Problem with Default Validation
While using Laravel to build a web application, I needed to perform custom validation on user input, such as a password parameter. By default, Laravel manages this through AJAX handled on the client side. However, I wanted a more robust solution. Also, helpful libraries, such as a check of whether an input contains upper and lower case letters, were not included in the latest update of Laravel.
Illuminate’s validate method supports checks for size of a given variable and certain characteristics. There was no easily integrated custom solution.
The documentation for Laravel 5, specifically their validation docs, are located here: https://laravel.com/docs/5.1/validation
Below is the generic sample to checks two variables, variable1 and VariableCheck within the controller.
MethodController.php
/**
* Get a validator for an incoming registration request.
*
* @param array $data
* @return \Illuminate\Contracts\Validation\Validator
*/
public function validator(array $data) {
return Validator::make($data, [
‘variable1’ => ‘required|max:255’,
‘VariableCheck’ => ‘required|confirmed|min:6|method,
]);
}
The different checks enforce the qualities of the variables as entered by the user.
required – a value must be entered for the variable
min – defines minimum number of characters for entry
max – defines maximum number of characters for entry
confirmed – a matching field of foo_confirmation must exist. For example, if the field under validation is password, a matching password_confirmation field is required
method – similar to confirmed keyword, this signifies that a validateMethod is defined and will be called
This generic template was missing the necessary robust checks for characteristics such as a mix of letters, numbers, and upper and lower case values.
Solution for Custom Validation
To build the solution, I wrote simple regular expressions into the validation methods. The functions were added to PasswordValidator.php, which was placed in the Providers directory.
PasswordValidator.php
‘required|confirmed|min:6|method|case\_diff|numbers|letters ‘, Note that the comma at the end of the above statement is required within the code. **Adding Custom Error Messages** The default error message, “Whoops! There were some problems with your input,” is not helpful in explaining to users why they cannot proceed. By adding text within the resources\\lang\\en\\validation.php file, a much more aesthetically pleasing and specific error message may be used. I added this line to coincide with the validateCaseDiff function: “case\_diff” &=> “The :attribute must contain both upper and lower case characters”,
