NAME

Params::Validate::Strict - Validates a set of parameters against a schema

VERSION

Version 0.30

SYNOPSIS

my $schema = {
    username => { type => 'string', min => 3, max => 50 },
    age => { type => 'integer', min => 0, max => 150 },
};

my $input = {
     username => 'john_doe',
     age => '30',   # Will be coerced to integer
};

my $validated_input = validate_strict(schema => $schema, input => $input);

if(defined($validated_input)) {
    print "Example 1: Validation successful!\n";
    print 'Username: ', $validated_input->{username}, "\n";
    print 'Age: ', $validated_input->{age}, "\n";   # It's an integer now
} else {
    print "Example 1: Validation failed: $@\n";
}

Upon first reading this may seem overly complex and full of scope creep in a sledgehammer to crack a nut sort of way, however two use cases make use of the extensive logic that comes with this code and I have a couple of other reasons for writing it.

Black Box Testing

The schema can be plumbed into App::Test::Generator to automatically create a set of black-box test cases.
WAF

The schema can be plumbed into a WAF to protect from random user input.
Improved API Documentation

Even if you don't use this module, the specification syntax can help with documentation.
I like it

I find it fun to write this, even if nobody else finds it useful, though I hope you will.

METHODS

validate_strict

Validates a set of parameters against a schema.

This function takes two mandatory arguments:

schema || members

A reference to a hash that defines the validation rules for each parameter. The keys of the hash are the parameter names, and the values are either a string representing the parameter type or a reference to a hash containing more detailed rules.

For some sort of compatibility with Data::Processor, it is possible to wrap the schema within a hash like this:
```
  $schema = {
    description => 'Describe what this schema does',
    error_msg => 'An error message',
    schema => {
      # ... schema goes here
    }
  }
```
args || input

A reference to a hash containing the parameters to be validated. The keys of the hash are the parameter names, and the values are the parameter values.

It takes optional arguments:

description

What the schema does, used in error messages.
error_msg

Overrides the default message when something doesn't validate.
unknown_parameter_handler

This parameter describes what to do when a parameter is given that is not in the schema of valid parameters. It must be one of die, warn, or ignore.

It defaults to die unless carp_on_warn is given, in which case it defaults to warn.
logger

A logging object that understands messages such as error and warn.

custom_types

A reference to a hash that defines reusable custom types. Custom types allow you to define validation rules once and reuse them throughout your schema, making your validation logic more maintainable and readable.

Each custom type is defined as a hash reference containing the same validation rules available for regular parameters (type, min, max, matches, memberof, enum, notmemberof, callback, etc.).

  my $custom_types = {
    email => {
      type => 'string',
      matches => qr/^[\w\.\-]+@[\w\.\-]+\.\w+$/,
      error_msg => 'Invalid email address format'
    }, phone => {
      type => 'string',
      matches => qr/^\+?[1-9]\d{1,14}$/,
      min => 10,
      max => 15
    }, percentage => {
      type => 'number',
      min => 0,
      max => 100
    }, status => {
      type => 'string',
      memberof => ['draft', 'published', 'archived']
    }
  };

  my $schema = {
    user_email => { type => 'email' },
    contact_number => { type => 'phone', optional => 1 },
    completion => { type => 'percentage' },
    post_status => { type => 'status' }
  };

  my $validated = validate_strict(
    schema => $schema,
    input => $input,
    custom_types => $custom_types
  );

Custom types can be extended or overridden in the schema by specifying additional constraints:

  my $schema = {
    admin_username => {
      type => 'username',  # Uses custom type definition
      min => 5,            # Overrides custom type's min value
      max => 15            # Overrides custom type's max value
    }
  };

Custom types work seamlessly with nested schema, optional parameters, and all other validation features.

The schema can define the following rules for each parameter:

type

The data type of the parameter. Valid types are string, integer, number, float boolean, hashref, arrayref, object and coderef.

