############### Form Validation ############### CodeIgniter provides a comprehensive form validation and data prepping class that helps minimize the amount of code you'll write. .. contents:: Page Contents ******** Overview ******** Before explaining CodeIgniter's approach to data validation, let's describe the ideal scenario: #. A form is displayed. #. You fill it in and submit it. #. If you submitted something invalid, or perhaps missed a required item, the form is redisplayed containing your data along with an error message describing the problem. #. This process continues until you have submitted a valid form. On the receiving end, the script must: #. Check for required data. #. Verify that the data is of the correct type, and meets the correct criteria. For example, if a username is submitted it must be validated to contain only permitted characters. It must be of a minimum length, and not exceed a maximum length. The username can't be someone else's existing username, or perhaps even a reserved word. Etc. #. Sanitize the data for security. #. Pre-format the data if needed (Does the data need to be trimmed? HTML encoded? Etc.) #. Prep the data for insertion in the database. Although there is nothing terribly complex about the above process, it usually requires a significant amount of code, and to display error messages, various control structures are usually placed within the form HTML. Form validation, while simple to create, is generally very messy and tedious to implement. ************************ Form Validation Tutorial ************************ What follows is a "hands on" tutorial for implementing CodeIgniters Form Validation. In order to implement form validation you'll need three things: #. A :doc:`View <../general/views>` file containing a form. #. A View file containing a "success" message to be displayed upon successful submission. #. A :doc:`controller <../general/controllers>` function to receive and process the submitted data. Let's create those three things, using a member sign-up form as the example. The Form ======== Using a text editor, create a form called myform.php. In it, place this code and save it to your application/views/ folder:: My Form
Username
Password
Password Confirm
Email Address
The Success Page ================ Using a text editor, create a form called formsuccess.php. In it, place this code and save it to your application/views/ folder:: My Form

Your form was successfully submitted!

The Controller ============== Using a text editor, create a controller called form.php. In it, place this code and save it to your application/controllers/ folder:: load->helper(array('form', 'url')); $this->load->library('form_validation'); if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { $this->load->view('myform'); } else { $this->load->view('formsuccess'); } } } ?> Try it! ======= To try your form, visit your site using a URL similar to this one:: example.com/index.php/form/ If you submit the form you should simply see the form reload. That's because you haven't set up any validation rules yet. **Since you haven't told the Form Validation class to validate anything yet, it returns FALSE (boolean false) by default. The run() function only returns TRUE if it has successfully applied your rules without any of them failing.** Explanation =========== You'll notice several things about the above pages: The form (myform.php) is a standard web form with a couple exceptions: #. It uses a form helper to create the form opening. Technically, this isn't necessary. You could create the form using standard HTML. However, the benefit of using the helper is that it generates the action URL for you, based on the URL in your config file. This makes your application more portable in the event your URLs change. #. At the top of the form you'll notice the following function call: :: This function will return any error messages sent back by the validator. If there are no messages it returns an empty string. The controller (form.php) has one function: index(). This function initializes the validation class and loads the form helper and URL helper used by your view files. It also runs the validation routine. Based on whether the validation was successful it either presents the form or the success page. .. _setting-validation-rules: Setting Validation Rules ======================== CodeIgniter lets you set as many validation rules as you need for a given field, cascading them in order, and it even lets you prep and pre-process the field data at the same time. To set validation rules you will use the set_rules() function:: $this->form_validation->set_rules(); The above function takes **three** parameters as input: #. The field name - the exact name you've given the form field. #. A "human" name for this field, which will be inserted into the error message. For example, if your field is named "user" you might give it a human name of "Username". #. The validation rules for this form field. .. note:: If you would like the field name to be stored in a language file, please see :ref:`translating-field-names`. Here is an example. In your controller (form.php), add this code just below the validation initialization function:: $this->form_validation->set_rules('username', 'Username', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('password', 'Password', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('passconf', 'Password Confirmation', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('email', 'Email', 'required'); Your controller should now look like this:: load->helper(array('form', 'url')); $this->load->library('form_validation'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('username', 'Username', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('password', 'Password', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('passconf', 'Password Confirmation', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('email', 'Email', 'required'); if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { $this->load->view('myform'); } else { $this->load->view('formsuccess'); } } } ?