Translate a SQL request to Laravel - sql

Question

I have a complicate request that I hope translate with Eloquent ORM or with Query Builder for a Laravel Website, but I can't do this, particularly because of INNER JOIN and the double name on FROM
This is my SQL request
SELECT u.name,
u.photo,
m.*
FROM users u
INNER JOIN messages m ON u.id = m.useridsend
INNER JOIN (
SELECT useridsend,
MAX(created_at) AS created_at
FROM messages
GROUP BY useridsend
) r ON m.useridsend = r.useridsend
AND m.created_at = r.created_at
WHERE m.useridreceive=2
ORDER BY m.created_at DESC;

Answer 1

Here is my attempt at making your query into Eloquent syntax using Raw Expressions. Bear in mind this may not be correct as I haven't tested it, and your use of shorthand makes it awkward to build. You need a lot of raw queries in your code, and I assume the AND statement was for the inner join:
DB::selectRaw("u.name, u.photo, m.* from users u")
->joinRaw("messages m ON u.id = m.useridsend")
->joinRaw("(SELECT useridsend,
MAX(created_at) AS created_at
FROM messages
GROUP BY useridsend)
r ON m.useridsend = r.useridsend
AND m.created_at = r.created_at")
->whereRaw("m.useridreceive=2")
->orderBy('m.created_at', 'DESC')
->get();
Like I said, it might not be 100% correct, but I hope you get the idea of how to use raw queries. Using fewer shorthand names for tables might also make it easier to use standard Eloquent code.
EDIT
Also, could this not be simplified by taking advantage of Models? It looks like you're trying to get all messages sent to a user. With a User model defined as well as a Message model, you could take advantage of some Eager Loading techniques and use something like
User::where('id', '=', '2')->with('messages')->get();