NAME

CGI::Ex::Validate - The "Just Right" form validator with javascript in parallel

SYNOPSIS

use CGI::Ex::Validate;

# THE SHORT

my $errobj = CGI::Ex::Validate->new->validate($form, $val_hash);

# THE LONG

my $form = CGI->new;
# OR #
my $form = CGI::Ex->new; # OR CGI::Ex->get_form;
# OR #
my $form = {key1 => 'val1', key2 => 'val2'};


# simplest
my $val_hash = {
    'group order' => [qw(username email email2)],
    username => {
        required => 1,
        max_len  => 30,
        field    => 'username',
        # field is optional in this case - will use key name
    },
    email    => {
        required => 1,
        max_len  => 100,
        type     => 'email',
    },
    email2   => {
        equals   => 'email',
    },
};

# ordered
my $val_hash = {
    'group order' => [{
        field    => 'username', # field is not optional in this case
        required => 1,
        max_len  => 30,
    }, {
        field    => 'email',
        required => 1,
        max_len  => 100,
    }, {
        field    => 'email2',
        equals   => 'email',
    }],
};


my $vob    = CGI::Ex::Validate->new;
my $errobj = $vob->validate($form, $val_hash);
if ($errobj) {
    # get errors back in any of several useful ways
    my $error_heading = $errobj->as_string; # OR "$errobj";
    my $error_list    = $errobj->as_array;  # ordered list of what when wrong
    my $error_hash    = $errobj->as_hash;   # hash of arrayrefs of errors
} else {
    # the form passed validation
}


my $js_uri_path = '/js/';     # static or dynamic URI path to find CGI/Ex/validate.js
my $form_name   = "the_form"; # name of the form to attach javascript to

# generate javascript to validate an existing form
my $javascript = $vob->generate_js($val_hash, {
    form_name   => $form_name,
    js_uri_path => $js_uri_path,
});

# OR let Validate create the form and javascript for you
my $form = $vob->generate_form($val_hash, {
    form_name   => $form_name,   # will use a random name if not passed
    js_uri_path => $js_uri_path,
});

DESCRIPTION

CGI::Ex::Validate is one of many validation modules. It aims to have all of the basic data validation functions, avoid adding all of the millions of possible types, while still giving the capability for the developer to add their own types for the rare cases that the basic ones don't suffice. Generally anything more than basic validation probably needs programmatic or data based validation.

CGI::Ex::Validate also has full support for providing the same validation in javascript. It provides methods for attaching the javascript to existing forms. This ability is tightly integrated into CGI::Ex::App, but it should be easy to add validation just about anywhere using any type of controller.

As opposed to other kitchen sync validation modules, CGI::Ex::Validate offers the simple types of validation, and makes it easy to add your own custom types. Asside from custom and custom_js, all validation markup is declarative.

METHODS

new

Used to instantiate the object. Arguments are either a hash, or hashref, or nothing at all. Keys of the hash become the keys of the object.

get_validation

Uses CGI::Ex::Conf::conf_read to read in the hash. conf_read will all passing a filename or YAML string or a hashref.

get_validation_keys

Takes the validation hashref returned from get_validation. Will return all of the possible keys found in the validation hashref. This can be used to check to see if extra items have been passed to validate. If a second argument contains a form hash is passed, get_validation_keys will only return the keys of groups that were validated.

my $key_hashref = $self->get_validation_keys($val_hash);

The keys of the hash are the names of the fields.

validate

Arguments are a form hashref or cgi object, a validation hashref or filename, and an optional what_was_validated arrayref (discussed further later on). If a CGI object is passed, CGI::Ex::get_form will be called on that object to turn it into a hashref. If a filename is given for the validation, get_validation will be called on that filename. If the what_was_validated_arrayref is passed - it will be populated (pushed) with the field hashes that were actually validated (anything that was skipped because of validate_if will not be in the array).

