How to Create a Mock Controller with User Data in Laravel

 

Working on a Laravel project and need sample user data for testing purposes? Setting up a mock controller with some realistic user data can be a great approach, especially if you're prototyping or want to focus on front-end features without setting up a database. In this article, we’ll walk through creating a UsersController in Laravel that provides mock user data and implements CRUD operations for demonstration and testing.

1. Setting Up the Controller

To begin, create a new controller in Laravel named UsersController. This will serve as our mock API endpoint for managing user data. We’ll store our user data in an array, simulating a database table.

<?php

namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Validator;
use Illuminate\Pagination\LengthAwarePaginator;
use Illuminate\Support\Collection;

class UsersController extends Controller
{
    public $users;

    function __construct() {
        // Sample users data
        $this->users = [
            [
                'id' => 1,
                'name' => 'Emma Smith',
                'email' => 'smith@kpmg.com',
                'position' => 'Art Director',
                'role' => 'Administrator',
                'last_login' => 'Yesterday',
                'two_steps' => false,
                'joined_day' => "10 Nov 2022, 9:23 pm",
                'online' => false
            ],
            // Additional sample users here
        ];
    }
}

This constructor method initializes an array of user data. Each user has attributes like id, name, email, role, and last_login. You can customize these attributes to fit your needs.

2. Fetching Users List with Pagination and Filters

Our next step is to create a method to fetch all users, including pagination and filtering functionality. This helps us simulate a real database where we can retrieve, sort, and filter data.

public function getUsers(Request $request)
{
    $usersCollection = collect($this->users);
    $page = $request->input('page', 1);
    $perPage = $request->input("items_per_page", 10);

    // Search and filter logic here
    // Paginate users
    $paginatedUsers = $this->paginate($usersCollection, $perPage, $page);

    return response(["data" => $paginatedUsers->toArray()], 200);
}

This method retrieves users as a collection and paginates the results. We also implement a helper function paginate() to manually paginate the data.

3. Adding a User

Adding a new user in this mock setup requires validating the input and appending it to our users array. Here’s how:

public function addUser(Request $request)
{
    $data = json_decode($request->getContent(), true);

    $validator = Validator::make($data, [
        'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
        'email' => 'required|string|email|max:255',
        'role' => 'required|string|max:255',
    ]);

    if ($validator->fails()) {
        return response(["errors" => $validator->errors()], 422);
    }

    $data["id"] = count($this->users) + 1;
    $this->users[] = $data;

    return response(["data" => $data], 201);
}

This function adds a new user only if the data is valid, simulating the behavior of a real database-backed POST request.

4. Updating User Data

Updating a user’s information is similar to adding a new user, but here we first locate the user by ID, then update the existing array entry:

public function updateUser(Request $request, $id)
{
    $data = json_decode($request->getContent(), true);

    $validator = Validator::make($data, [
        'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
        'email' => 'required|string|email|max:255',
        'role' => 'required|string|max:255',
    ]);

    if ($validator->fails()) {
        return response(["errors" => $validator->errors()], 422);
    }

    $user = collect($this->users)->firstWhere('id', $id);

    if (!$user) {
        return response(["message" => "User not found"], 404);
    }

    $user = array_merge($user, $data);
    return response(["data" => $user], 200);
}

5. Deleting a User

Deleting a user is as straightforward as removing the user by ID from the array. Here’s a simple deleteUser function:

<?php
public function deleteUser($id)
{
    $key = array_search($id, array_column($this->users, 'id'));

    if ($key === false) {
        return response(["message" => "User not found"], 404);
    }

    unset($this->users[$key]);
    return response(null, 204);
}

6. Creating the Paginate Function

Since we’re working with an array instead of a database, we need a custom paginator. Here’s a function to handle manual pagination:

<?php
public function paginate($items, $perPage = 10, $page = null)
{
    $page = $page ?: (Paginator::resolveCurrentPage() ?: 1);
    $items = $items instanceof Collection ? $items : Collection::make($items);
    return new LengthAwarePaginator($items->forPage($page, $perPage)->values(), $items->count(), $perPage, $page);
}

The paginate function lets us handle pagination just like we would with Eloquent collections.

