Laravel Update Syntax - Updating Record with Array - post

Question

I'm having trouble doing a basic record update via POST in Laravel.
I have captured all the post data in an array, and if the existing Order# is 0, then I create a new record (works fine). Otherwise I update the existing record.
Order.php
class Order extends Eloquent {
public static $table = 'my_orders';
}
Routes.php
//Handle a new order POST
Route::post('order', array('do' => function() {
$thisOrder = array(
'qty' => Input::get('quantity'),
'desc' => Input::get('description'),
);
$thisOrderID = Input::get('orderNo');
//CHECK FOR NEW OR EXISTING ORDER
if($thisOrderID > 0) {
//THIS FUNCTION SOMEHOW RETURNS THE FUNCTION CALL AND DOESNT CONTINUE PAST
//AND THE RECORD IS NOT UPDATED
$updateOrder = Order::update($thisOrderID, $thisOrder);
}
}
Update:
The code above does in fact work. I had a validation error, which was causing the function to return early.

Answer 1

Instead of this line:
$updateOrder = Order::update($thisOrderID, $thisOrder);
You need to do:
$updateOrder = Order::find($thisOrderID)->update($thisOrder);
With find() (which equals where_id()) you select a specific row from the database and with update you pass the new data.

Answer 2

What do you think of this:
//Handle a new order POST
Route::post('order', array('do' => function() {
$thisOrder = array(
'qty' => Input::get('quantity'),
'desc' => Input::get('description'),
);
$thisOrderID = Input::get('orderNo');
$order = Order::find( $thisOrderID );
//CHECK FOR NEW OR EXISTING ORDER
if( $order ) {
$order->title = 'New order title';
$order->desc = 'New description';
$order->save();
}
}

Answer 3

erm , I will suggest to do it this way, if $thisOrder include the key, it will just update the record, else it will just create a new record.
$thisOrder = array(
'orderNo' => Input::get('orderNo'),
'qty' => Input::get('quantity'),
'desc' => Input::get('description'),
);
$updateOrder = Order::save($thisOrder);
if Input::get('orderNo') no value will be create else update