get data from table and from relative foreign tables in SQL - sql

Question

Hi have a text search input that looks for matching records in the DB and gets all the data from a table:
let's say like this:
$q = Input::get('items');
$q = "\"" . "($q)" . "\"";
$items = DB::table('my_items')->whereRaw(
'MATCH(item_name) AGAINST(? IN BOOLEAN MODE)',
array($q)
)->get();
So I get all the items in the DB from my textsearch, then I send the result as json to some script that updates my page with the items:
return Response()->json($items);
The relations are:
My_item:
public function brand(){
return $this->hasOne('App\Brand', 'id', 'brand_id');
}
Brand:
public function My_item(){
return $this->belongsToMany('App\My_item');
}
Now the problem here is that in 'my_items' table I have some data as IDs that reference foreign tables.
For example I will have a 'brand_id' that for example references a 'brands' table where I can have information regarding the brand.
So for example I could have brand_id = 3 that means 'Microsoft' in my brands table (id = 3, name = microsoft).
Now what I need to do is not only passing the brand_id to my view but also the actual information (name), in this case Microsoft so that I can put that info in the item description.
But, how can I get that information before sending with that query? Is there some sort of flag I can use in the query like $items = DB::table bla bla with foreign?

Answer 1

this way works, DB:: method is dropped for:
$items = My_item::with('brand')->where('item_name', 'LIKE', "%$q%")->get();
this one doesn't:
DB::table('my_items')::with('brand')->where('item_name', 'LIKE', "%$q%")->get();

Answer 2

First of all, you can simplify your search query to something like this:
My_item::where('item_name', 'LIKE', "%$q%")->get();
Now, assign relations the relation to your other tables in your Models. Then you can get all information using the following syntax:
My_item::with('brand')->where('item_name', 'LIKE', "%$q%")->get();
Read more about relations here: https://laravel.com/docs/5.1/eloquent-relationships