to use Seeder to create test data in Laravel.

If you have any feedback or find any typos, please contact me via Twitter DM.