Installation Guide

Requirements

Installation Steps

Step 1: Install via Composer

Install the package using Composer:

composer require webpatser/laravel-countries

Step 2: Run the Installer

Use the interactive installer to set up the database and configuration:

php artisan countries:install

The installer will:

• Ask for your preferred database table name (defaults to countries)
• Generate and run database migrations
• Import all 249 countries with flags, currencies, and regional data
• Publish the configuration file
• Display all country flags to verify successful installation

Manual Installation

If you prefer to set up the package manually:

Publish Configuration

php artisan vendor:publish --tag=countries-config

Generate and Run Migrations

php artisan countries:migration
php artisan migrate

Seed the Database

php artisan db:seed --class=CountriesSeeder

Configuration

The configuration file is published to config/countries.php:

return [
    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Database Table Name
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
    'table_name' => 'countries',
 
    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Cache Settings
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
    'cache_ttl' => 0, // Disable caching (recommended for database source)
 
    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Data Source
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
    'data_source' => 'database', // 'database' or 'json'
 
    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Default Sort Field
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
    'default_sort' => 'name',
 
    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Localization
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
    'localized' => false,
 
    /*
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    | Search Settings
    |--------------------------------------------------------------------------
    */
    'search' => [
        'fields' => ['name', 'capital'],
        'case_sensitive' => false,
    ],
];

Verify Installation

Test your installation with this simple code:

use Webpatser\Countries\Countries;
 
$countries = new Countries();
$usa = $countries->getOne('US');
 
echo $usa['name']; // "United States"
echo $usa['flag']; // "🇺🇸"

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

php artisan countries:install --force

DB_CONNECTION=mysql
DB_HOST=127.0.0.1
DB_PORT=3306
DB_DATABASE=your_database
DB_USERNAME=your_username
DB_PASSWORD=your_password

Package Not Found

If Composer cannot find the package, ensure you have added the correct repository or the package has been published to Packagist.