[5.0] Array Input Validation

[kalaomer]

Hi;

I was seen on 4.3 features and I like form validation so I try to use it. But I have a problem for validate to array inputs. That's like;

foo[0][bar] = 1
foo[1][bar] = 2
foo[2][bar] = 3

I have a method but it's not clean one. So I use rule templates that is like foo.*.bar. It means bar is child of foo's child. So I create true ways with this template and try to Validate inputs. It is run now but not clean, So any plan to easy way for this?

[emnsen]

👍

[ibrasho]

👍

[garygreen]

Honestly, multi-dimensional array validation is a big ball ache in general. It would be nicer if Laravel could have some form of built in support for this but once you dig into it it's a pretty complicated thing to get right.

I have built a custom package that did array validation like you have posted:

$rules = [
    'images' => 'array|min:1',
    'images.*.file' => 'image|max:5M',
    'images.*.alt' => 'max:255',
    'images.*.product_id' => 'required|exists:id,products',
];

But it was abandoned because found it to make too much assumptions and became impossible to determine what input was validated exactly, allowing us to fill our models with just that validated input.
Instead, we now build up a big list of validation rules simply by looping through the input. It's a very simple concept and gives maximum flexibility. So for example:

$input = Input::all();

$rules = [
    'images' => 'array|min:1',
];

if (isset($input['images']) && is_array($input['images']))
{
    foreach ($input['images'] as $imageKey => $image)
    {
        $ruleKey = 'images.' . $imageKey;
        $rules[$ruleKey . '.file']       = 'image|max:5M';
        $rules[$ruleKey . '.alt']        = 'max:255';
        $rules[$ruleKey . '.product_id'] = 'required|exists:id,products';
    }
}

[kalaomer]

@garygreen I just understand what you try to tell me, and I think it seems like ok. I will try to use for Array Inputs, Thanks!

[JosephSilber]

Isn't this what each is for?

$validator = Validator::make(Input::all(), [...]);

$validator->each('foo', [
    'bar' => 'numeric',
]);

if ($validator->passes())
{
    //
}

[GrahamCampbell]

Yeh, probably.

[kalaomer]

@JosephSilber, actually it's not. I just try to arrive all childs with '*' operator. And each function can't help to me because of that validate function of FormRequest class wants to an array which have validator rules.

Or I can re-write validate function on which extends FormRequest class, so I don't need to use validate function for that.

[JosephSilber]

@kalaomer The FormRequest only needs the rules array if you don't apply your own validator.

You can apply your own validator in the validator method:

use Illuminate\Validation\Factory;
use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;

class MyFormRequest extends FormRequest {

    public function validator(Factory $factory)
    {
        $validator = $factory->make($this->all(), [...]);

        $validator->each('foo', [
            'bar' => 'numeric',
        ]);

        return $validator;
    }

}

It will then use this validator instead of creating its own from the rules array.