Laravel 5 Collections Static API: Returning the Items of a Collection With unwrap

The unwrap method is the logical opposite of the wrap method, in that if the provided value is already a collection, the collection's underlying items will be returned. If the provided value is not a collection instance, the value is simply returned without modification.

#Signature

1public static function unwrap(
2    $value
3);

#Example Use

The following example demonstrates using the unwrap method to gain access to a collections underlying items:

1use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
2 
3// Create a new collection.
4$collection = collect([
5   'Alice', 'Bob', 'Charlie'
6]);
7 
8// Get the collection's items.
9$items = Collection::unwrap($collection);

We could use the unwrap method to help ensure that an argument supplied to a function is always an array:

 1use Illuminate\Support\Arr;
 2use Illuminate\Support\Collection;
 3 
 4function someArrayOnlyFunction($value) {
 5    // First, unwrap the value if it is a collection.
 6    $value = Collection::unwrap($value);
 7 
 8    // Next, let's ensure that the remaining value is an array.
 9    $value = Arr::wrap($value);
10 
11    // Now, we are guaranteed that the $value is an array.
12 
13}

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