How to Create and Use Custom Helper Functions in Laravel?

Defining Custom Helper Functions in Laravel

In Laravel, you may encounter repetitive code across different views that performs text formatting tasks. To alleviate this, it's beneficial to create custom helper functions that can be invoked globally.

To define such helpers, follow these steps:

1. Create a helpers.php file: In your application's root directory (usually app/), create a new file named helpers.php. This file will house your custom helper functions.
2. Load the helpers.php file: Include the helpers.php file in your application's composer.json file by adding it to the "files" section of the "autoload" configuration, as follows:

"files": [
    "app/helpers.php"
]

3. Run composer dump-autoload: Execute the "composer dump-autoload" command to load the helpers file.
4. Define your helper functions: Within the helpers.php file, define your custom helper functions as needed. For example, to create a "fooFormatText" helper function, you would write something like this:

function fooFormatText($text) {
    // Perform text formatting operations
    return $formattedText;
}

5. Access the helper functions in views: Once the helpers are defined, you can access them in your blade views by simply calling them like any other function. For instance:

<p>Foo Formated text: {{ fooFormatText($text) }}</p>

Alternative Location for Helpers File:

If you prefer to keep your helpers separate from the app directory, you can place the helpers.php file in the bootstrap directory. However, don't forget to update the "files" section in your composer.json file to point to the new location:

"files": [
    "bootstrap/helpers.php"
]

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