> Now submit the form with the fields blank and you should see the error messages. If you submit the form with all the fields populated you'll see your success page. .. note:: The form fields are not yet being re-populated with the data when there is an error. We'll get to that shortly. Setting Rules Using an Array ============================ Before moving on it should be noted that the rule setting function can be passed an array if you prefer to set all your rules in one action. If you use this approach, you must name your array keys as indicated:: $config = array( array( 'field' => 'username', 'label' => 'Username', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'password', 'label' => 'Password', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'passconf', 'label' => 'Password Confirmation', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'email', 'label' => 'Email', 'rules' => 'required' ) ); $this->form_validation->set_rules($config); Cascading Rules =============== CodeIgniter lets you pipe multiple rules together. Let's try it. Change your rules in the third parameter of rule setting function, like this:: $this->form_validation->set_rules('username', 'Username', 'required|min_length[5]|max_length[12]|is_unique[users.username]'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('password', 'Password', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('passconf', 'Password Confirmation', 'required|matches[password]'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('email', 'Email', 'required|valid_email|is_unique[users.email]'); The above code sets the following rules: #. The username field be no shorter than 5 characters and no longer than 12. #. The password field must match the password confirmation field. #. The email field must contain a valid email address. Give it a try! Submit your form without the proper data and you'll see new error messages that correspond to your new rules. There are numerous rules available which you can read about in the validation reference. .. note:: You can also pass an array of rules to set_rules(), instead of a string. Example:: $this->form_validation->set_rules('username', 'Username', array('required', 'min_length[5]')); Prepping Data ============= In addition to the validation functions like the ones we used above, you can also prep your data in various ways. For example, you can set up rules like this:: $this->form_validation->set_rules('username', 'Username', 'trim|required|min_length[5]|max_length[12]|xss_clean'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('password', 'Password', 'trim|required|md5'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('passconf', 'Password Confirmation', 'trim|required|matches[password]'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('email', 'Email', 'trim|required|valid_email'); In the above example, we are "trimming" the fields, converting the password to MD5, and running the username through the "xss_clean" function, which removes malicious data. **Any native PHP function that accepts one parameter can be used as a rule, like htmlspecialchars, trim, md5, etc.** .. note:: You will generally want to use the prepping functions **after** the validation rules so if there is an error, the original data will be shown in the form. Re-populating the form ====================== Thus far we have only been dealing with errors. It's time to repopulate the form field with the submitted data. CodeIgniter offers several helper functions that permit you to do this. The one you will use most commonly is:: set_value('field name') Open your myform.php view file and update the **value** in each field using the set_value() function: **Don't forget to include each field name in the set_value() functions!** :: My Form
Username
Password
Password Confirm
Email Address
Now reload your page and submit the form so that it triggers an error. Your form fields should now be re-populated .. note:: The :ref:`function-reference` section below contains functions that permit you to re-populate For more info please see the :ref:`using-arrays-as-field-names` section below. Callbacks: Your own Validation Functions ======================================== The validation system supports callbacks to your own validation functions. This permits you to extend the validation class to meet your needs. For example, if you need to run a database query to see if the user is choosing a unique username, you can create a callback function that does that. Let's create an example of this. In your controller, change the "username" rule to this:: $this->form_validation->set_rules('username', 'Username', 'callback_username_check'); Then add a new function called username_check to your controller. Here's how your controller should now look:: load->helper(array('form', 'url')); $this->load->library('form_validation'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('username', 'Username', 'callback_username_check'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('password', 'Password', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('passconf', 'Password Confirmation', 'required'); $this->form_validation->set_rules('email', 'Email', 'required|is_unique[users.email]'); if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { $this->load->view('myform'); } else { $this->load->view('formsuccess'); } } public function username_check($str) { if ($str == 'test') { $this->form_validation->set_message('username_check', 'The %s field can not be the word "test"'); return FALSE; } else { return TRUE; } } } ?