If the form passes validation, validate will return undef. If it fails validation, it will return a CGI::Ex::Validate::Error object. If the 'raise_error' option has been set, validate will die with a CGI::Ex::validate::Error object as the value.

my $err_obj = $self->validate($form, $val_hash);

# OR #

$self->{raise_error} = 1; # can also be listed in the val_hash
eval { $self->validate($form, $val_hash) };
if ($@) { my $err_obj = $@; }

generate_form

Takes a validation hash, and additional arguments and generates an HTML form suitable for inclusion in a web based application.

my $html = $self->generate_form($val_hash, {
    form_name   => 'my_form',
    js_uri_path => '/cgi-bin/js', # will be used by generate_js
});

generate_js

Works with CGI::Ex::JSONDump.

Takes a validation hash, a form name, and an optional javascript uri path and returns Javascript that can be embedded on a page and will perform identical validations as the server side. The form name must be the name of the form that the validation will act upon - the name is used to register an onsubmit function. The javascript uri path is used to embed the locations of javascript source files included with the CGI::Ex distribution.

The javascript uri path is highly dependent upon the server configuration and therefore must be configured manually. It may be passed to generate_js, or it may be specified in $JS_URI_PATH. There is one file included with this module that is needed - CGI/Ex/validate.js. When generating the js code, generate_js will look in $JS_URI_PATH_VALIDATE. If this is not set, generate_js will use "$JS_URI_PATH/CGI/Ex/validate.js".

my $js = $self->generate_js($val_hash, 'my_form', "/cgi-bin/js")
# OR
my $js = $self->generate_js($val_hash, {
    form_name   => 'my_form',
    js_uri_path => '/cgi-bin/js',
});

# would generate something like the following...

<script src="/cgi-bin/js/CGI/Ex/validate.js"></script>
... more js follows ...

$CGI::Ex::Validate::JS_URI_PATH = "/stock/js";
$self->generate_js($val_hash, 'my_form')

# would generate something like the following...

<script src="/stock/js/CGI/Ex/validate.js"></script>
... more js follows ...

Referencing validate.js can be done in any of several ways. It can be copied to or symlinked to a fixed location in the server's html directory. It can also be printed out by a cgi. The method ->print_js has been provided in CGI::Ex for printing js files found in the perl hierarchy. See CGI::Ex for more details. The $JS_URI_PATH of "/cgi-bin/js" could contain the following:

#!/usr/bin/perl -w

use strict;
use CGI::Ex;

# path_info should contain something like /CGI/Ex/validate.js
my $info = $ENV{PATH_INFO} || '';
die "Invalid path" if $info !~ m|^(/\w+)+.js$|;
$info =~ s|^/+||;

CGI::Ex->new->print_js($info);
exit;

The print_js method in CGI::Ex is designed to cache the javascript in the browser.

->cgix

Returns a CGI::Ex object. Used internally if a CGI object is passed to validate rather than a straight form hash.

VALIDATION HASH

The validation hash may be passed as a hashref or as a filename, or as a YAML document string. Experience has shown it to be better programming to pass in a hashref. If the validation "hash" is a filename or a YAML string, it will be translated into a hash using CGI::Ex::Conf.

Keys matching the regex m/^group \s+ (\w+)$/x such as "group onevent" are reserved and are counted as GROUP OPTIONS. Other keys (if any, should be field names that need validation).

If the GROUP OPTION 'group validate_if' is set, the validation will only be validated if the conditions of the validate_if are met. If 'group validate_if' is not specified, then the validation will proceed. See the validate_if VALIDATION type for more information.

Each of the items listed in the validation will be validated. The validation order is determined the following ways:

Specify 'group order' arrayref with hashrefs.

# order will be (username, password, 'm/\w+_foo/', somethingelse)
{
    'group title' => "User Information",
    'group order' => [
        {field => 'username',   required => 1},
        {field => 'password',   required => 1},
        {field => 'm/\w+_foo/', required => 1},
    ],
    somethingelse => {required => 1},
    }

Specify 'group order' arrayref with field key names.

# order will be (username, password, 'm/\w+_foo/', somethingelse)
{
    'group title' => "User Information",
    'group order' => [qw(username password), 'm/\w+_foo/'],
    username      => {required => 1},
    password      => {required => 1},
    'm/\w+_foo/'  => {required => 1},
    somethingelse => {required => 1},
}

Do nothing - use sorted order.