Wrapping Up

With this setup, you now have a fully functional mock user controller in Laravel! This mock controller can be extended with additional endpoints or adapted to handle more complex mock data requirements. Whether you’re building a front-end prototype or testing Laravel API responses, this approach can save you time and simplify your development process.

You can get the complete code here on Github

	<?php
	namespace App\Http\Controllers;
	use Illuminate\Http\Request;
	use Illuminate\Pagination\Paginator;
	use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
	use Illuminate\Pagination\LengthAwarePaginator;
	use Illuminate\Support\Str;
	use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Validator;
	class UsersController extends Controller
	{
	/**
	* @OA\Info(
	* version="1.0.0",
	* title="Keenthemes API",
	* description="Keenthemes products Mock API",
	* )
	*
	*
	* @OA\Server(
	* url=L5_SWAGGER_CONST_HOST,
	* description="Keenthemes server"
	* )
	*
	* @OA\Tag(
	* name="Users",
	* description="API Endpoints of Users"
	* )
	*
	*
	*/
	public $users;
	public $properties = ["id", "name", "email", "position", 'role', 'last_login', 'two_steps', 'joined_day', 'online'];
	function __construct() {
	$this->users = [
	[
	'id' => 1,
	'name' => 'Emma Smith',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-6.jpg',
	'email' => 'smith@kpmg.com',
	'position' => 'Art Director',
	'role' => 'Administrator',
	'last_login' => 'Yesterday',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "10 Nov 2022, 9:23 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 2,
	'name' => 'Melody Macy',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'M', 'state' => 'danger'],
	'email' => 'melody@altbox.com',
	'position' => 'Marketing Analytic',
	'role' => 'Analyst',
	'last_login' => '20 mins ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "10 Nov 2022, 8:43 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 3,
	'name' => 'Max Smith',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-1.jpg',
	'email' => 'max@kt.com',
	'position' => 'Software Enginer',
	'role' => 'Developer',
	'last_login' => '3 days ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "22 Sep 2022, 8:43 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 4,
	'name' => 'Sean Bean',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-5.jpg',
	'email' => 'sean@dellito.com',
	'position' => 'Web Developer',
	'role' => 'Support',
	'last_login' => '5 hours ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "21 Feb 2022, 6:43 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 5,
	'name' => 'Brian Cox',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-25.jpg',
	'email' => 'brian@exchange.com',
	'position' => 'UI/UX Designer',
	'role' => 'Developer',
	'last_login' => '2 days ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "10 Mar 2022, 9:23 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 6,
	'name' => 'Mikaela Collins',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'M', 'state' => 'warning'],
	'email' => 'mik@pex.com',
	'position' => 'Head Of Marketing',
	'role' => 'Administrator',
	'last_login' => '5 days ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "20 Dec 2022, 10:10 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 7,
	'name' => 'Francis Mitcham',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-9.jpg',
	'email' => 'f.mit@kpmg.com',
	'position' => 'Software Arcitect',
	'role' => 'Trial',
	'last_login' => '3 weeks ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "10 Nov 2022, 6:43 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 8,
	'name' => 'Olivia Wild',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'O', 'state' => 'danger'],
	'email' => 'olivia@corpmail.com',
	'position' => 'System Admin',
	'role' => 'Administrator',
	'last_login' => 'Yesterday',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "19 Aug 2022, 11:05 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 9,
	'name' => 'Neil Owen',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'N', 'state' => 'primary'],
	'email' => 'owen.neil@gmail.com',
	'position' => 'Account Manager',
	'role' => 'Analyst',
	'last_login' => '20 mins ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "25 Oct 2022, 10:30 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 10,
