Trying to access alias inside a custom helper throws 'Not found' message. Laravel 5.7

Question

For my app i've created a function that returns either a view or an already rendered view inside some json. Since i will need to use this function quite alot i made a custom helper so i can call it from every controller. however unfortunately, when i try to use another alias inside this helper it does not seem to recognize it. giving me a message that says that the alias 'Request' was not found even though i can access and use it from any controller.

I've added the helper inside de config/app.php with an alias so it's easier to access it.

This is my code:

controller:

use AppHelper;

class MediaController extends Controller
{

    public function index() 
    {
        return AppHelper::returnView("backend.media.index", "navigation.media.media");
    }
    ...

AppHelper:

<?php
namespace App\Helpers;
use Request;

class AppHelper
{
    public static function returnView($viewName, $menu, $data = []) {

        $template = $viewName.'-template';
        $view = $viewName;

        if (Request::ajax()) {
            if(isset($data->id)){
                $navigation = view('backend.navigation.right-menu')->with('id', $data->id)->with('menuItems', $menu)->render();
        } else {
        ...

In the helper i've also tried to call the 'Request' via its actual path but to no avail.

I've tried looking up a solution for an hour or so now but just can't seem to find it on google or on stackoverflow.

Thanks for reading.

kind regards, Simon

Answer 1

I don't think

use Request;

is specific enough, considering the number of different Request classes in Laravel. You're probably looking for:

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

if you want to define Request $request somewhere in your AppHelper, or the alias Request, available via:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Request;

Which should allow the use of Request::ajax() and similar functions.

Alternatively, you could pass the $request object, which is already available from any controller method, from your MediaController function index(), like:

MediaController.php

use Illuminate\Http\Request;

public function index(Request $request){
  return AppHelper::returnView($request, "backend.media.index", "navigation.media.media");
}

AppHelper.php

public static function returnView($request, $viewName, $menu, $data = []) {
  ...
  if($request->ajax()){
    ...
  }
}

Edit: Some caveats to the ajax() method:

use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Request;
...
if(Request::ajax()){ ... }

The above should work fine, or, remove the use statement and reference with

if(\Request::ajax()){ ... }

When passing the $request, make sure it is an instance of Illuminate\Http\Request, and $request->ajax() should work fine.