FormValidator allows you to create and validate forms using a simple rule based approach. It uses an API very similar to Rails' ActiveRecord.
A form file is just a class that extends the \FormValidator\Form class
In this example, the form validator checks if name
isn't empty
<?php
use \FormValidator\Form;
use \FormValidator\Validation;
class TestForm extends \FormValidator\Form {
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array( // Contains a hash array of form elements
"name" => Validation::presence() // name field must contain something
);
}
}
?>
<?php
require_once('test.form.php')
$form = new TestForm();
/* Checks if the form has submitted then the form is checked for validation against the rules contained
within the $validations array of TestForm returning the validated data if its successful
*/
if($form->hasPosted() && ($data = $form->validate())) {
// Form passes validation, use the $data for validated POST data
} else {
// Form hasn't posted or hasn't passed validation, so we load our html file
require_once('form.html.php');
}
?>
<form name='input' method='POST'>
<?php $form->error('name', 'There was an error'); ?>
Please Enter your name: <?php $form->input('name'); ?><br/>
<?php $form->submit('Submit');?>
</form>
- If the form fails validation, by using the
$form->input
method, we preserve whatever value the user typed into that field (except for password fields) - The form must have a field with the name attribute set to the
name of the form class (
name="TestForm"
in our example). Using the$form->submit
method takes care of this requirement.
composer require "jridgewell/form-validator:1.*"
Then just add require 'vendor/autoload.php';
to any code that requires
FormValidator.
The $validations
array contains all the form fields and rules that
need to pass, for the form to be valid. In the example above, it showed
a single rule applying to one form element, but you can apply multiple
rules to an element by using an array.
<?php
class TestForm extends Form{
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array(
'name' => Validation::presence(),
'age' => array( //Specifiy multiple rules
Validation::presence(),
Validation::numericality()
)
);
}
}
?>
In our html file, if we wanted to show the errors for the validations, we could do the following:
<?php
<form name='input' method='POST'>
<?php $form->error('name', 'There was an error'); ?>
Please Enter your name: <?php $form->input('name'); ?><br/>
<?php $form->error('age', 'This is an optional custom message about age'); ?>
Please Enter your age: <?php $form->input('age'); ?><br/>
<?php $form->submit('Submit');?>
</form>
?>
Most validations also support passing in an options array. This allows for custom messages, and can allow for a field to be optional (blank). Please see the validation for acceptable parameters.
<?php
class TestForm extends Form {
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array(
'name' => Validation::length(array(
'minimum' => 0,
'maximum' => 100
)),
'age' => Validation::numericality(array(
'optional' => true,
'only_integer' => true
)),
'username' => Validation::exclusion(array(
'admin',
'superuser'
), array(
'message' => 'You are not our master!'
))
);
}
}
?>
Validation | Options | Description |
---|---|---|
Validation::anything() |
No options |
This field is always valid |
Validation::acceptance() |
|
This field must be accepted (truthy) |
Validation::email() |
|
This field must be a valid email |
Validation::length() |
|
This field's number of characters must be in the supplied range. If no options are passed, this field will always be valid |
Validation::numericality() |
|
This field must be a number |
Validation::presence() |
|
This field must not be empty |
Validation::url() |
|
This field must be a valid url |
Validation | Parameter | Options | Description |
---|---|---|---|
Validation::confirmation($func) |
|
|
This field must match the return value of $other_field_func. Useful for confirming a password in a second field. |
Validation::exclusion($array) |
|
|
This field must not be equal (==) to a value inside $array. |
Validation::format($regex) |
|
|
This field must match against the supplied $regex |
Validation::inclusion($array) |
|
|
This field must be equal (==) to a value inside $array. |
Validation::validateWith($func) /td> |
|
|
This validation allows for a custom function to preform the field validation. It's return value must be (===) true, or else it will use the return value as the field's error message |
<?php
// TestForm.php
class TestForm extends Form{
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array(
'password' => Validation::confirmation(function() {
return $_POST['password_confirmation'];
})
);
}
}
?>
<?php
// TestForm.php
class TestForm extends Form{
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array(
'usernames' => Validation::exclusion(array(
'admin',
'superuser'
))
);
}
}
?>
<?php
// TestForm.php
class TestForm extends Form{
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array(
'mp3Url' => Validation::format('/\.mp3$/')
);
}
}
?>
<?php
class TestForm extends Form{
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array(
'usernames' => Validation::inclusion(array(
'Matt',
'Thor',
'Asa'
))
);
}
}
?>
This validation requires a (callable) callback. This callback is
then provided with the submitted field data as it's only parameter. The
callback can either return true
and the validation will pass, or
return anything else and the return will be used as the error message
for the field.
<?php
class TestForm extends Form {
public function __construct() {
$this->validations = array(
'checkCustom' => Validation::validateWith(function($val) {
if ($val === 'supahSecret') {
return true;
}
return (substr($val, 0, 2) == 'st');
})
);
}
}
?>