base64 not working in Middleware of Laravel 5.4 - json

Question

My middleware Code:
public function handle($request, Closure $next) {
$api_headers = getallheaders();
$error_msg = '';
$error = 0;
if (isset($api_headers) && !empty($api_headers)) {
if (isset($api_headers ['device_id']) && !empty($api_headers['device_id'])) {
} else {
$error_msg = 'Please send device ID header.';
$error = 1;
}
if (isset($api_headers['device_type']) && !empty($api_headers['device_type'])) {
} else {
$error_msg = 'Please send device type header.';
$error = 1;
}
} else {
$error_msg = 'Please send headers.';
$error = 1;
}
if ($error == 1) {
return base64_encode(response()->json(['error' => true, 'message' => $error_msg, 'code' => 0]));
} else {
return $next($request);
}
}
I want to convert the JSON to a encoded string and send it as a response. So i used base64_encode to converted it into a string. But it is not working in middleware. I do not know its reason I made a lot of efforts but did not understand what to do. I am also attaching a screenshot of the error. Please help if possible.

Answer 1

I dont know what status code you want to respond with, but try:
$encoded = base64_encode(response()->json([
'error' => true,
'message' => $error_msg,
'code' => 0
]));
return response($encoded, ?response status code?)
->header('Content-Type', 'text/plain');