> Reload your form and submit it with the word "test" as the username. You can see that the form field data was passed to your callback function for you to process. To invoke a callback just put the function name in a rule, with "callback\_" as the rule **prefix**. If you need to receive an extra parameter in your callback function, just add it normally after the function name between square brackets, as in: "callback_foo**[bar]**", then it will be passed as the second argument of your callback function. .. note:: You can also process the form data that is passed to your callback and return it. If your callback returns anything other than a boolean TRUE/FALSE it is assumed that the data is your newly processed form data. .. _setting-error-messages: Setting Error Messages ====================== All of the native error messages are located in the following language file: language/english/form_validation_lang.php To set your own custom message you can either edit that file, or use the following function:: $this->form_validation->set_message('rule', 'Error Message'); Where rule corresponds to the name of a particular rule, and Error Message is the text you would like displayed. If you include %s in your error string, it will be replaced with the "human" name you used for your field when you set your rules. In the "callback" example above, the error message was set by passing the name of the function:: $this->form_validation->set_message('username_check') If you are using an error message that can accept two $s in your error string, such as: :: $this->form_validation->set_message('min_length', 'The $s field must contain at least $s characters.'); Then you can also use %1$s and %2$s: :: $this->form_validation->set_message('min_length', 'This field must contain at least %2$s characters.'); You can also override any error message found in the language file. For example, to change the message for the "required" rule you will do this:: $this->form_validation->set_message('required', 'Your custom message here'); .. _translating-field-names: Translating Field Names ======================= If you would like to store the "human" name you passed to the set_rules() function in a language file, and therefore make the name able to be translated, here's how: First, prefix your "human" name with lang:, as in this example:: $this->form_validation->set_rules('first_name', 'lang:first_name', 'required'); Then, store the name in one of your language file arrays (without the prefix):: $lang['first_name'] = 'First Name'; .. note:: If you store your array item in a language file that is not loaded automatically by CI, you'll need to remember to load it in your controller using:: $this->lang->load('file_name'); See the :doc:`Language Class ` page for more info regarding language files. .. _changing-delimiters: Changing the Error Delimiters ============================= By default, the Form Validation class adds a paragraph tag (

) around each error message shown. You can either change these delimiters globally, individually, or change the defaults in a config file. #. **Changing delimiters Globally** To globally change the error delimiters, in your controller function, just after loading the Form Validation class, add this:: $this->form_validation->set_error_delimiters('

', '
'); In this example, we've switched to using div tags. #. **Changing delimiters Individually** Each of the two error generating functions shown in this tutorial can be supplied their own delimiters as follows:: ', ''); ?> Or:: ', ''); ?> #. **Set delimiters in a config file** You can add your error delimiters in application/config/form_validation.php as follows:: $config['error_prefix'] = '
'; $config['error_suffix'] = '
'; Showing Errors Individually =========================== If you prefer to show an error message next to each form field, rather than as a list, you can use the form_error() function. Try it! Change your form so that it looks like this::
Username
Password
Password Confirm
Email Address
If there are no errors, nothing will be shown. If there is an error, the message will appear. .. important:: If you use an array as the name of a form field, you must supply it as an array to the function. Example:: " size="50" /> For more info please see the :ref:`using-arrays-as-field-names` section below. Validating an Array (other than $_POST) ======================================= Sometimes you may want to validate an array that does not originate from ``$_POST`` data. In this case, you can specify the array to be validated:: $data = array( 'username' => 'johndoe', 'password' => 'mypassword', 'passconf' => 'mypassword' ); $this->form_validation->set_data($data); Creating validation rules, running the validation and retrieving error messages works the same whether you are validating ``$_POST`` data or an array. **Important Note:** If you want to validate more than one array during a single execution, then you should call the reset_validation() function before setting up rules and validating the new array. For more info please see the :ref:`function-reference` section below. .. _saving-groups: ************************************************ Saving Sets of Validation Rules to a Config File ************************************************ A nice feature of the Form Validation class is that it permits you to store all your validation rules for your entire application in a config file. You can organize these rules into "groups". These groups can either be loaded automatically when a matching controller/function is called, or you can manually call each set as needed. How to save your rules ====================== To store your validation rules, simply create a file named form_validation.php in your application/config/ folder. In that file you will place an array named $config with your rules. As shown earlier, the validation array will have this prototype:: $config = array( array( 'field' => 'username', 'label' => 'Username', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'password', 'label' => 'Password', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'passconf', 'label' => 'Password Confirmation', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'email', 'label' => 'Email', 'rules' => 'required' ) ); Your validation rule file will be loaded automatically