Integrity constraint violation firstOrCreate()

Question

I am getting the following error after trying to call firstOrCreate() twice on a Model ( ProductItem ), representing a Schema with a primary key AND a unique key:

Illuminate\Database\QueryException with message 'SQLSTATE[23000]: Integrity constraint violation: 1062 Duplicate entry '1000' for key 'product_items_item_ref_id_unique' (SQL: insert into product_items ( item_ref_id , name , updated_at , created_at ) values (1000, 'Item 1', 2017-05-03 19:20:26, 2017-05-03 19:20:26))'

1. On first run , I would expect that firstOrCreate() would attempt to fetch for an item, otherwise if it does not exist, it creates (inserts) and returns a new one. <- it inserts successfully
2. If I run it a second time , I assume it should return the existing one. <- this is where the error occurs

The migration is as follows:

class CreateProductItemTable extends Migration
{
    /**
     * Run the migrations.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function up()
    {
        Schema::create('product_items', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->increments('id');
            $table->integer('item_ref_id')->unique(); 
            $table->string('name');
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

    /**
     * Reverse the migrations.
     *
     * @return void
     */
    public function down()
    {
        Schema::drop('product_items');
    }
}

The code used to create the item:

$product_item = App\ProductItem::firstOrCreate(['item_ref_id'=>1000,'name'=>'Item 1')] );

I have gone through the following posts, none of which have helped

1. laravel first0rNew Integrity Constraint Violation
2. Laravel 5 Integrity constraint violation
3. Laravel - Integrity constraint violation: 1062 Duplicate entry

Answer 1

I believe you have a syntax problem. The documentation describes the syntax as the following:

$flight = App\Flight::firstOrCreate(
    ['name' => 'Flight 10'], ['delayed' => 1]
);

Notice the fields are in different arrays, rather than two elements in the same array. Give that a shot. So for you it'd be:

$product_item = App\ProductItem::firstOrCreate(['item_ref_id'=>1000], ['name'=>'Item 1')] );

Answer 2

I know this is old topic, but you can check the Traits you are using inside your model like "SoftDelete" this might show you the error also

because when the code try to check "Find" first it will not find it but its already in Database but deleted