A type can be an arrayref when a parameter could have different types (e.g. a string or an object).
```
  $schema = {
    username => [
      { type => 'string', min => 3, max => 50 },        # Name
      { type => 'integer', 'min' => 1 },        # UID that isn't root
    ]
  };
```
can

The parameter must be an object that understands the method can. can can be a simple scalar string of a method name, or an arrayref of a list of method names, all of which must be supported by the object.
```
  $schema = {
    gedcom => { type => object, can => 'get_individual' }
  }
```
isa

The parameter must be an object of type isa.

memberof

The parameter must be a member of the given arrayref.

  status => {
    type => 'string',
    memberof => ['draft', 'published', 'archived']
  }

  priority => {
    type => 'integer',
    memberof => [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
  }

For string types, the comparison is case-sensitive by default. Use the case_sensitive flag to control this behavior:

  # Case-sensitive (default) - must be exact match
  code => {
    type => 'string',
    memberof => ['ABC', 'DEF', 'GHI']
    # 'abc' will fail
  }

  # Case-insensitive - any case accepted
  code => {
    type => 'string',
    memberof => ['ABC', 'DEF', 'GHI'],
    case_sensitive => 0
    # 'abc', 'Abc', 'ABC' all pass, original case preserved
  }

For numeric types (integer, number, float), the comparison uses numeric equality (== operator):

  rating => {
    type => 'number',
    memberof => [0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0]
  }

Note that memberof cannot be combined with min or max constraints as they serve conflicting purposes - memberof defines an explicit whitelist while min/max define ranges.

enum

Same as memberof.

notmemberof

The parameter must not be a member of the given arrayref (blacklist). This is the inverse of memberof.

  username => {
    type => 'string',
    notmemberof => ['admin', 'root', 'system', 'administrator']
  }

  port => {
    type => 'integer',
    notmemberof => [22, 23, 25, 80, 443]  # Reserved ports
  }

Like memberof, string comparisons are case-sensitive by default but can be controlled with the case_sensitive flag:

  # Case-sensitive (default)
  username => {
    type => 'string',
    notmemberof => ['Admin', 'Root']
    # 'admin' would pass, 'Admin' would fail
  }

  # Case-insensitive
  username => {
    type => 'string',
    notmemberof => ['Admin', 'Root'],
    case_sensitive => 0
    # 'admin', 'ADMIN', 'Admin' all fail
  }

The blacklist is checked after any transform rules are applied, allowing you to normalize input before checking:

  username => {
    type => 'string',
    transform => sub { lc($_[0]) },  # Normalize to lowercase
    notmemberof => ['admin', 'root', 'system']
  }

notmemberof can be combined with other validation rules:

  username => {
    type => 'string',
    notmemberof => ['admin', 'root', 'system'],
    min => 3,
    max => 20,
    matches => qr/^[a-z0-9_]+$/
  }

case_sensitive

A boolean value indicating whether string comparisons should be case-sensitive. This flag affects the memberof and notmemberof validation rules. The default value is 1 (case-sensitive).

When set to 0, string comparisons are performed case-insensitively, allowing values with different casing to match. The original case of the input value is preserved in the validated output.

  # Case-sensitive (default)
  status => {
    type => 'string',
    memberof => ['Draft', 'Published', 'Archived'] # Input 'draft' will fail - must match exact case
  }

  # Case-insensitive
  status => {
    type => 'string',
    memberof => ['Draft', 'Published', 'Archived'],
    case_sensitive => 0 # Input 'draft', 'DRAFT', or 'DrAfT' will all pass
  }

  country_code => {
    type => 'string',
    memberof => ['US', 'UK', 'CA', 'FR'],
    case_sensitive => 0  # Accept 'us', 'US', 'Us', etc.
  }

This flag has no effect on numeric types (integer, number, float) as numbers do not have case.

min

The minimum length (for strings in characters not bytes), value (for numbers) or number of keys (for hashrefs).
max

The maximum length (for strings in characters not bytes), value (for numbers) or number of keys (for hashrefs).
matches

A regular expression that the parameter value must match. Checks all members of arrayrefs.
nomatch

A regular expression that the parameter value must not match. Checks all members of arrayrefs.
position

For routines and methods that take positional args, this integer value defines which position the argument will be in. If this is set for all arguments, validate_strict will return a reference to an array, rather than a reference to a hash.
description

The description of the rule

callback

A code reference to a subroutine that performs custom validation logic. The subroutine should accept the parameter value, the argument list and the schema as arguments and return true if the value is valid, false otherwise.

