Eloquent: firstWhere returns wrong result when passing an operator as value

[marvinrabe]

• Laravel Version: 8.83.x, 9.0.x
• PHP Version: 8.1.1
• Database Driver & Version: Postgresql 10

Description:

When calling the firstWhere() method of a Model with the second Parameter being "-" and when there is no database entry with "-" it returns a seemingly random Model object.

Probably it assumes "-" is the operator and value is "null". Which is not correct.

Steps To Reproduce:

Failing Test:

        User::factory()->create([
            "name" => 'Foo'
        ]);

        $user = User::firstWhere('name', '-');

        $this->assertNull($user);

This test is using the User model. But every other model will do.

When explicitly specifying an operator it works as expected:

$user = User::query()->firstWhere('name', '=', '-');

[driesvints]

I think this is Postgres specific behavior? I get null back on MySQL.

[marvinrabe]

@driesvints It is still a Laravel bug though.

Try something different (this one should work in MySQL too):

        User::factory()->create([
            "name" => '='
        ]);

        $user = User::firstWhere('name', '=');

        $this->assertNotNull($user); // FAIL

You are expecting it is looking for a user with name =. But it does something completely different. The query looks something like this:

SELECT * FROM 'users' WHERE name = null

When using where and first it gives you a different result:

        User::factory()->create([
            "name" => '='
        ]);

        $user = User::where('name', '=')->first();

        $this->assertNotNull($user); // PASS

This one does the correct query:

SELECT * FROM 'users' WHERE name = '='

Passing 2 arguments to a where function (even firstWhere) should result in the default operator being = in all cases. It is a problem with passing the arguments from the firstWhere to the actual where function.

The query builder will always receive more than 2 arguments when it is called through firstWhere:

framework/src/Illuminate/Database/Query/Builder.php

Lines 706 to 708 in dbcb3a2

	[$value, $operator] = $this->prepareValueAndOperator(
	$value, $operator, func_num_args() === 2
	);

[driesvints]

@marvinrabe I still get null for your first example. Please try a support channel.

[marvinrabe]

@driesvints Please note the assertion is different that time.

        User::factory()->create([
            "name" => '='
        ]);

        $user = User::firstWhere('name', '=');

        $this->assertNotNull($user); // FAIL

This $user should not be NULL in this case.

[driesvints]

Hah, I finally managed to reproduce that, thanks.

[marvinrabe]

The problem only occurs when the value (passing it as $operator) is a valid Operator according to the specific \Illuminate\Database\Query\Grammars\Grammar. Otherwise it is fixed on this line:

framework/src/Illuminate/Database/Query/Builder.php

Lines 730 to 732 in dbcb3a2

	if ($this->invalidOperator($operator)) {
	[$value, $operator] = [$operator, '='];
	}

[marvinrabe]

This issue also effects passing enums to the firstWhere method:

enum SpecialPeople: string
{
    case Taylor = 'Taylor Otwell';
}

User::firstWhere('name', SpecialPeople::Taylor);

The above throws an error while validating SpecialPeople::Taylor as an operator:

TypeError : strtolower(): Argument #1 ($string) must be of type string, Tests\Feature\Suit given

This would not happen when the default operator is correctly applied on Line 706 (Builder).

[driesvints]

@marvinrabe that seems more of a feature request to me.

[marvinrabe]

@driesvints It would be a feature request if I wanted to pass an enum as an operator. But in this case the Enum should be the value. But because of the error in the default handling it is not working correctly. This is an additional unwanted side effect of always passing more than 2 parameters from firstWhere to where. Fixing this issue, fixes passing Enums as value to firstWhere too.

Please note that in this case everything works perfectly:

enum SpecialPeople: string
{
    case Taylor = 'Taylor Otwell';
}

User::firstWhere('name', '=', SpecialPeople::Taylor);

This error exists because of validating an operator, that should not be an operator in the first place.