and used when you call the ``run()`` method. Please note that you MUST name your ``$config`` array. Creating Sets of Rules ====================== In order to organize your rules into "sets" requires that you place them into "sub arrays". Consider the following example, showing two sets of rules. We've arbitrarily called these two rules "signup" and "email". You can name your rules anything you want:: $config = array( 'signup' => array( array( 'field' => 'username', 'label' => 'Username', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'password', 'label' => 'Password', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'passconf', 'label' => 'PasswordConfirmation', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'email', 'label' => 'Email', 'rules' => 'required' ) ), 'email' => array( array( 'field' => 'emailaddress', 'label' => 'EmailAddress', 'rules' => 'required|valid_email' ), array( 'field' => 'name', 'label' => 'Name', 'rules' => 'required|alpha' ), array( 'field' => 'title', 'label' => 'Title', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'message', 'label' => 'MessageBody', 'rules' => 'required' ) ) ); Calling a Specific Rule Group ============================= In order to call a specific group you will pass its name to the ``run()`` method. For example, to call the signup rule you will do this:: if ($this->form_validation->run('signup') == FALSE) { $this->load->view('myform'); } else { $this->load->view('formsuccess'); } Associating a Controller Function with a Rule Group =================================================== An alternate (and more automatic) method of calling a rule group is to name it according to the controller class/method you intend to use it with. For example, let's say you have a controller named Member and a method named signup. Here's what your class might look like:: load->library('form_validation'); if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { $this->load->view('myform'); } else { $this->load->view('formsuccess'); } } } In your validation config file, you will name your rule group member/signup:: $config = array( 'member/signup' => array( array( 'field' => 'username', 'label' => 'Username', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'password', 'label' => 'Password', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'passconf', 'label' => 'PasswordConfirmation', 'rules' => 'required' ), array( 'field' => 'email', 'label' => 'Email', 'rules' => 'required' ) ) ); When a rule group is named identically to a controller class/function it will be used automatically when the run() function is invoked from that class/function. .. _using-arrays-as-field-names: *************************** Using Arrays as Field Names *************************** The Form Validation class supports the use of arrays as field names. Consider this example:: If you do use an array as a field name, you must use the EXACT array name in the :ref:`Helper Functions ` that require the field name, and as your Validation Rule field name. For example, to set a rule for the above field you would use:: $this->form_validation->set_rules('options[]', 'Options', 'required'); Or, to show an error for the above field you would use:: Or to re-populate the field you would use:: You can use multidimensional arrays as field names as well. For example:: Or even:: As with our first example, you must use the exact array name in the helper functions:: If you are using checkboxes (or other fields) that have multiple options, don't forget to leave an empty bracket after each option, so that all selections will be added to the POST array:: Or if you use a multidimensional array:: When you use a helper function you'll include the bracket as well:: ************** Rule Reference ************** The following is a list of all the native rules that are available to use: ========================= ========== ============================================================================================= ======================= Rule Parameter Description Example ========================= ========== ============================================================================================= ======================= **required** No Returns FALSE if the form element is empty. **matches** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element does not match the one in the parameter. matches[form_item] **differs** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element does not differ from the one in the parameter. differs[form_item] **is_unique** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element is not unique to the table and field name in the is_unique[table.field] parameter. Note: This rule requires :doc:`Query Builder <../database/query_builder>` to be enabled in order to work. **max_length** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element is longer then the parameter value. max_length[12] **exact_length** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element is not exactly the parameter value. exact_length[8] **greater_than** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element is less than or equal to the parameter value or not greater_than[8] numeric. **greater_than_equal_to** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element is less than the parameter value, greater_than_equal_to[8] or not numeric. **less_than** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element is greater than or equal to the parameter value or less_than[8] not numeric. **less_than_equal_to** Yes Returns FALSE if the form element is greater than the parameter value, less_than_equal_to[8] or not numeric. **alpha** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than alphabetical characters. **alpha_numeric** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than alpha-numeric characters. **alpha_dash** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than alpha-numeric characters, underscores or dashes. **numeric** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than