Multiple Ancestor Types

Ancestry supports multiple hierarchy types, allowing a single model to participate in different hierarchical relationships simultaneously.

Why Multiple Types?

Consider a company where:

• Sellers have a sales hierarchy (CEO → VP → Manager → Seller)
• Sellers can also be resellers with their own hierarchy
• Organizations have a separate corporate structure

One User or Seller model might exist in all three hierarchies with different positions in each.

Using Multiple Types

Adding to Different Hierarchies

use Cline\Ancestry\Facades\Ancestry;

$user = User::find(1);

// Add to seller hierarchy
Ancestry::addToAncestry($user, 'seller', $salesManager);

// Add to reseller hierarchy
Ancestry::addToAncestry($user, 'reseller', $resellerManager);

// Add to organization hierarchy
Ancestry::addToAncestry($user, 'organization', $department);

Querying Different Hierarchies

// Get ancestors in seller hierarchy
$salesAncestors = Ancestry::getAncestors($user, 'seller');

// Get ancestors in reseller hierarchy
$resellerAncestors = Ancestry::getAncestors($user, 'reseller');

// Check position in each hierarchy
$sellerDepth = Ancestry::getDepth($user, 'seller');
$resellerDepth = Ancestry::getDepth($user, 'reseller');

Hierarchies Are Isolated

Each hierarchy type is completely independent:

// Different parents in each hierarchy
$sellerParent = Ancestry::getDirectParent($user, 'seller');
$resellerParent = Ancestry::getDirectParent($user, 'reseller');

// These are typically different models
$sellerParent !== $resellerParent; // true (usually)

Type-Safe Hierarchies with Enums

For type safety, use a backed string enum:

<?php

namespace App\Enums;

use Cline\Ancestry\Contracts\AncestryType;

enum AncestryType: string implements AncestryType
{
    case Seller = 'seller';
    case Reseller = 'reseller';
    case Organization = 'organization';

    public function value(): string
    {
        return $this->value;
    }
}

Then use the enum in your code:

use App\Enums\AncestryType;

// IDE autocompletion and type safety!
Ancestry::addToAncestry($user, AncestryType::Seller, $manager);
Ancestry::getAncestors($user, AncestryType::Seller);
Ancestry::isDescendantOf($user, $ceo, AncestryType::Seller);

Configure the enum in config/ancestry.php:

'type_enum' => \App\Enums\AncestryType::class,

Using the Fluent API with Types

For Model Conductor

// Switch between types easily
$sellerConductor = Ancestry::for($user)->type(AncestryType::Seller);
$resellerConductor = Ancestry::for($user)->type(AncestryType::Reseller);

$sellerAncestors = $sellerConductor->ancestors();
$resellerAncestors = $resellerConductor->ancestors();

Type Conductor

// Work with all nodes in a specific hierarchy
$sellerRoots = Ancestry::ofType(AncestryType::Seller)->roots();
$resellerRoots = Ancestry::ofType(AncestryType::Reseller)->roots();

Common Patterns

Different Hierarchies, Same Model

class User extends Model
{
    use HasAncestry;

    public function getSellerAncestors(): Collection
    {
        return $this->getAncestryAncestors(AncestryType::Seller);
    }

    public function getResellerAncestors(): Collection
    {
        return $this->getAncestryAncestors(AncestryType::Reseller);
    }

    public function getOrganizationPath(): Collection
    {
        return $this->getAncestryPath(AncestryType::Organization);
    }
}

Checking Multiple Hierarchies

// Is user in ANY hierarchy?
$inAnyAncestor = Ancestry::isInAncestry($user, AncestryType::Seller)
    || Ancestry::isInAncestry($user, AncestryType::Reseller)
    || Ancestry::isInAncestry($user, AncestryType::Organization);

// Get all hierarchies user is in
$hierarchies = collect([AncestryType::Seller, AncestryType::Reseller, AncestryType::Organization])
    ->filter(fn ($type) => Ancestry::isInAncestry($user, $type));

Moving Between Hierarchies

Moving within one hierarchy doesn’t affect others:

// Move in seller hierarchy
Ancestry::moveToParent($user, $newManager, AncestryType::Seller);

// Reseller hierarchy is unchanged
$resellerParent = Ancestry::getDirectParent($user, AncestryType::Reseller);
// Still the same as before

Removing from Specific Ancestor

// Remove from seller hierarchy only
Ancestry::removeFromAncestry($user, AncestryType::Seller);

// User is still in other hierarchies
Ancestry::isInAncestry($user, AncestryType::Reseller); // true
Ancestry::isInAncestry($user, AncestryType::Seller);   // false

Database Storage

All hierarchy types are stored in the same table, differentiated by the type column:

SELECT * FROM hierarchies WHERE type = 'seller';
SELECT * FROM hierarchies WHERE type = 'reseller';

This allows efficient querying within a type while maintaining isolation between types.