[8.x] Add a mergeIfMissing method to the Illuminate Http Request class

[davidpeach]

When unticking a checkbox and submitting my form, no value for that field is sent to the server. I couldn't guarantee that the column actually wanted to be turned off.

So I added a little check to merge in the "off" state when that key was missing from the request.

Thought it might make a nice little addition.

Before:

if ($request->missing('boolean_setting')) {
    $request->merge(['boolean_setting' => 0]);
}

After:

$request->mergeIfMissing(['boolean_setting' => 0])

[JustSteveKing]

Love this idea!

[taylorotwell]

I'm a little concerned there is some subtle unexpected behavior here maybe.

You call getInputSource()->has(...); however, the missing method itself just calls has on the request, which could have slightly different behavior. Therefore, I'm worried the definition of "missing" is not consistent between the actual missing method and mergeIfMissing.

Is there a reason you did getInputSource()->has(...) instead of just calling has?

I'm marking this as draft until that is answered. Please mark as ready for review when answered.

[davidpeach]

Thanks for the feedback @taylorotwell . Much appreciated.

I see what you mean ye. Not just calling has was an oversight on my part.

I've now reversed the check too, so it uses the missing method in a filter, which makes more sense to me, as its inside a mergeIfMissing method.

Thanks again.