Support Custom Separators in data_get, data_set, data_has, and data_forget

[Abather]

Here's a well-written suggestion for Laravel framework:

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Feature Request: Custom Separator Support for Data Helper Functions

Summary

Add custom separator support to Laravel's data helper functions (data_get, data_set, data_has, data_forget) to allow developers to use alternative delimiters beyond the default dot notation.

Motivation

Currently, Laravel's data helpers only support dot notation (.) as a separator. However, there are scenarios where using alternative separators would be beneficial:

1. Avoiding conflicts with dotted keys - When working with data that naturally contains dots in keys (e.g., 'first.name', 'config.value')
2. Improved readability - Arrow notation (->) mirrors object property access syntax
3. Consistency with existing patterns - Laravel already uses -> in relationships and queries
4. External API compatibility - Some APIs use different separators (e.g., /, :, |)

Examples

Current Limitation

$data = [
    'user.email' => 'test@example.com',  // Dot in key name
    'user' => ['name' => 'John']
];

// Ambiguous - which 'user' does this target?
data_get($data, 'user.email'); // Returns null, not 'test@example.com'

Proposed Solution

// Using arrow separator to avoid conflicts
data_get($data, 'user->name', separator: '->');

// Using slash separator for path-like structures
data_get($config, 'app/database/host', separator: '/');

// Using colon for namespace-style access
data_get($settings, 'cache:driver', separator: ':');

// Backwards compatible - default remains dot notation
data_get($data, 'user.name'); // Still works as before

Proposed Implementation

Function Signatures

function data_get($target, $key, $default = null, $separator = '.')
function data_set(&$target, $key, $value, $overwrite = true, $separator = '.')
function data_has($target, $key, $separator = '.')
function data_forget(&$target, $key, $separator = '.')

Implementation Example for data_get

function data_get($target, $key, $default = null, $separator = '.')
{
    if (is_null($key)) {
        return $target;
    }

    $key = is_array($key) ? $key : explode($separator, $key);

    foreach ($key as $i => $segment) {
        unset($key[$i]);

        if (is_null($segment)) {
            return $target;
        }

        if ($segment === '*') {
            if (! is_iterable($target)) {
                return value($default);
            }

            $result = [];

            foreach ($target as $item) {
                $result[] = data_get($item, $key, $default, $separator);
            }

            return in_array('*', $key) ? Arr::collapse($result) : $result;
        }

        if (Arr::accessible($target) && Arr::exists($target, $segment)) {
            $target = $target[$segment];
        } elseif (is_object($target) && isset($target->{$segment})) {
            $target = $target->{$segment};
        } else {
            return value($default);
        }
    }

    return $target;
}

Benefits

1. Backwards Compatible - Default separator remains ., existing code continues to work
2. Flexible - Developers can choose separators that match their domain
3. Consistent API - Same parameter pattern across all four helper functions
4. Minimal Changes - Only requires adding one parameter to existing functions

Use Cases

Working with External APIs

// GraphQL-style paths
$data = data_get($response, 'data->user->profile->avatar', separator: '->');

// REST API paths
$value = data_get($config, 'api/v1/endpoints/users', separator: '/');

Impact

• Breaking Changes: None - fully backwards compatible
• Documentation: Minimal updates to helper function docs
• Performance: Negligible - single parameter addition
• Maintenance: Low - changes isolated to four helper functions

Related

This enhancement complements Laravel's existing flexibility with array/object access and would align with the framework's philosophy of developer happiness through intuitive, expressive syntax.

I submit a PR with full implementation and tests.