Laravel 5.4 query check if value exists between the keys/values of an array

Question

I'm using Laravel 5.4 and this is my use case:

I have a list of Lessons , every Lesson is associated with a specific User and has a date , star_at and end_at fields. In the form that allows me to add/edit Lessons I need to do a validation check ( we choose the date, start and end in the form ): - The new Lesson shouldn't be in the time range ( start_at -> end_at ) of another Lesson during the selected date .

So I did a query to retrieve all the Lessons ( as an array of key(start_at) & value(end_at) ) of the current User where date = the selected date in the form.

Now I need to check if the start_at value that we've chosen in the form exists in the time range of any of the retrieved Lessons array records. and maybe then display the error ( There is already a Lesson in this time range at this date ).

Please help, it can be a bit unclear, but I can explain further if you need.

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Based on my understanding of the question, the below code should do the trick. Change the model and field names based on your application.

protected function store()
{
    $input = request()->all();

    $lessons = Lesson::whereDate('date', Carbon::parse($input['date']))
        ->where('start_at', '>=', Carbon::parse($input['start_at']))
        ->where('end_at', '<=', Carbon::parse($input['start_at']))
        ->count();

    if ($lessons) {
        // lesson in exists on this date in the given time frame.
        // handle error
    }

    Lesson::create($input);

    // handle success
}