# order will be ('m/\w+_foo/', password, somethingelse, username)
{
    'group title' => "User Information",
    username      => {required => 1},
    password      => {required => 1},
    'm/\w+_foo/'  => {required => 1},
    somethingelse => {required => 1},
}

Optionally the 'group order' may contain the word 'OR' as a special keyword. If the item preceding 'OR' fails validation the item after 'OR' will be tested instead. If the item preceding 'OR' passes validation the item after 'OR' will not be tested.

'group order' => [qw(zip OR postalcode state OR region)],

At this time, only "group onevent" submit works with this option. Using OR is not needed if testing for one or more values -- instead you should use min_in_set or max_in_set (OR is still useful for other cases).

'zip' => {
  max_in_set: '1 of zip, postalcode',
},
'state' => {
  max_in_set: '1 of state, region',
},

Each individual field validation hashref will operate on the field contained in the 'field' key. This key may also be a regular expression in the form of 'm/somepattern/'. If a regular expression is used, all keys matching that pattern will be validated. If the field key is not specified, the key from the top level hash will be used.

foobar => {   # "foobar" is not used as key because field is specified
    field    => 'real_key_name',
    required => 1,
},
real_key_name2 => {
    required => 1,
},
'm/\w+/' => { # this will apply to all fields matching this regex
    required => 1,
},

Each of the individual field validation hashrefs should contain the types listed in VALIDATION TYPES.

VALIDATION TYPES

This section lists the available validation types. Multiple instances of the same type may be used for some validation types by adding a number to the type (ie match, match2, match232). Multiple instances are validated in sorted order. Types that allow multiple values are: compare, custom, custom_js, equals, match, required_if, sql, validate_if, and replace (replace is a MODIFICATION TYPE).

compare

Allows for custom comparisons. Available types are >, <, >=, <=, !=, ==, gt, lt, ge, le, ne, and eq. Comparisons also work in the JS.

{
    field    => 'my_number',
    match    => 'm/^\d+$/',
    compare1 => '> 100',
    compare2 => '< 255',
    compare3 => '!= 150',
}

custom

Custom value - not available in JS. Allows for extra programming types. May be either a boolean value predetermined before calling validate, or may be a coderef that will be called during validation. If coderef is called, it will be passed the field name, the form value for that name, and a reference to the field validation hash. If the custom type returns false the element fails validation and an error is added.

{
    field => 'username',
    custom => sub {
        my ($key, $val, $field_val_hash, $checktype, $form) = @_;
        # do something here
        return 0;
    },
    custom_error => '$name was not valid',
}

Often it is desirable to specify a different message depending upon the code passed to custom. To use a custom error message simply die with the error message. Note that you will want to add a newline or else perl will add the line number and file for you - CGI::Ex::Validate will remove the trailing newline.

{
    field => 'username',
    custom => sub {
        my ($key, $val) = @_;
        die "Custom error message 1\n" if $val eq '1';
        die "Custom error message 2\n" if $val eq '2';
        return 0;
    },
    custom_error => '$name default custom error message',
}

custom_js

Custom value - only available in JS. Allows for extra programming types. May be a javascript function (if fully declared in javascript), a string containing a javascript function (that will be eval'ed into a real function), a boolean value pre-determined before calling validate, or may be section of javascript that will be eval'ed (the last value of the eval'ed javascript will determine if validation passed). A false response indicates the value did not pass validation. A true response indicates that it did. See the samples/validate_js_0_tests.html page for a sample of usages.

{
    field => 'date',
    required => 1,
    match    => 'm|^\d\d\d\d/\d\d/\d\d$|',
    match_error => 'Please enter date in YYYY/MM/DD format',
    custom_js => "function (args) {
        var t = new Date();
        var y = t.getYear()+1900;
        var m = t.getMonth() + 1;
        var d = t.getDate();
        if (m < 10) m = '0'+m;
        if (d < 10) d = '0'+d;
        (args.value > ''+y+'/'+m+'/'+d) ? 1 : 0;
    }",
    custom_js_error => 'The date was not greater than today.',
}

Often it is desirable to specify a different message depending upon the function passed to custom_js. To use a custom error message simply throw the error message.

