Laravel Controller snippet for Datatables.net json return values

DataTablesController.php

    /*
      Provides data for a jquery DataTable call
    */
    public function jsonDataTables(Request $request) {
      $draw = 0;

      $recordsTotal = MODEL::count();

      $query = (new MODEL)->newQuery();

      if ($request['columns']) {
        // Limit the number of returned columns to those in the table
        $columns = (array_map(function($column) {
          return $column['data'];
        }, $request['columns']));
        $query->select($columns);
      }

      if ($request['search']['value']) {
        $query
          ->where('SEARCHFIELD', 'like', '%'.$request['search']['value'].'%')
          ->orWhere('SEARCHFIELD', 'like', '%'.$request['search']['value'].'%');
      }

      $recordsFiltered = $query->get()->count();

      if ($request['start']) {
        $query->skip($request['start']);
      }
      if ($request['length']) {
        $query->take($request['length']);
      }
      if ($request['draw']) {
        $draw = $request['draw'];
      }

      if ($request['order']) {
        foreach($request['order'] as $key => $val) {
          $query->orderBy($request['columns'][$val['column']]['data'], $val['dir']);
        }
      } else {
        $query->orderBy('Ref');
      }

      $data = $query->get();

      return ['recordsTotal' => $recordsTotal, 'recordsFiltered' => $recordsFiltered, 'data' => $data];
    }