Use this to test more complex examples:

  my $schema = {
    even_number => {
      type => 'integer',
      callback => sub { $_[0] % 2 == 0 }
  };

  # Specify the arguments for a routine which has a second, optional argument, which, if given, must be less than or equal to the first
  my $schema = {
    first => {
      type => 'integer'
    }, second => {
      type => 'integer',
      optional => 1,
      callback => sub {
        my($value, $args) = @_;
        # The 'defined' is needed in case 'second' is evaluated before 'first'
        return (defined($args->{first}) && $value <= $args->{first}) ? 1 : 0
      }
    }
  };

optional

A boolean value indicating whether the parameter is optional. If true, the parameter is not required. If false or omitted, the parameter is required.

It can be a reference to a code snippet that will return true or false, to determine if the parameter is optional or not. The code will be called with two arguments: the value of the parameter and hash ref of all parameters:
```
  my $schema = {
    optional_field => {
      type => 'string',
      optional => sub {
        my ($value, $all_params) = @_;
        return $all_params->{make_optional} ? 1 : 0;
      }
    },
    make_optional => { type => 'boolean' }
  };

  my $result = validate_strict(schema => $schema, input => { make_optional => 1 });
```
default

Populate missing optional parameters with the specified value. Note that this value is not validated.
```
  username => {
    type => 'string',
    optional => 1,
    default => 'guest'
  }
```

element_type

Extends the validation to individual elements of arrays.

  tags => {
    type => 'arrayref',
    element_type => 'number',   # Float means the same
    min => 1,   # this is the length of the array, not the min value for each of the numbers. For that, add a C<schema> rule
    max => 5
  }

error_msg

The custom error message to be used in the event of a validation failure.

  age => {
    type => 'integer',
    min => 18,
    error_msg => 'You must be at least 18 years old'
  }

nullable

Like optional, though this cannot be a coderef, only a flag.

schema

You can validate nested hashrefs and arrayrefs using the schema property:

  my $schema = {
      user => {       # 'user' is a hashref
          type => 'hashref',
          schema => { # Specify what the elements of the hash should be
              name => { type => 'string' },
              age => { type => 'integer', min => 0 },
              hobbies => {    # 'hobbies' is an array ref that this user has
                  type => 'arrayref',
                  schema => { type => 'string' }, # Validate each hobby
                  min => 1 # At least one hobby
              }
          }
      },
      metadata => {
          type => 'hashref',
          schema => {
              created => { type => 'string' },
              tags => {
                  type => 'arrayref',
                  schema => {
                      type => 'string',
                      matches => qr/^[a-z]+$/ # Or you can say matches => '^[a-z]+$'
                  }
              }
          }
      }
  };

validate

A snippet of code that validates the input. It's passed the input arguments, and return a string containing a reason for rejection, or undef if it's allowed.

  my $schema = {
    user => {
      type => 'string',
      validate => sub {
        if($_[0]->{'password'} eq 'bar') {
          return undef;
        }
        return 'Invalid password, try again';
      }
    }, password => {
       type => 'string'
    }
  };

transform

A code reference to a subroutine that transforms/sanitizes the parameter value before validation. The subroutine should accept the parameter value as an argument and return the transformed value. The transformation is applied before any validation rules are checked, allowing you to normalize or clean data before it is validated.

Common use cases include trimming whitespace, normalizing case, formatting phone numbers, sanitizing user input, and converting between data formats.