{
    field => 'username',
    custom_js => 'function (args) {
        if (args.value == 1) throw "Custom error message 1";
        if (args.value == 2) throw "Custom error message 2";
        return 0;
    }',
    custom_js_error => '$name default custom error message',
}

enum

Allows for checking whether an item matches a set of options. In perl the value may be passed as an arrayref. In the conf or in perl the value may be passed of the options joined with ||.

{
    field => 'password_type',
    enum  => 'plaintext||crypt||md5', # OR enum => [qw(plaintext crypt md5)],
}

equals

Allows for comparison of two form elements. Can have an optional !.

{
    field  => 'password',
    equals => 'password_verify',
},
{
    field  => 'domain1',
    equals => '!domain2', # make sure the fields are not the same
}

had_error

Typically used by a validate_if. Allows for checking if this item has had an error.

{
    field => 'alt_password',
    validate_if => {field => 'password', had_error => 1},
}

This is basically the opposite of was_valid.

match

Allows for regular expression comparison. Multiple matches may be concatenated with ||. Available in JS.

{
    field   => 'my_ip',
    match   => 'm/^\d{1,3}(\.\d{1,3})3$/',
    match_2 => '!m/^0\./ || !m/^192\./',
}

max_in_set and min_in_set

Somewhat like min_values and max_values except that you specify the fields that participate in the count. Also - entries that are not defined or do not have length are not counted. An optional "of" can be placed after the number for human readability.

min_in_set => "2 of foo bar baz",
  # two of the fields foo, bar or baz must be set
  # same as
min_in_set => "2 foo bar baz",
  # same as
min_in_set => "2 OF foo bar baz",

validate_if => {field => 'whatever', max_in_set => '0 of whatever'},
  # only run validation if there were zero occurrences of whatever

max_len and min_len

Allows for check on the length of fields

{
    field   => 'site',
    min_len => 4,
    max_len => 100,
}

max_values and min_values

Allows for specifying the maximum number of form elements passed. max_values defaults to 1 (You must explicitly set it higher to allow more than one item by any given name).

required

Requires the form field to have some value. If the field is not present, no other checks will be run and an error will be given.

It has been common for code to try required = 0> which essentially has no effect - instead use validate_if = 'fieldname', required => 1>. This results in the fieldname only being required if the fieldname is present.

required_if

Requires the form field if the condition is satisfied. The conditions available are the same as for validate_if. This is somewhat the same as saying:

validate_if => 'some_condition',
required    => 1

required_if => 'some_condition',

It is different in that other checks will run - whereas validate_if skips all validation if some condition is not met.

If a regex is used for the field name, the required_if field will have any match patterns swapped in.

{
    field       => 'm/^(\w+)_pass/',
    required_if => '$1_user',
}

This example would require the "foobar_pass" field to be set if the "foobar_user" field was passed.

sql

SQL query based - not available in JS. The database handle will be looked for in the value $self->{dbhs}->{foo} if sql_db_type is set to 'foo', otherwise it will default to $self->{dbh}. If $self->{dbhs}->{foo} or $self->{dbh} is a coderef - they will be called and should return a dbh.

{
    field => 'username',
    sql   => 'SELECT COUNT(*) FROM users WHERE username = ?',
    sql_error_if => 1, # default is 1 - set to 0 to negate result
    # sql_db_type  => 'foo', # will look for a dbh under $self->{dbhs}->{foo}
}

type

Allows for more strict type checking. Currently supported types include CC (credit card), EMAIL, DOMAIN, IP, URL, INT, UINT, and NUM. Other types will be added upon request provided we can add a perl and a javascript version (extra types often aren't necessary as the custom and custom_js options give arbitrary checking). If a type checks fails - other compare, custom, or length checks will not be ran.

{
    field => 'credit_card',
    type  => 'CC',
}

item CC

Simple Luhn-10 check. Note that spaces and dashes are left in place.

