Gracefully Handle Record Deletion with Laravel Eloquent Soft Deletes

// 1. In your migration file (e.g., create_posts_table.php):
Schema::create('posts', function (Blueprint $table) {
    $table->id();
    $table->string('title');
    $table->text('body');
    $table->timestamps();
    $table->softDeletes(); // Adds 'deleted_at' column
});

// 2. In your Eloquent Model (e.g., App\Models\Post.php):
namespace App\Models;

use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\SoftDeletes; // Import the trait

class Post extends Model
{
    use SoftDeletes; // Use the SoftDeletes trait

    protected $fillable = ['title', 'body'];
}

// 3. Usage examples in a Controller or elsewhere:
use App\Models\Post;

// Delete a post (it will be soft deleted)
$post = Post::find(1);
$post->delete();

// Retrieve only non-deleted posts (default behavior)
$activePosts = Post::all();

// Retrieve all posts, including soft deleted ones
$allPosts = Post::withTrashed()->get();

// Retrieve only soft deleted posts
$trashedPosts = Post::onlyTrashed()->get();

// Restore a soft deleted post
$trashedPost = Post::withTrashed()->find(1);
if ($trashedPost) {
    $trashedPost->restore();
}

// Permanently delete a post (force delete)
$postToDeletePermanently = Post::withTrashed()->find(2);
if ($postToDeletePermanently) {
    $postToDeletePermanently->forceDelete();
}