  # Simple string transformations
  username => {
    type => 'string',
    transform => sub { lc(trim($_[0])) },  # lowercase and trim
    matches => qr/^[a-z0-9_]+$/
  }

  email => {
    type => 'string',
    transform => sub { lc(trim($_[0])) },  # normalize email
    matches => qr/^[\w\.\-]+@[\w\.\-]+\.\w+$/
  }

  # Array transformations
  tags => {
    type => 'arrayref',
    transform => sub { [map { lc($_) } @{$_[0]}] },  # lowercase all elements
    element_type => 'string'
  }

  keywords => {
    type => 'arrayref',
    transform => sub {
      my @arr = map { lc(trim($_)) } @{$_[0]};
      my %seen;
      return [grep { !$seen{$_}++ } @arr];  # remove duplicates
    }
  }

  # Numeric transformations
  quantity => {
    type => 'integer',
    transform => sub { int($_[0] + 0.5) },  # round to nearest integer
    min => 1
  }

  # Sanitization
  slug => {
    type => 'string',
    transform => sub {
      my $str = lc(trim($_[0]));
      $str =~ s/[^\w\s-]//g;  # remove special characters
      $str =~ s/\s+/-/g;      # replace spaces with hyphens
      return $str;
    },
    matches => qr/^[a-z0-9-]+$/
  }

  phone => {
    type => 'string',
    transform => sub {
      my $str = $_[0];
      $str =~ s/\D//g;  # remove all non-digits
      return $str;
    },
    matches => qr/^\d{10}$/
  }

The transform function is applied to the value before any validation checks (min, max, matches, callback, etc.), ensuring that validation rules are checked against the cleaned data.

Transformations work with all parameter types including nested structures:

  user => {
    type => 'hashref',
    schema => {
      name => {
        type => 'string',
        transform => sub { trim($_[0]) }
      },
      email => {
        type => 'string',
        transform => sub { lc(trim($_[0])) }
      }
    }
  }

Transformations can also be defined in custom types for reusability:

  my $custom_types = {
    email => {
      type => 'string',
      transform => sub { lc(trim($_[0])) },
      matches => qr/^[\w\.\-]+@[\w\.\-]+\.\w+$/
    }
  };

Note that the transformed value is what gets returned in the validated result and is what subsequent validation rules will check against. If a transformation might fail, ensure it handles edge cases appropriately. It is the responsibility of the transformer to ensure that the type of the returned value is correct, since that is what will be validated.

Many validators also allow a code ref to be passed so that you can create your own, conditional validation rule, e.g.:

  $schema = {
    age => {
      type => 'integer',
      min => sub {
          my ($value, $all_params) = @_;
          return $all_params->{country} eq 'US' ? 21 : 18;
      }
    }
  }

validator

A synonym of Cvalidate>, for compatibility with Data::Processor.

cross_validation

A reference to a hash that defines validation rules that depend on more than one parameter. Cross-field validations are performed after all individual parameter validations have passed, allowing you to enforce business logic that requires checking relationships between different fields.

Each cross-validation rule is a key-value pair where the key is a descriptive name for the validation and the value is a code reference that accepts a hash reference of all validated parameters. The subroutine should return undef if the validation passes, or an error message string if it fails.

  my $schema = {
    password => { type => 'string', min => 8 },
    password_confirm => { type => 'string' }
  };

  my $cross_validation = {
    passwords_match => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      return $params->{password} eq $params->{password_confirm}
        ? undef : "Passwords don't match";
    }
  };

  my $validated = validate_strict(
    schema => $schema,
    input => $input,
    cross_validation => $cross_validation
  );

Common use cases include password confirmation, date range validation, numeric comparisons, and conditional requirements:

  # Date range validation
  my $cross_validation = {
    date_range_valid => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      return $params->{start_date} le $params->{end_date}
        ? undef : "Start date must be before or equal to end date";
    }
  };

  # Price range validation
  my $cross_validation = {
    price_range_valid => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      return $params->{min_price} <= $params->{max_price}
        ? undef : "Minimum price must be less than or equal to maximum price";
    }
  };

  # Conditional required field
  my $cross_validation = {
    address_required_for_delivery => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      if ($params->{shipping_method} eq 'delivery' && !$params->{delivery_address}) {
        return "Delivery address is required when shipping method is 'delivery'";
      }
      return undef;
    }
  };

