Laravel 5.1 Unknown database type enum requested

While running php artisan migrate, I got the following error

[Doctrine\DBAL\DBALException]
Unknown database type enum requested, Doctrine\DBAL\Platforms\MySqlPlatform may not support it.

How to resolve this issue.

Code:

public function up() {
    Schema::table('blogs', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->string('wordpress_id')->nullable();
        $table->string('google_blog_id')->nullable()->change();
    });
}

Solution 1:

It is a known issue as stated in Laravel 5.1 documentation.

Note: Renaming columns in a table with a enum column is not currently supported.

It happens when you have a enum column in your database table. Whether you are trying to rename another column, or change another column to nullable, this bug will appear. It's an issue with Doctrine\DBAL.

An easy fix for this is to just add this constructor method in your database migration file.

public function __construct()
{
    DB::getDoctrineSchemaManager()->getDatabasePlatform()->registerDoctrineTypeMapping('enum', 'string');
}

This will map all the ENUM columns to VARCHAR(), and the column will accept any string.

This worked for me on Laravel 5.1 and Laravel 5.3. I hope this bug can be fixed soon.

Credit to @Gmatkowski's answer at https://stackoverflow.com/a/32860409/1193201

Solution 2:

The official Laravel 5.1 documentation states:

Note: Renaming columns in a table with a enum column is not currently supported.

It doesn't matter if you're trying to change another column, if the table contains a enum anywhere it won't work. It's a Doctrine DBAL issue.

As a workaround you could either drop the column and add a new one (column data will be lost):

public function up()
{
    Schema::table('users', function(Blueprint $table)
    {
        $table->dropColumn('name');
    });

    Schema::table('users', function(Blueprint $table)
    {
        $table->text('username');
    });
}

or use a DB statement:

public function up()
{
    DB::statement('ALTER TABLE projects CHANGE slug url VARCHAR(200)');
}

public function down()
{
    DB::statement('ALTER TABLE projects CHANGE url slug VARCHAR(200)');
}

Source: https://github.com/laravel/framework/issues/1186

Solution 3:

I get rid of this problem by creating a new Migration Class and making my migrations extending from it. Maybe there are multiple ways to make it more "standard" but this is just a very simple case which works perfectly for our team.

use Doctrine\DBAL\Types\{StringType, Type};
use Illuminate\Database\Migrations\Migration;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\{DB, Log};

/**
 * Class ExtendedMigration
 * Use it when the involved table(s) has enum type column(s)
 */
class ExtendedMigration extends Migration
{
    /**
     * ExtendedMigration constructor.
     * Handle Laravel Issue related with modifying tables with enum columns
     */
    public function __construct()
    {
        try {
            Type::hasType('enum') ?: Type::addType('enum', StringType::class);
            Type::hasType('timestamp') ?: Type::addType('timestamp', DateTimeType::class);
        } catch (\Exception $exception) {
            Log::info($exception->getMessage());
        }
    }
}

Then as explained before just extend your migration from it

class SampleMigration extends ExtendedMigration
{
    public function up()
    {
        Schema::create('invitations', function (Blueprint $table) {
            ...
            $table->enum('status', ['sent', 'consumed', 'expired'])->default('sent');
            ...
        });
    }

    public function down()
    {
        Schema::dropIfExists('invitations');
    }
}

Solution 4:

You should not use enum at all. Even with laravel 5.8, problem is not resolved.

Thank's to everyone who reminded that

The official Laravel 5.1 documentation states:

Note: Renaming columns in a table with a enum column is not currently supported.

Plus you will have the same problem when adding available options into enum column declaration.

It brings me to a conclusion that You should use enum with care. or even You should not use enum at all.

I cannot vote up any answer that offer to replace enum with string. NO, you need to create a lookup table and replace enum with unsignedInteger as a foreign key.

It is a lot of work and you'll be upset doing it without previous unit-test coverage, but this is a right solution.

You may be even fired for doing this correctly, because it is taking too long, but, don't worry, you'll find a better job. :)

Here is an example of how difficult would it be adding available options into enum column declaration

say you have this:

Schema::create('blogs', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->enum('type', [BlogType::KEY_PAYMENTS]);
    $table->index(['type', 'created_at']);
...

and you need to make more types available

public function up(): void
{
    Schema::table('blogs', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->dropIndex(['type', 'created_at']);
        $table->enum('type_tmp', [
            BlogType::KEY_PAYMENTS,
            BlogType::KEY_CATS,
            BlogType::KEY_DOGS,
        ])->after('type');
    });

    DB::statement('update `blogs` as te set te.`type_tmp` = te.`type` ');

    Schema::table('blogs', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->dropColumn('type');
    });

    Schema::table('blogs', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->enum('type', [
            BlogType::KEY_PAYMENTS,
            BlogType::KEY_CATS,
            BlogType::KEY_DOGS,
        ])->after('type_tmp');
    });

    DB::statement('update `blogs` as te set te.`type` = te.`type_tmp` ');

    Schema::table('blogs', function (Blueprint $table) {
        $table->dropColumn('type_tmp');
        $table->index(['type', 'created_at']);
    });
}

Solution 5:

You can either use the above suggestions or can add the below code to your migration file...

public function up()
    {
DB::connection()->getDoctrineSchemaManager()->getDatabasePlatform()->registerDoctrineTypeMapping('enum', 'string');

Schema::table('<YOUR_TABLE>', function (Blueprint $table) {
//YOUR CHANGES HERE
}    
    }