	'name' => 'Dan Wilson',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-23.jpg',
	'email' => 'dam@consilting.com',
	'position' => 'Web Desinger',
	'role' => 'Developer',
	'last_login' => '3 days ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "19 Aug 2022, 10:10 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 11,
	'name' => 'Emma Bold',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'E', 'state' => 'danger'],
	'email' => 'emma@intenso.com',
	'position' => 'Corporate Finance',
	'role' => 'Support',
	'last_login' => '5 hours ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "20 Dec 2022, 11:05 am",
	'online' => true
	],
	[
	'id' => 12,
	'name' => 'Ana Crown',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-12.jpg',
	'email' => 'ana.cf@limtel.com',
	'position' => 'Customer Relationship',
	'role' => 'Developer',
	'last_login' => '2 days ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "20 Dec 2022, 10:10 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 13,
	'name' => 'Robert Doe',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'R', 'state' => 'info'],
	'email' => 'robert@benko.com',
	'position' => 'Marketing Executive',
	'role' => 'Administrator',
	'last_login' => '5 days ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "05 May 2022, 10:30 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 14,
	'name' => 'John Miller',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-13.jpg',
	'email' => 'miller@mapple.com',
	'position' => 'Project Manager',
	'role' => 'Trial',
	'last_login' => '3 weeks ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "25 Jul 2022, 11:30 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 15,
	'name' => 'Lucy Kunic',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'L', 'state' => 'success'],
	'email' => 'lucy.m@fentech.com',
	'position' => 'SEO Master',
	'role' => 'Administrator',
	'last_login' => 'Yesterday',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "05 May 2022, 6:05 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 16,
	'name' => 'Minnie Cooper',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'M', 'state' => 'primary'],
	'email' => 'minnie.cooper@kt.com',
	'position' => 'Accountant',
	'role' => 'Analyst',
	'last_login' => '20 mins ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "20 Dec 2022, 5:20 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 17,
	'name' => 'Annette Smith',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-14.jpg',
	'email' => 'annette.smith@kt.com',
	'position' => 'Accountant',
	'role' => 'Developer',
	'last_login' => '3 days ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "24 Jun 2022, 11:30 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 18,
	'name' => 'Kristen Webb',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-18.jpg',
	'email' => 'kristen.webb@dellito.com',
	'position' => 'Accountant',
	'role' => 'Support',
	'last_login' => '5 hours ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "22 Sep 2022, 6:05 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 19,
	'name' => 'Vicki Moreno',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-22.jpg',
	'email' => 'vicki.moreno@exchange.com',
	'position' => 'Accountant',
	'role' => 'Developer',
	'last_login' => '2 days ago',
	'two_steps' => true,
	'joined_day' => "25 Oct 2022, 10:30 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 20,
	'name' => 'Lucas Hicks',
	'initials' => ['label' => 'L', 'state' => 'danger'],
	'email' => 'lucas.hicks@pex.com',
	'position' => 'Head Of Marketing',
	'role' => 'Administrator',
	'last_login' => '5 days ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "19 Aug 2022, 11:05 am",
	'online' => false
	],
	[
	'id' => 21,
	'name' => 'Nellie Jones',
	'avatar' => 'avatars/300-24.jpg',
	'email' => 'nellie.jones@kpmg.com',
	'position' => 'Software Arcitect',
	'role' => 'Trial',
	'last_login' => '3 weeks ago',
	'two_steps' => false,
	'joined_day' => "10 Nov 2022, 5:20 pm",
	'online' => false
	],
	];
	}
	/**
	* @OA\Get(
	* path="/user/{id}",
	* tags={"Users"},
	* description="Get user by id.",
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="id",
	* description="User id",
	* required=true,