Multiple cross-validations can be defined in the same hash, and they are all checked in order. If any cross-validation fails, the function will croak with the error message returned by the validation:

  my $cross_validation = {
    passwords_match => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      return $params->{password} eq $params->{password_confirm}
        ? undef : "Passwords don't match";
    },
    emails_match => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      return $params->{email} eq $params->{email_confirm}
        ? undef : "Email addresses don't match";
    },
    age_matches_birth_year => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      my $current_year = (localtime)[5] + 1900;
      my $calculated_age = $current_year - $params->{birth_year};
      return abs($calculated_age - $params->{age}) <= 1
        ? undef : "Age doesn't match birth year";
    }
  };

Cross-validations receive the parameters after individual validation and transformation have been applied, so you can rely on the data being in the correct format and type:

  my $schema = {
    email => {
      type => 'string',
      transform => sub { lc($_[0]) }  # Lowercased before cross-validation
    },
    email_confirm => {
      type => 'string',
      transform => sub { lc($_[0]) }
    }
  };

  my $cross_validation = {
    emails_match => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      # Both emails are already lowercased at this point
      return $params->{email} eq $params->{email_confirm}
        ? undef : "Email addresses don't match";
    }
  };

Cross-validations can access nested structures and optional fields:

  my $cross_validation = {
    guardian_required_for_minors => sub {
      my $params = shift;
      if ($params->{user}{age} < 18 && !$params->{guardian}) {
        return "Guardian information required for users under 18";
      }
      return undef;
    }
  };

metadata

Fields starting with <_> are generated by App::Test::Generator::SchemaExtractor, and are currently ignored.
schematic

TODO: gives an idea of what the field will be, e.g. filename.

All cross-validations must pass for the overall validation to succeed.
relationships

A reference to an array that defines validation rules based on relationships between parameters. Relationship validations are performed after all individual parameter validations have passed, but before cross-validations.

Each relationship is a hash reference with a type field and additional fields depending on the type:
- mutually_exclusive
  
  Parameters that cannot be specified together.
```
  relationships => [
    {
      type => 'mutually_exclusive',
      params => ['file', 'content'],
      description => 'Cannot specify both file and content'
    }
  ]
```
- required_group
  
  At least one parameter from the group must be specified.
```
  relationships => [
    {
      type => 'required_group',
      params => ['id', 'name'],
      logic => 'or',
      description => 'Must specify either id or name'
    }
  ]
```
- conditional_requirement
  
  If one parameter is specified, another becomes required.
```
  relationships => [
    {
      type => 'conditional_requirement',
      if => 'async',
      then_required => 'callback',
      description => 'When async is specified, callback is required'
    }
  ]
```
- dependency
  
  One parameter requires another to be present.
```
  relationships => [
    {
      type => 'dependency',
      param => 'port',
      requires => 'host',
      description => 'port requires host to be specified'
    }
  ]
```
- value_constraint
  
  Specific value requirements between parameters.
```
  relationships => [
    {
      type => 'value_constraint',
      if => 'ssl',
      then => 'port',
      operator => '==',
      value => 443,
      description => 'When ssl is specified, port must equal 443'
    }
  ]
```
- value_conditional
  
  Parameter required when another has a specific value.
```
  relationships => [
    {
      type => 'value_conditional',
      if => 'mode',
      equals => 'secure',
      then_required => 'key',
      description => "When mode equals 'secure', key is required"
    }
  ]
```
If a parameter is optional and its value is undef, validation will be skipped for that parameter.

If the validation fails, the function will croak with an error message describing the validation failure.

If the validation is successful, the function will return a reference to a new hash containing the validated and (where applicable) coerced parameters. Integer and number parameters will be coerced to their respective types.

The description field is optional but recommended for clearer error messages.

Example Usage

my $schema = {
  host => { type => 'string' },
  port => { type => 'integer' },
  ssl => { type => 'boolean' },
  file => { type => 'string', optional => 1 },
  content => { type => 'string', optional => 1 }
};

my $relationships = [
  {
    type => 'mutually_exclusive',
    params => ['file', 'content']
  },
  {
    type => 'required_group',
    params => ['host', 'file']
  },
  {
    type => 'dependency',
    param => 'port',
    requires => 'host'
  },
  {
    type => 'value_constraint',
    if => 'ssl',
    then => 'port',
    operator => '==',
    value => 443
  }
];

my $validated = validate_strict(
  schema => $schema,
  input => $input,
  relationships => $relationships
);

