I get this error when I try to register a new user. 'The department id must be an integer.' - sql

Question

I get this error when I try to register a new user: 'The department id must be an integer'. All the answers I'm receiving are helpful just that I get confused at times. So I've added more codes for clarification purposes. I have been battling around for some hours now. Here is the migration file.
Schema::create('departments', function (Blueprint $table) {
$table->bigIncrements('department_id');
$table->integer('department_name');
$table->integer('department_code')->unique();
$table->text('department_discription')->nullable();
$table->tinyInteger('department_status')->default(1);
$table->softDeletes();
$table->timestamps();
This is the DepartmentController codes
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;
use App\Http\Requests\CreateDepartmentRequest;
use App\Http\Requests\UpdateDepartmentRequest;
use App\Repositories\DepartmentRepository;
use App\Http\Controllers\AppBaseController;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Flash;
use Response;
class DepartmentController extends AppBaseController
{
/** #var DepartmentRepository */
private $departmentRepository;
public function __construct(DepartmentRepository $departmentRepo)
{
$this->departmentRepository = $departmentRepo;
}
/**
* Display a listing of the Department.
*
* #param Request $request
*
* #return Response
*/
public function index(Request $request)
{
$departments = $this->departmentRepository->all();
return view('departments.index')
->with('departments', $departments);
}
/**
* Show the form for creating a new Department.
*
* #return Response
*/
public function create()
{
return view('departments.create');
}
/**
* Store a newly created Department in storage.
*
* #param CreateDepartmentRequest $request
*
* #return Response
*/
public function store(CreateDepartmentRequest $request)
{
$input = $request->all();
$department = $this->departmentRepository->create($input);
Flash::success('Department saved successfully.');
return redirect(route('departments.index'));
}
/**
* Display the specified Department.
*
* #param int $id
*
* #return Response
*/
public function show($id)
{
$department = $this->departmentRepository->find($id);
if (empty($department)) {
Flash::error('Department not found');
return redirect(route('departments.index'));
}
return view('departments.show')->with('department', $department);
}
/**
* Show the form for editing the specified Department.
*
* #param int $id
*
* #return Response
*/
public function edit($id)
{
$department = $this->departmentRepository->find($id);
if (empty($department)) {
Flash::error('Department not found');
return redirect(route('departments.index'));
}
return view('departments.edit')->with('department', $department);
}
/**
* Update the specified Department in storage.
*
* #param int $id
* #param UpdateDepartmentRequest $request
*
* #return Response
*/
public function update($id, UpdateDepartmentRequest $request)
{
$department = $this->departmentRepository->find($id);
if (empty($department)) {
Flash::error('Department not found');
return redirect(route('departments.index'));
}
$department = $this->departmentRepository->update($request->all(), $id);
Flash::success('Department updated successfully.');
return redirect(route('departments.index'));
}
/**
* Remove the specified Department from storage.
*
* #param int $id
*
* #throws \Exception
*
* #return Response
*/
public function destroy($id)
{
$department = $this->departmentRepository->find($id);
if (empty($department)) {
Flash::error('Department not found');
return redirect(route('departments.index'));
}
$this->departmentRepository->delete($id);
Flash::success('Department deleted successfully.');
return redirect(route('departments.index'));
}
}
here is the department code
<?php
namespace App\Models;
use Eloquent as Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\SoftDeletes;
/**
* Class Departments
* #package App\Models
* #version September 21, 2020, 4:31 pm UTC
*
* #property integer $department_name
* #property integer $department_code
* #property string $department_discription
* #property boolean $department_status
*/
class Departments extends Model
{
use SoftDeletes;
public $table = 'departments';
const CREATED_AT = 'created_at';
const UPDATED_AT = 'updated_at';
protected $dates = ['deleted_at'];
public $fillable = [
'department_name',
'department_code',
'department_discription',
'department_status'
];
/**
* The attributes that should be casted to native types.
*
* #var array
*/
protected $casts = [
'department_id' => 'integer',
'department_name' => 'integer',
'department_code' => 'integer',
'department_discription' => 'string',
'department_status' => 'boolean'
];
/**
* Validation rules
*
* #var array
*/
public static $rules = [
'department_name' => 'required|integer',
'department_code' => 'required|integer',
'department_discription' => 'nullable|string',
'department_status' => 'required|boolean',
'deleted_at' => 'nullable',
'created_at' => 'nullable',
'updated_at' => 'nullable'
];
}

Answer 1

in your migration, try make 'department_id' the primary key declaratively:
$table->primary('department_id');
then (like sta said in the comment) in your Department model:
protected $primaryKey = "department_id";
or change it's name to just 'id'

Answer 2

you should create a depatment like this:
\App\Models\Department::create([
'department_name' => 1,
'department_code' => 1,
'department_discription' => 'first department',
'department_status' => 1
]);
don't forget to add columns name to fillable variable in your Department model

Answer 3

If I understand your question, you are going to need to change your department_id field in the db.
Create a new migration and for your department_id key, set it like this.
$table->unsignedBigInteger('department_id')->autoIncrement();
That should take care of your issue. What it will do is maintain the integrity of your db in the event that you need to add a relationship because it will create that field the same type as the id on other tables (unsignedBigInteger), but it will also autoIncrement the field.