Anonymous Events

Purpose and Scope

This document covers the AnonymousEvent class, which enables ad-hoc event broadcasting without creating formal event classes. Anonymous events provide a fluent API for quickly dispatching broadcasts when defining a dedicated event class is unnecessary or impractical.

For information about standard broadcast events that implement ShouldBroadcast, see Standard Broadcast Events. For the event contracts and interfaces, see Event Contracts.

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Overview

The AnonymousEvent class allows applications to broadcast messages directly without defining event classes. It implements the ShouldBroadcast contract and provides a chainable API for configuring all broadcasting parameters inline.

Key Features:

• Fluent API for configuring channels, payloads, and broadcasting behavior
• Support for all channel types (public, private, presence, encrypted)
• Connection selection and socket exclusion
• Immediate or queued broadcasting
• No formal event class definition required

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php1-154

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Class Structure

Inheritance and Traits

The AnonymousEvent class uses multiple traits to compose its functionality:

Trait	Purpose	Source
Dispatchable	Provides static dispatch() method for event creation	Line 16
InteractsWithBroadcasting	Enables connection selection and channel configuration	Line 17
InteractsWithSockets	Supports socket-based user exclusion (toOthers)	Line 18

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php14-18

Dependencies

Diagram: AnonymousEvent Class Dependencies

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php14-48

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Creating Anonymous Events

Constructor Requirements

The AnonymousEvent constructor requires two parameters:

Parameter	Type	Description
$broadcastManager	BroadcastManager	Manager instance for broadcasting execution
$channels	array|Channel|string	Target channel(s) for the broadcast

The constructor normalizes the channels parameter into an array using Arr::wrap().

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php48-51

Internal State

The class maintains the following protected properties:

Property	Type	Default	Description
$connection	?string	null	Broadcaster connection to use
$name	?string	null	Event name for broadcast
$payload	array	[]	Data to broadcast
$includeCurrentUser	bool	true	Whether to include current user in broadcast
$shouldBroadcastNow	bool	false	Whether to broadcast synchronously
$channels	array	(required)	Channels to broadcast on

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php20-50

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Fluent Configuration API

Configuration Methods

Diagram: AnonymousEvent Fluent API Flow

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php53-117

Method Details

via(string $connection): static

Sets the broadcaster connection to use for this event. This allows selecting a specific driver configuration from broadcasting.php.

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php56-61

as(string $name): static

Sets the event name that will be broadcast. If not set, the class basename is used as the event name.

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php66-71

with(array|Arrayable $payload): static

Sets the payload data to broadcast. Accepts either:

• Plain array
• Instance implementing Arrayable interface

The method recursively converts Arrayable objects to arrays, ensuring all payload data is serializable.

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php76-85

toOthers(): static

Excludes the current user from receiving the broadcast. Sets $includeCurrentUser to false, which is checked during the broadcast execution.

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php90-95

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Broadcasting Execution

Broadcasting Flow

Diagram: Anonymous Event Broadcasting Sequence

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php100-117

send(): void

Queues the event for asynchronous broadcasting:

1. Creates a PendingBroadcast wrapper via $broadcastManager->event($this)
2. Applies the specified connection using via($connection)
3. Applies socket exclusion if toOthers() was called
4. Returns without waiting for broadcast completion

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php110-117

sendNow(): void

Broadcasts the event immediately without queuing:

1. Sets $shouldBroadcastNow to true
2. Calls send() method
3. The shouldBroadcastNow() method returns true, signaling immediate execution

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php100-105

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ShouldBroadcast Implementation

The AnonymousEvent class implements all required methods of the ShouldBroadcast contract:

Method Implementations

Method	Return Type	Description	Source
broadcastAs()	string	Returns event name or class basename	src/AnonymousEvent.php122-125
broadcastWith()	array	Returns configured payload data	src/AnonymousEvent.php132-135
broadcastOn()	array	Returns array of channel objects/strings	src/AnonymousEvent.php142-145
shouldBroadcastNow()	bool	Returns synchronous broadcast flag	src/AnonymousEvent.php150-153

Event Name Resolution

Diagram: broadcastAs() Name Resolution Logic

If no custom name is set via as(), the method falls back to the class basename, which for anonymous events is "AnonymousEvent".

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php122-125

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Integration with BroadcastManager

Manager Interaction

The AnonymousEvent integrates with BroadcastManager through the following interaction pattern:

Diagram: AnonymousEvent and BroadcastManager Integration

The send() method delegates to the BroadcastManager:

1. Calls $this->broadcastManager->event($this) to create a PendingBroadcast
2. Configures the pending broadcast with connection and exclusion settings
3. Allows BroadcastManager to handle queue/immediate broadcast logic

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php110-117

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Usage Patterns

Typical Usage Example

Anonymous events follow this general pattern:

1. Instantiate with BroadcastManager and target channels
2. Chain configuration methods (via, as, with, toOthers)
3. Execute with send() or sendNow()

Channel Configuration

The constructor accepts flexible channel formats:

Input Type	Example	Result
String	"order-updates"	["order-updates"]
Channel object	new Channel("alerts")	[Channel instance]
Array of strings	["news", "alerts"]	["news", "alerts"]
Array of Channels	[new Channel("a"), new Channel("b")]	[Channel instances]

All formats are normalized to arrays by Arr::wrap().

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php48-51

Payload Serialization

The with() method handles complex payload structures:

• Direct arrays pass through unchanged
• Arrayable objects are converted to arrays
• Nested Arrayable objects within collections are recursively converted
• Uses collect() helper for array mapping when needed

This ensures all data is serializable for queue storage and JSON transmission.

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php76-85

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Comparison with Standard Events

Aspect	AnonymousEvent	Standard Events (4.1)
Class definition	No class file needed	Dedicated event class required
Configuration	Fluent API at runtime	Properties/methods in class
Reusability	Single-use, inline	Reusable across application
Type safety	Runtime configuration	Compile-time type checking
IDE support	Limited autocompletion	Full IDE assistance
Use case	Quick, one-off broadcasts	Structured, recurring events

Anonymous events are ideal for prototyping, testing, or scenarios where creating a formal event class would be unnecessarily verbose. Standard events provide better structure for production systems with repeated broadcasting patterns.

Sources: src/AnonymousEvent.php1-154