Cakephp validation bug in controller? - cakephp

Question

I am trying to invalidate a field by a condition in controller instead of Model.
$this->Model->invalidate('check_out_reason', __('Please specify check out reason.', true));
The above won't work to invalidate the field. Instead, I need the below:
$this->Model->invalidate('Model.check_out_reason', __('Please specify check out reason.', true));
However, if I wish get the error message show up in the "field" itself ($this->model->validationErrors), it needs to be "check_out_reason" instead of "Model.check_out_reason". That means, I can't get the error message to show up in the field itself if I wish to invalidate the input in controller.
May I know is this a bug in CakePHP?

Answer 1

i created a test controller called "Invoices", just for testing, and i developed the following function
public function index(){
if (!empty($this->request->data)) {
$this->Invoice->invalidate('nombre', __('Please specify check out reason.'));
if ($this->Invoice->validates()) {
// it validated logic
if($this->Invoice->save($this->request->data)){
# everthing ok
} else {
# not saved
}
} else {
// didn't validate logic
$errors = $this->Invoice->validationErrors;
}
}
}
i think it worked for me
Change the field "nombre" for your field called "check_out_reason" to adapt the function to your code

Answer 2

I found a workaround for manual invalidates from controller. Reading a lot on this issue I found out that the save() function doesn't take in consideration the invalidations set through invalidate() function called in controller, but (this is very important) if it is called directly from the model function beforeValidate() it's working perfectly.
So I recommend to go in AppModel.php file and create next public methods:
public $invalidatesFromController = array();
public function beforeValidate($options = array()) {
foreach($this->invalidatesFromController as $item){
$this->invalidate($item['fieldName'], $item['errorMessage'], true);
}
return parent::beforeValidate($options);
}
public function invalidateField($fieldName, $errorMessage){
$this->invalidatesFromController[] = array(
'fieldName' => $fieldName,
'errorMessage' => $errorMessage
);
}
After that, make sure that your model's beforeValidate() function calls the parent's one:
public function beforeValidate($options = array()) {
return parent::beforeValidate($options);
}
In your controller for invalidating a field use next line:
$this->MyModel->invalidateField('fieldName', "error message");
Hope it helps! For me it's working!