custom form validation class for a module I am building

Question

I am building a module for EE2 and I want to extend CI's form validation library. I also want a separate language file too, kept within my module's directory so it's separate from future EE updates.

I created a libraries folder within my module's folder within the third_party folder.

I named the file: My_Form_validation.php

<?php defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

class MY_Form_validation extends CI_Form_validation {

    /**
     * Constructor
     *
     * @access  public
     */ 
    function __construct($rules = array())
    {   
        parent::__construct($rules);
    }

    public function is_valid($value)
    {
        $this->form_validation->set_message('is_valid', 'The %s field can not contain any spaces');
        return FALSE;
    }
}

$this->EE->form_validation->set_rules('short_name', 'Short name', 'required|max_length[30]|is_valid');

I set the rule in the mcp.module_name.php file, I also swapped out $this->EE->form_validation... with $this->CI->form_validation and nothing.

it is not erroring out, it just doesn't seem like it is loading it correctly.

I tried loading the my form validation library in the mcp.module_name.php constructor and it returns this error: Fatal error: Class 'CI_Form_validation' not found

I shouldn't have to load it since it should load along with the default form validation library.

Below is my constructor for the mcp.module_name.php file

public function __construct()
{
    $this->EE =& get_instance();
    $this->CI =& get_instance();
    $this->EE->config->load('config');
    $this->conf = $this->EE->config->item('restaurant_menu_defaults');
    $this->CI->load->helper('file');
    $this->EE->load->helper('html');
    $this->EE->load->model('restaurant_menu_model');
    $this->base = BASE.AMP.'C=addons_modules'.AMP.'M=show_module_cp'.AMP.'module=restaurant_menu';
    $this->base_url = BASE.AMP.'C=addons_modules'.AMP.'M=show_module_cp'.AMP.'module=restaurant_menu';
    $this->EE->cp->add_to_head('<link rel="stylesheet" href="/themes/third_party/restaurant_menu/css/restaurant_menu.css" type="text/css" media="print, projection, screen" />');
    $this->base_short = 'C=addons_modules'.AMP.'M=show_module_cp'.AMP.'module=restaurant_menu';
    $this->data['base_url_short'] = $this->base_short;
    $this->data['base_url'] = $this->base;
    $this->site_id = $this->EE->config->item('site_id');
    $this->EE->cp->set_breadcrumb($this->base, $this->EE->lang->line('Restaurant Menu'));

    // setup navigation
    $this->EE->cp->set_right_nav(array(
        'module_nav_home' => $this->base_url.AMP.'method=index',
        //'module_nav_settings' => $this->base_url.AMP.'method=settings',
    ));
}

UPDATE:

added this to my construct on mcp.module_name

$this->EE->load->library('form_validation'); $this->EE->load->library('MY_Form_validation');

then in my methods, I run the form validation using: if($this->EE->my_form_validation->run() === FALSE)

Then I set my form field rules:

$this->EE->my_form_validation->set_rules('title', 'title', 'required|max_length[75]'); $this->EE->my_form_validation->set_rules('short_name', 'Short name', 'required|is_valid|max_length[30]'); $this->EE->my_form_validation->set_error_delimiters('', '');

MY_Form_validation.php

<?php defined('BASEPATH') OR exit('No direct script access allowed');

class MY_Form_validation extends EE_Form_validation {

    /**
     * Constructor
     *
     * @access  public
     */ 
    function __construct($rules = array())
    {   
        parent::__construct($rules);
        $this->EE =& get_instance();
    }

    public function is_valid($value)
    {
        $this->EE->form_validation->set_message('is_valid', 'The %s field can not contain any spaces');
        return false;
    }

}

It won't post the form unless all the rules are met, but it won't display the form error messages, why do you think that is?

Answer 1

First, no need to ever load directly from CI - you can always use EE. (So, $this->EE->load->helper('file').)

Same with your validation class - I'd extend Form_validation, not CI_Form_validation.

(Generally, EE should serve as your path to anything CI-related to avoid any conflicts.)

You'll need to load your custom validation library, and call it by its unique name as well. You may also have to load the form validation class before loading your custom library.

$this->EE->load->library('form_validation');
$this->EE->load->library('my_form_validation');
// $this->EE->my_form_validation->run();