EMAIL

Very basic check to see if the value looks like an address. The local part must only contain [\w.~!\#\$%\^&*\-=+?] and the domain must be a domain or ip. If you want full fledged RFC compliant checking consider something like:

{
    field => 'email',
    custom => sub {
        my ($key, $val, $fv, $type, $form) = @_;
        require Mail::Address;
        my @a = Mail::Address->parse($val);
        die "Invalid address\n" if @a != 1;
        return $form->{$key} = $a[0]->address;
     },
 }

DOMAIN

Checks for a valid domain name - does no lookup of the domain. For that use a custom sub.

IP

Basic IPv4 check.

URL

Basic check that string matches something resembling an http or https url.

INT

Checks for an integer between -2147483648 and -2147483648

UINT

Checks for an unsigned integer between 0 and 4294967295.

NUM

Checks for something that looks like a number. Scientic notation is not allowed. No range enforced.

validate_if

If validate_if is specified, the field will only be validated if the conditions are met. Works in JS.

validate_if => {field => 'name', required => 1, max_len => 30}
# Will only validate if the field "name" is present and is less than 30 chars.

validate_if => 'name',
# SAME as
validate_if => {field => 'name', required => 1},

validate_if => '! name',
# SAME as
validate_if => {field => 'name', max_in_set => '0 of name'},

validate_if => 'name was_valid',
# SAME as
validate_if => {field => 'name', was_valid => 1},

validate_if => {field => 'country', compare => "eq US"},
# only if country's value is equal to US

validate_if => {field => 'country', compare => "ne US"},
# if country doesn't equal US

validate_if => {field => 'password', match => 'm/^md5\([a-z0-9]{20}\)$/'},
# if password looks like md5(12345678901234567890)

{
    field       => 'm/^(\w+)_pass/',
    validate_if => '$1_user',
    required    => 1,
},
{
    field       => 'm/^(\w+)_pass2/',
    validate_if => '$1_pass',
    equals      => '$1_pass',
    required    => 1,
}

# will validate foo_pass only if foo_user was present.

The validate_if may also contain an arrayref of validation items. So that multiple checks can be run. They will be run in order. validate_if will return true only if all options returned true.

validate_if => ['email', 'phone', 'fax']

Optionally, if validate_if is an arrayref, it may contain the word 'OR' as a special keyword. If the item preceding 'OR' fails validation the item after 'OR' will be tested instead. If the item preceding 'OR' passes validation the item after 'OR' will not be tested.

validate_if => [qw(zip OR postalcode)],

was_valid

Typically used by a validate_if. Allows for checking if this item has successfully been validated.

{
    field => 'password2',
    validate_if => {field => 'password', was_valid => 1},
}

This is basically the opposite of had_error.

SPECIAL VALIDATION TYPES

field

Specify which field to work on. Key may be a regex in the form 'm/\w+_user/'. This key is required in a hashref passed to 'group order'. It can optionally be used with other types to specify a different form element to operate on. On errors, if a non-default error is found, $field will be swapped with the value found in field.

The field name may also be a regular expression in the form of 'm/somepattern/'. If a regular expression is used, all keys matching that pattern will be validated.

name

Name to use for errors. If a name is not specified, default errors will use "The field $field" as the name. If a non-default error is found, $name will be swapped with this name.

delegate_error

This option allows for any errors generated on a field to delegate to a different field. If the field name was a regex, any patterns will be swapped into the delegate_error value. This option is generally only useful with the as_hash method of the error object (for inline errors).

{
    field => 'zip',
    match => 'm/^\d{5}/',
},
{
    field => 'zip_plus4',
    match => 'm/^\d{4}/',
    delegate_error => 'zip',
},
{
    field => 'm/^(id_[\d+])_user$/',
    delegate_error => '$1',
},

exclude_js

This allows the cgi to do checking while keeping the checks from being run in JavaScript

{
    field      => 'cgi_var',
    required   => 1,
    exclude_js => 1,
}

exclude_cgi

This allows the js to do checking while keeping the checks from being run in the cgi

{
    field       => 'js_var',
    required    => 1,
    exclude_cgi => 1,
}

vif_disable

Only functions in javascript. Will mark set the form element to disabled if validate_if fails. It will mark it as enabled if validate_if is successful. This item should normally only be used when onevent includes "change" or "blur".