numeric characters. **integer** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than an integer. **decimal** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than a decimal number. **is_natural** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than a natural number: 0, 1, 2, 3, etc. **is_natural_no_zero** No Returns FALSE if the form element contains anything other than a natural number, but not zero: 1, 2, 3, etc. **valid_url** No Returns FALSE if the form element does not contain a valid URL. **valid_email** No Returns FALSE if the form element does not contain a valid email address. **valid_emails** No Returns FALSE if any value provided in a comma separated list is not a valid email. **valid_ip** No Returns FALSE if the supplied IP is not valid. Accepts an optional parameter of 'ipv4' or 'ipv6' to specify an IP format. **valid_base64** No Returns FALSE if the supplied string contains anything other than valid Base64 characters. ========================= ========== ============================================================================================= ======================= .. note:: These rules can also be called as discrete functions. For example:: $this->form_validation->required($string); .. note:: You can also use any native PHP functions that permit up to two parameters, where at least one is required (to pass the field data). ****************** Prepping Reference ****************** The following is a list of all the prepping functions that are available to use: ==================== ========= =================================================================================================== Name Parameter Description ==================== ========= =================================================================================================== **xss_clean** No Runs the data through the XSS filtering function, described in the :doc:`Input Class ` page. **prep_for_form** No Converts special characters so that HTML data can be shown in a form field without breaking it. **prep_url** No Adds "\http://" to URLs if missing. **strip_image_tags** No Strips the HTML from image tags leaving the raw URL. **encode_php_tags** No Converts PHP tags to entities. ==================== ========= =================================================================================================== .. note:: You can also use any native PHP functions that permit one parameter, like trim, htmlspecialchars, urldecode, etc. .. _function-reference: ****************** Function Reference ****************** .. php:class:: Form_validation The following functions are intended for use in your controller functions. $this->form_validation->set_rules(); ==================================== .. php:method:: set_rules ($field, $label = '', $rules = '') :param string $field: The field name :param string $label: The field label :param mixed $rules: The rules, as a string with rules separated by a pipe "|", or an array or rules. :rtype: Object Permits you to set validation rules, as described in the tutorial sections above: - :ref:`setting-validation-rules` - :ref:`saving-groups` $this->form_validation->run(); ============================== .. php:method:: run ($group = '') :param string $group: The name of the validation group to run :rtype: Boolean Runs the validation routines. Returns boolean TRUE on success and FALSE on failure. You can optionally pass the name of the validation group via the function, as described in: :ref:`saving-groups` $this->form_validation->set_message(); ====================================== .. php:method:: set_message ($lang, $val = '') :param string $lang: The rule the message is for :param string $val: The message :rtype: Object Permits you to set custom error messages. See :ref:`setting-error-messages` $this->form_validation->set_data(); =================================== .. php:method:: set_data ($data = '') :param array $data: The data to validate Permits you to set an array for validation, instead of using the default $_POST array. $this->form_validation->reset_validation(); =========================================== .. php:method:: reset_validation () Permits you to reset the validation when you validate more than one array. This method should be called before validating each new array. $this->form_validation->error_array(); ====================================== .. php:method:: error_array () :rtype: Array Returns the error messages as an array. .. _helper-functions: **************** Helper Reference **************** The following helper functions are available for use in the view files containing your forms. Note that these are procedural functions, so they **do not** require you to prepend them with $this->form_validation. form_error() ============ Shows an individual error message associated with the field name supplied to the function. Example:: The error delimiters can be optionally specified. See the :ref:`changing-delimiters` section above. validation_errors() =================== Shows all error messages as a string: Example:: The error delimiters can be optionally specified. See the :ref:`changing-delimiters` section above. set_value() =========== Permits you to set the value of an input form or textarea. You must supply the field name via the first parameter of the function. The second (optional) parameter allows you to set a default value for the form. Example:: The above form will show "0" when loaded for the first time. set_select() ============ If you use a set_checkbox() ============== Permits you to display a checkbox in the state it was submitted. The first parameter must contain the name of the checkbox, the second parameter must contain its value, and the third (optional) parameter lets you set an item as the default (use boolean TRUE/FALSE). Example:: /> /> set_radio() =========== Permits you to display radio buttons in the state they were submitted. This function is identical to the **set_checkbox()** function above. :: /> />