MIGRATION FROM LEGACY VALIDATORS

From Params::Validate

# Old style
validate(@_, {
    name => { type => SCALAR },
    age => { type => SCALAR, regex => qr/^\d+$/ }
});

# New style
validate_strict(
    schema => {     # or "members"
        name => 'string',
        age => { type => 'integer', min => 0 }
    },
    args => { @_ }
);

From Type::Params

# Old style
my ($name, $age) = validate_positional \@_, Str, Int;

# New style - requires converting to named parameters first
my %args = (name => $_[0], age => $_[1]);
my $validated = validate_strict(
    schema => { name => 'string', age => 'integer' },
    args => \%args
);

AUTHOR

Nigel Horne, <njh at nigelhorne.com>

FORMAL SPECIFICATION

[PARAM_NAME, VALUE, TYPE_NAME, CONSTRAINT_VALUE]

ValidationRule ::= SimpleType | ComplexRule

SimpleType ::= string | integer | number | arrayref | hashref | coderef | object

ComplexRule == [
    type: TYPE_NAME;
    min: ℕ₁;
    max: ℕ₁;
    optional: 𝔹;
    matches: REGEX;
    nomatch: REGEX;
    memberof: seq VALUE;
    notmemberof: seq VALUE;
    callback: FUNCTION;
    isa: TYPE_NAME;
    can: METHOD_NAME
]

Schema == PARAM_NAME ⇸ ValidationRule

Arguments == PARAM_NAME ⇸ VALUE

ValidatedResult == PARAM_NAME ⇸ VALUE

∀ rule: ComplexRule •
  rule.min ≤ rule.max ∧
  ¬(rule.memberof ∧ rule.min) ∧
  ¬(rule.memberof ∧ rule.max) ∧
  ¬(rule.notmemberof ∧ rule.min) ∧
  ¬(rule.notmemberof ∧ rule.max)

∀ schema: Schema; args: Arguments •
  dom(validate_strict(schema, args)) ⊆ dom(schema) ∪ dom(args)

validate_strict: Schema × Arguments → ValidatedResult

∀ schema: Schema; args: Arguments •
  let result == validate_strict(schema, args) •
    (∀ name: dom(schema) ∩ dom(args) •
      name ∈ dom(result) ⇒
      type_matches(result(name), schema(name))) ∧
    (∀ name: dom(schema) •
      ¬optional(schema(name)) ⇒ name ∈ dom(args))

type_matches: VALUE × ValidationRule → 𝔹

EXAMPLE

use Params::Get;
use Params::Validate::Strict;

sub where_am_i
{
    my $params = Params::Validate::Strict::validate_strict({
        args => Params::Get::get_params(undef, \@_),
        description => 'Print a string of latitude and longitude',
        error_msg => 'Latitude is a number between +/- 90, longitude is a number between +/- 180',
        members => {
            'latitude' => {
                type => 'number',
                min => -90,
                max => 90
            }, 'longitude' => {
                type => 'number',
                min => -180,
                max => 180
            }
        }
    });

    print 'You are at ', $params->{'latitude'}, ', ', $params->{'longitude'}, "\n";
}

where_am_i({ latitude => 3.14, longitude => -155 });

BUGS

SUPPORT

This module is provided as-is without any warranty.

Please report any bugs or feature requests to bug-params-validate-strict at rt.cpan.org, or through the web interface at http://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/ReportBug.html?Queue=Params-Validate-Strict. I will be notified, and then you'll automatically be notified of progress on your bug as I make changes.

You can find documentation for this module with the perldoc command.

perldoc Params::Validate::Strict

You can also look for information at:

MetaCPAN

https://metacpan.org/dist/Params-Validate-Strict
RT: CPAN's request tracker

https://rt.cpan.org/NoAuth/Bugs.html?Dist=Params-Validate-Strict
CPAN Testers' Matrix

http://matrix.cpantesters.org/?dist=Params-Validate-Strict
CPAN Testers Dependencies

http://deps.cpantesters.org/?module=Params::Validate::Strict

LICENSE AND COPYRIGHT

This program is released under the following licence: GPL2

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