Is it possible to change the datatype of a column from int to double without losing data with Laravel migration

Question

I'm trying to change the datatype one of my column. My migration to create table was:

public function up()
    {
        Schema::create('place_ratings', function (Blueprint $table) {
            $table->bigIncrements('id');
            $table->unsignedBigInteger('places_id');
            $table->foreign('places_id')->references('id')->on('places');
            $table->integer('rating');
            $table->mediumText('comments');
            $table->timestamps();
        });
    }

I want to change the datatype of rating table from integer to float. I already have some data in my table and I don't want to lose them. So, how can I do that?

The easiest solution would be to export your data and check it in local database. — AH.Pooladvand, Mar 04 '20 at 12:22

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 04 '20 at 12:37

You should be able to change that column using a simple migration, see https://laravel.com/docs/5.8/migrations#modifying-columns for additional info:

You need to install composer require doctrine/dbal first for the ability to generate sql that changes these columns.

Schema::table('place_ratings', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->decimal('rating', 16, 4)->change();
});

The 16 and 4 means the total length and the decimal precision, so in this case it would have numbers of range 0.0000 (nothing before the dot, 4 after) to 000000000000.0000 (12 before the dot, 4 after, so 16 total).

Be sure to run it locally first to make sure you don't have unwanted side effects.

I've some data in that column. And the type of rating column is now int. When I make the migration and change the data type to float, is there any possibility to lose those data in rating column? — Sudipto Roy, Mar 05 '20 at 09:15

Is it possible to change the datatype of a column from int to double without losing data with Laravel migration

1 Answers1