Implement #193: Validating entire arrays in a single function call

3 files changed, 20 insertions, 9 deletions

diff --git a/system/libraries/Form_validation.php b/system/libraries/Form_validation.php
index 6eaf67710..6b7d9893e 100644
--- a/system/libraries/Form_validation.php
+++ b/system/libraries/Form_validation.php
@@ -627,11 +627,13 @@ class CI_Form_validation {
 	 */
 	protected function _execute($row, $rules, $postdata = NULL, $cycles = 0)
 	{
+		$allow_arrays = in_array('is_array', $rules, TRUE);
+
 		// If the $_POST data is an array we will run a recursive call
 		//
 		// Note: We MUST check if the array is empty or not!
 		//       Otherwise empty arrays will always pass validation.
-		if (is_array($postdata) && ! empty($postdata))
+		if ($allow_arrays === FALSE && is_array($postdata) && ! empty($postdata))
 		{
 			foreach ($postdata as $key => $val)
 			{
@@ -660,14 +662,16 @@ class CI_Form_validation {
 				$postdata = $this->_field_data[$row['field']]['postdata'][$cycles];
 				$_in_array = TRUE;
 			}
+			// If we get an array field, but it's not expected - then it is most likely
+			// somebody messing with the form on the client side, so we'll just consider
+			// it an empty field
+			elseif ($allow_arrays === FALSE && is_array($this->_field_data[$row['field']]['postdata']))
+			{
+				$postdata = NULL;
+			}
 			else
 			{
-				// If we get an array field, but it's not expected - then it is most likely
-				// somebody messing with the form on the client side, so we'll just consider
-				// it an empty field
-				$postdata = is_array($this->_field_data[$row['field']]['postdata'])
-					? NULL
-					: $this->_field_data[$row['field']]['postdata'];
+				$postdata = $this->_field_data[$row['field']]['postdata'];
 			}
 
 			// Is the rule a callback?
@@ -702,7 +706,7 @@ class CI_Form_validation {
 
 			// Ignore empty, non-required inputs with a few exceptions ...
 			if (
-				($postdata === NULL OR $postdata === '')
+				($postdata === NULL OR ($allow_arrays === FALSE && $postdata === ''))
 				&& $callback === FALSE
 				&& $callable === FALSE
 				&& ! in_array($rule, array('required', 'isset', 'matches'), TRUE)
diff --git a/tests/codeigniter/libraries/Form_validation_test.php b/tests/codeigniter/libraries/Form_validation_test.php
index ab0e1fc0a..afd070e05 100644
--- a/tests/codeigniter/libraries/Form_validation_test.php
+++ b/tests/codeigniter/libraries/Form_validation_test.php
@@ -43,7 +43,6 @@ class Form_validation_test extends CI_TestCase {
 		// Empty, not required
 		$this->assertTrue($this->run_rules($rules, array('foo' => '')));
 
-
 		// Not required, but also not empty
 		$this->assertTrue($this->run_rules($rules, array('foo' => '123')));
 		$this->assertFalse($this->run_rules($rules, array('foo' => 'bar')));
@@ -56,6 +55,13 @@ class Form_validation_test extends CI_TestCase {
 		$this->assertFalse($this->run_rules($rules, array('foo' => 'bar')));
 	}
 
+	public function test_rule_is_array()
+	{
+		$rules = array(array('field' => 'foo', 'label' => 'Foo', 'rules' => 'is_array'));
+		$this->assertTrue($this->run_rules($rules,  array('foo' => array('1', '2'))));
+		$this->assertFalse($this->run_rules($rules, array('foo' => '')));
+	}
+
 	public function test_rule_matches()
 	{
 		$rules = array(
diff --git a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
index 2613f8677..c94ee8756 100644
--- a/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
+++ b/user_guide_src/source/changelog.rst
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ Release Date: Not Released
       - Removed previously deprecated method ``prep_for_form()`` / rule *prep_for_form*.
       - Changed method ``set_rules()`` to throw a ``BadMethodCallException`` when its first parameter is not an array and the ``$rules`` one is unused.
       - Added rule **valid_mac**, which replicates PHP's native ``filter_var()`` with ``FILTER_VALIDATE_MAC``.
+      - Added ability to validate entire arrays at once, if ``is_array`` is within the list of rules.
 
    -  :doc:`HTML Table Library <libraries/table>` changes include: