Laravel Validation with Flash Message and Custom Validation Parameters

Question

I have Laravel 5 validation like this:

$this->validate( $request, [
    'zipcode' => 'required',
    'province' => 'required',
    'address' => 'required',
    'number' => 'required',
    'phone' => 'required'
] );

How do I set an error flash message if the validation fails? I'm using laracast/flash library that supports setting a flash message like this:

flash()->error('Validation Fails');

I know I can use the Validator package like this:

use Validator;

$validation = Validator::make( $request->all(), [] );

But I want to minimize my code without using use Validator; and use Laravel basic validation with the $this->validate() function.

Also, how do I return additional session or parameters if I need them? I tried like this but it's not working:

$this->validate( $request, [] )->with( 'foo', 'bar' );

How do I do this?

Answer 1

In your controller:

    $rules = array(
            'zipcode' => 'required',
            'province' => 'required',
            'address' => 'required',
            'number' => 'required',
            'phone' => 'required'
    );

    $validator = Validator::make($request->all(), $rules);

    if ($validator->fails())
    {
        return Redirect::to('/url_form')->withInput()->withErrors($validator);
    }

In your blade template:

  @if($errors->has())
  @foreach ($errors->all() as $error)
  <p class="yellow-text font lato-normal center">{{ $error }}</p>
  @endforeach
  @endif

Good Luck!

Answer 2

When using $this->validate() if your validation fails you'll be returned back to the previous URL with all errors and error messages for the fields that didn't pass your validation rules in the session, so you shouldn't need to additionally flash anything to the session. As mentioned in the docs:

So, what if the incoming request parameters do not pass the given validation rules? As mentioned previously, Laravel will automatically redirect the user back to their previous location. In addition, all of the validation errors will automatically be flashed to the session.

What you can do instead is check for the presence of error messages in your view and output your desired text. You can access errors with the $errors variable in your view, as mentioned in the docs:

Again, notice that we did not have to explicitly bind the error messages to the view in our GET route. This is because Laravel will check for errors in the session data, and automatically bind them to the view if they are available. The $errors variable will be an instance of Illuminate\Support\MessageBag. For more information on working with this object, check out its documentation.

For example, in your view you could do the following:

@if (count($errors) > 0)
    <div class="alert alert-danger">
        Validation Fails
    </div>
@endif

If you really have to flash data to the session you could try checking for the $errors variable in your controller method for loading the view then putting data in the session based on its value. Never tried this so you may need to test it out.

// method for loading the view
public function index()
{
    if(count($errors) > 0) {
        session()->put('foo', 'bar');
    }

    return view('my-form');
}

As a side point also consider that you don't have to use $this->validate() you can instead use Form Request Validation. Additionally as a general advice it may be worth reviewing the documentation for how validation works: https://laravel.com/docs/5.2/validation#introduction.

Hope that helps!

Answer 3

This what has worked on mine using @Juan José González method:

and yeah, don't forget:

use Validator;
use Redirect;

In my view:

@if (count($errors) > 0)
    @foreach ($errors->all() as $error)
    <div class="alert alert-success alert-dismissible fade show" id="formMessage" role="alert">
        {{ $error }}
        <button type="button" class="close" data-dismiss="alert" aria-label="Close">
            <span aria-hidden="true">&times;</span>
        </button>
    </div>
    @endforeach
@endif