	* in="path",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="integer"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Response(response="200", description="User by provided id.", @OA\JsonContent()),
	* @OA\Response(response="404", description="User with the provided id was not found.", @OA\JsonContent())
	* )
	*/
	function getUser(String $id){
	$user = null;
	foreach ($this->users as $object) {
	if($object["id"] == $id){
	$user = $object;
	}
	}
	if(!$user){
	return response(["payload"=>["message" => "User with id ".$id." was not found."]], 404);
	}
	return response(["data"=>$user], 200);
	}
	/**
	* @OA\Put(
	* path="/user",
	* tags={"Users"},
	* description="Add new user.",
	* @OA\RequestBody(
	* required=true,
	* @OA\MediaType(
	* mediaType="raw",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="json",
	* @OA\Property(
	* property="name",
	* type="string"
	* ),
	* @OA\Property(
	* property="email",
	* type="string"
	* ),
	* @OA\Property(
	* property="role",
	* type="string"
	* ),
	* example={"name": "James Parker", "email": "j.parker@kt.com", "role": "Administrator"}
	* )
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Response(response="422", description="Not all required fields are provided.", @OA\JsonContent()),
	* @OA\Response(response="200", description="User has been successfully added.", @OA\JsonContent())
	* )
	*/
	function addUser(Request $request){
	$data = json_decode($request->getContent(), true);
	$validationResult = Validator::make($data, [
	'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
	'avatar' => 'string|max:255',
	'email' => 'required|string|email|max:255',
	'role' => 'required|string|max:255',
	]);
	if(count($validationResult->errors())!=0) {
	return response(["payload"=>["message"=>"The given data was invalid.", "errors"=>$validationResult->errors()]], 422);
	}
	$data["id"] = count($this->users)+1;
	array_push($this->users, $data);
	return response(["data" => $data], 200);
	}
	/**
	* @OA\Post(
	* path="/user/{id}",
	* tags={"Users"},
	* description="Update user info by id.",
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="id",
	* description="User id",
	* required=true,
	* in="path",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="integer"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\RequestBody(
	* required=true,
	* @OA\MediaType(
	* mediaType="raw",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="json",
	* @OA\Property(
	* property="name",
	* type="string"
	* ),
	* @OA\Property(
	* property="email",
	* type="string"
	* ),
	* @OA\Property(
	* property="role",
	* type="string"
	* ),
	* example={"name": "James Parker", "email": "j.parker@kt.com", "role": "Administrator"}
	* )
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Response(response="422", description="Not all required filed are provided.", @OA\JsonContent()),
	* @OA\Response(response="200", description="Users data has been successfully updated.", @OA\JsonContent())
	* )
	*/
	function updateUser(Request $request, String $id){
	$data = json_decode($request->getContent(), true);
	$validationResult = Validator::make($data, [
	'name' => 'required|string|max:255',
	'avatar' => 'string|max:255',
	'email' => 'required|string|email|max:255',
	'role' => 'required|string|max:255',
	]);
	if(count($validationResult->errors())!=0) {
	return response(["payload"=>["message"=>"The given data was invalid.", "errors"=>$validationResult->errors()]], 422);
	}
	$updateUser = [];
	foreach ($this->users as $object) {
	if($object["id"] == $id){
	if(array_key_exists("initials", $object) && array_key_exists("avatar", $data)){
	unset($object["initials"]);
	$object["avatar"] = $data["avatar"];
	}
	$updateUser = (object) array_merge((array) $object, (array) $data);
	}
	}
	return response(["data" => $updateUser], 200);
	}
	/**
	* @OA\Delete(
	* path="/user/{id}",
	* tags={"Users"},
	* description="Delete user by id.",
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="id",
	* description="User id",
	* required=true,
	* in="path",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="integer"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Response(response="200", description="User has been successfully deleted.", @OA\JsonContent()),
	* @OA\Response(response="404", description="User with provided id was not found.", @OA\JsonContent())
