Here's the solution I use:
Usage
Simply transform your usual rules by prefixing each
. For example:
'names' => 'required|array|each:exists,users,name'
Note that the each
rule assumes your field is an array, so don't forget to use the array
rule before as shown here.
Error Messages
Error messages will be automatically calculated by the singular form (using Laravel's str_singular()
helper) of your field. In the previous example, the attribute is name
.
Nested Arrays
This method works out of the box with nested arrays of any depth in dot notation. For example, this works:
'members.names' => 'required|array|each:exists,users,name'
Again, the attribute used for error messages here will be name
.
Custom Rules
This method supports any of your custom rules out of the box.
Implementation
1. Extend the validator class
class ExtendedValidator extends IlluminateValidationValidator {
public function validateEach($attribute, $value, $parameters)
{
// Transform the each rule
// For example, `each:exists,users,name` becomes `exists:users,name`
$ruleName = array_shift($parameters);
$rule = $ruleName.(count($parameters) > 0 ? ':'.implode(',', $parameters) : '');
foreach ($value as $arrayKey => $arrayValue)
{
$this->validate($attribute.'.'.$arrayKey, $rule);
}
// Always return true, since the errors occur for individual elements.
return true;
}
protected function getAttribute($attribute)
{
// Get the second to last segment in singular form for arrays.
// For example, `group.names.0` becomes `name`.
if (str_contains($attribute, '.'))
{
$segments = explode('.', $attribute);
$attribute = str_singular($segments[count($segments) - 2]);
}
return parent::getAttribute($attribute);
}
}
2. Register your validator extension
Anywhere in your usual bootstrap locations, add the following code:
Validator::resolver(function($translator, $data, $rules, $messages)
{
return new ExtendedValidator($translator, $data, $rules, $messages);
});
And that's it! Enjoy!
Bonus: Size rules with arrays
As a comment pointed out, there's seems to be no easy way to validate array sizes. However, the Laravel documentation is lacking for size rules: it doesn't mention that it can count array elements. This means you're actually allowed to use size
, min
, max
and between
rules to count array elements.