How to create Helper function and use it in Laravel

A Helper function is a small piece of code that performs a specific task or operation and can be used anywhere in your application.

In Laravel you need to create a new PHP file to write Helper functions and specify the file path in the composer.json file.

In this article, you will learn how to create Helper functions in Laravel and how to use it.

How to Create and Use Helper function in CodeIgniter 4

Create Helper Class
Update config/app.php
Update Composer
Calling Helper function in Controller
Calling Helper function in View
Conclusion

1. Create Helper Class

Create Helpers.php file in app/ folder.
You can access Model, Auth, etc. from this file.
I am including Employees Model – use App\Models\Employees;.
Create 2 static methods –
- helperfunction1() – Return simple text.
- getEmployeeStatus() – This method takes 1 parameter – employee id. Fetch record by $id from employees table and return status – return $record->status;.

Completed Code

<?php

namespace App\Helpers;
use App\Models\Employees;

class Helper {

    public static function helperfunction1(){
        return "helper function 1 response";
    }

    public static function getEmployeeStatus($id=0){
        $record = Employees::find($id);

        return $record->status;
    }
}

2. Update config/app.php

Open config/app.php file.
Add 'Helper' => App\Helpers\Helper::class, in aliases.

'aliases' => Facade::defaultAliases()->merge([
    // ....
    'Helper' => App\Helpers\Helper::class,
])->toArray(),

3. Update Composer

Open composer.json file.
Specify Helpers.php file in autoload –

"autoload": {
   "psr-4": {
       "App\\": "app/",
       "Database\\Factories\\": "database/factories/",
       "Database\\Seeders\\": "database/seeders/"
   },
   "files": [
       "app/Helpers.php"
   ]
},

Update autoload files –

composer dump-autoload

4. Calling Helper function in Controller

Create PagesController controller –

php artisan make:controller PageController

To access Helper function need to include it using – use Helper;.

Call Helper function in Controller –

Helper::functionname();

Completed Code

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Helper;

class PagesController extends Controller {

    public function index() {
        // Calling
        $helperfunction1_res = Helper::helperfunction1();
        $employeeStatus = Helper::getEmployeeStatus(2); // Return 0 or 1
       
        // Print return response
        echo "<b>helperfunction1() response -</b> ".$helperfunction1_res."<br>";
        echo "<b>getEmployeeStatus() response -</b> ".$employeeStatus;
        die;

    }

}

Output –

helperfunction1() response - helper function 1 response
getEmployeeStatus() response - 1

5. Calling Helper function in View

Calling Helper function in view is similar to the controller but does not require to include Helper Class.

Call Helper function in View –

Helper::functionname();

Completed Code

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <title>How to create Helper function and use it in Laravel</title>

</head>
<body>
    @php
    // Calling
    $helperfunction1_res = Helper::helperfunction1();
    $employeeStatus = Helper::getEmployeeStatus(2); // Return 0 or 1

    // Print return response
    echo "<b>helperfunction1() response -</b> ".$helperfunction1_res."<br>";
    echo "<b>getEmployeeStatus() response -</b> ".$employeeStatus;

    @endphp

</body>
</html>

Output –

Output will be the same as the controller.

helperfunction1() response - helper function 1 response 
getEmployeeStatus() response - 1

6. Conclusion

In the example, I have created Helper class and defined methods in it but you can also create functions without the class.

Define the functions that you want to access globally in the project.

Make sure to run composer dump-autoload after specifying the file path in composer otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to access Helper functions.

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How to create Helper function and use it in Laravel

Contents

1. Create Helper Class

2. Update config/app.php

3. Update Composer

4. Calling Helper function in Controller

5. Calling Helper function in View

6. Conclusion

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