	* )
	*/
	function deleteUser($id){
	$userFound = false;
	$usersCollection = collect($this->users);
	foreach($usersCollection as $key => $item){
	if($item['id'] == $id){
	$userFound = true;
	unset($usersCollection[$key]);
	}
	}
	if(!$userFound){
	return response(["payload"=>["message" => "User with id ".$id." was not found."]], 404);
	}
	return response(200);
	}
	/**
	* @OA\Get(
	* path="/users/query",
	* tags={"Users"},
	* description="Get user query.",
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="page",
	* description="Pagination current page",
	* in="query",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="integer"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="items_per_page",
	* description="Items per page",
	* in="query",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="integer"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="search",
	* description="Search key.",
	* in="query",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="string"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="sort",
	* description="Sort label.",
	* in="query",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="string"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Parameter(
	* name="order",
	* description="Sort order asc/desc.",
	* in="query",
	* @OA\Schema(
	* type="string"
	* )
	* ),
	* @OA\Response(response="200", description="List of the users.", @OA\JsonContent())
	* )
	*
	* @OA\Get(
	* path="/users/query?filter_online=false",
	* tags={"Users"},
	* description="Get filterd users.",
	* @OA\Response(response="200", description="List of the users.", @OA\JsonContent()),
	* )
	*/
	function getUsers(Request $request){
	$searchableFields = ["name", "email", "role", "last_login"];
	$usersCollection = collect($this->users);
	$filters = collect([]);
	$search = $request->input('search');
	$currentPage = $request->input('page') ? $request->input('page') : 1;
	$itemPerPage = $request->input("items_per_page") ? $request->input("items_per_page") : 10;
	$sortLabel = $request->input("sort");
	$order = $request->input("order");
	foreach ($this->properties as $value) {
	$filterValue = $request->input("filter_".$value);
	if($filterValue){
	if($value === 'online' || $value === 'two_steps'){
	$filters[$value] = $filterValue === 'true' ? true : false;
	} else {
	$filters[$value] = $filterValue;
	}
	}
	}
	if($order === "desc"){
	$usersCollection = $usersCollection->sortByDesc($sortLabel);
	} else {
	$usersCollection = $usersCollection->sortBy($sortLabel);
	}
	foreach ($filters as $key => $value) {
	$usersCollection = $usersCollection->filter(function ($item) use ($key, $value) {
	return strtolower($item[$key]) == strtolower($value);
	});
	}
	$pagination = $usersCollection;
	if($search){
	$searchedArray = [];
	foreach($usersCollection as $item){
	foreach($searchableFields as $field){
	if(strpos(strtolower($item[$field]), strtolower($search)) !== false){
	array_push($searchedArray, $item);
	break;
	}
	}
	}
	$pagination = $searchedArray;
	}
	$paginatedUsers = $this->paginate($pagination, $itemPerPage)->toArray();
	$newLinks = [];
	foreach ($paginatedUsers["links"] as $element) {
	if($element["url"]){
	$element["page"] = (int) str_replace("/?page=","", $element["url"]); ;
	} else {
	$element["page"] = null;
	}
	array_push($newLinks, $element);
	}
	return response([
	"data" => $paginatedUsers["data"],
	"payload" => [
	"pagination" => [
	"page"=> $paginatedUsers["current_page"],
	"first_page_url"=> $paginatedUsers["first_page_url"],
	"from"=> $paginatedUsers["from"],
	"last_page"=> $paginatedUsers["last_page"],
	"links"=> $newLinks,
	"next_page_url"=> $paginatedUsers["next_page_url"],
	"items_per_page"=> $paginatedUsers["per_page"],
	"prev_page_url"=> $paginatedUsers["prev_page_url"],
	"to"=> $paginatedUsers["to"],
	"total"=> $paginatedUsers["total"]
	]
	]
	], 200);
	}
	public function paginate($items, $perPage = 5, $page = null, $options = [])
	{
	$page = $page ?: (Paginator::resolveCurrentPage() ?: 1);
	$items = $items instanceof Collection ? $items : Collection::make($items);
	return new LengthAwarePaginator($items->forPage($page, $perPage)->values()->all(), $items->count(), $perPage, $page, $options);
	}
	}

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