Laravel 4.2 Controller for responding to bs_grid AJAX requests.

GridController.php

<?php

/*
 * Usage: Point bs_grid to GridController@postModelName (make sure route is defined for the action)
 * Whitelist models by making appropriate public methods.
 * Controller will respond to basic use and sorting appropriately.
 */

class GridController extends BaseController {

	public function __construct()
	{
		//It would be wise to define some sensible filters
		//...unless you like to be mined
		//$this->beforeFilter('auth');
	}

	//In this way we create a white list of models...
	//You probably do not want all models accessed this way
	public function postUser()
	{
		return $this->BSGrid('User');
	}

	public function postPhoto()
	{
		return $this->BSGrid('Photo');
	}

	//this takes a Laravel Model name and returns the JSON
	//that bs_grid expects
	//currently handles sorting and pagination appropriately
	//TODO: respond to filter
	//TODO: actually pay attention to the fields
	public function BSGrid($model)
	{
		//default required data
		$data = array(
			'total_rows' => null,
			'page_data' => null,
			'error' => null,
			'filter_error' => array(),
			'debug_message' => array()
		);

		try {
			//get the proper number of rows, paginated
			$request = $model::take(Input::get('rows_per_page'))
				->skip((Input::get('page_num')-1)*Input::get('rows_per_page'));

			//now specify sorting, etc
			foreach(is_array(Input::get('sorting')) ? Input::get('sorting') : []  as $sort)
			{
				if($sort['order'] == 'ascending')
					$request->orderBy($sort['field'], 'ASC');
				if($sort['order'] == 'descending')
					$request->orderBy($sort['field'], 'DESC');
			}

			//get data and rows
			$data['page_data'] = $request->get()->toArray();
			$data['total_rows'] = $model::all()->count();
		}
		catch (Exception $e) {
			$data['error'] = 'Server error in GridController.';
			$data['debug_message'][] = $e->getMessage();
		}

		return $data;
	}
}