MODIFYING VALIDATION TYPES

The following types will modify the form value before it is processed. They work in both the perl and in javascript as well. The javascript version changes the actual value in the form on appropriate form types.

do_not_trim

By default, validate will trim leading and trailing whitespace from submitted values. Set do_not_trim to 1 to allow it to not trim.

{field => 'foo', do_not_trim => 1}

trim_control_chars

Off by default. If set to true, removes characters in the \x00 to \x31 range (Tabs are translated to a single space).

{field => 'foo', trim_control_chars => 1}

replace

Pass a swap pattern to change the actual value of the form. Any perl regex can be passed but it is suggested that javascript compatible regexes are used to make generate_js possible.

{field => 'foo', replace => 's/(\d{3})(\d{3})(\d{3})/($1) $2-$3/'}

default

Set item to default value if there is no existing value (undefined or zero length string).

{field => 'country', default => 'EN'}

to_upper_case and to_lower_case

Do what they say they do.

untaint

Requires that the validated field has been also checked with an enum, equals, match, compare, custom, or type check. If the field has been checked and there are no errors - the field is "untainted."

This is for use in conjunction with perl's -T switch.

clear_on_error

Clears the form field should a validation error occur. Only supported on the Javascript side (no affect on the server side).

ERROR OBJECT

Failed validation results in an error an error object created via the new_error method. The default error class is CGI::Ex::Validate::Error.

The error object has several methods for determining what the errors were.

as_array

Returns an array or arrayref (depending on scalar context) of errors that occurred in the order that they occurred. Individual groups may have a heading and the entire validation will have a heading (the default heading can be changed via the 'as_array_title' group option). Each error that occurred is a separate item and are pre-pended with 'as_array_prefix' (which is a group option - default is ' '). The as_array_ options may also be set via a hashref passed to as_array. as_array_title defaults to 'Please correct the following items:'.

# if this returns the following
my $array = $err_obj->as_array;
# $array looks like
# ['Please correct the following items:', '  error1', '  error2']

# then this would return the following
my $array = $err_obj->as_array({
    as_array_prefix => '  - ',
    as_array_title  => 'Something went wrong:',
});
# $array looks like
# ['Something went wrong:', '  - error1', '  - error2']

as_string

Returns values of as_array joined with a newline. This method is used as the stringification for the error object. Values of as_array are joined with 'as_string_join' which defaults to "\n". If 'as_string_header' is set, it will be pre-pended onto the error string. If 'as_string_footer' is set, it will be appended onto the error string.

# if this returns the following
my $string = $err_obj->as_string;
# $string looks like
# "Please correct the following items:\n  error1\n  error2"

# then this would return the following
my $string = $err_obj->as_string({
    as_array_prefix  => '  - ',
    as_array_title   => 'Something went wrong:',
    as_string_join   => '<br />',
    as_string_header => '<span class="error">',
    as_string_footer => '</span>',
});
# $string looks like
# '<span class="error">Something went wrong:<br />  - error1<br />  - error2</span>'

as_hash

Returns a hash or hashref (depending on scalar context) of errors that occurred. Each key is the field name of the form that failed validation with 'as_hash_suffix' added on as a suffix. as_hash_suffix is available as a group option and may also be passed in via a hashref as the only argument to as_hash. The default value is '_error'. The values of the hash are arrayrefs of errors that occurred to that form element.

By default as_hash will return the values of the hash as arrayrefs (a list of the errors that occurred to that key). It is possible to also return the values as strings. Three options are available for formatting: 'as_hash_header' which will be pre-pended onto the error string, 'as_hash_footer' which will be appended, and 'as_hash_join' which will be used to join the arrayref. The only argument required to force the stringification is 'as_hash_join'.

# if this returns the following
my $hash = $err_obj->as_hash;
# $hash looks like
# {key1_error => ['error1', 'error2']}

# then this would return the following
my $hash = $err_obj->as_hash({
    as_hash_suffix => '_foo',
    as_hash_join   => '<br />',
    as_hash_header => '<span class="error">'
    as_hash_footer => '</span>'
});
# $hash looks like
# {key1_foo => '<span class="error">error1<br />error2</span>'}

GROUP OPTIONS

Any key in a validation hash matching the pattern m/^group \s+ (\w+)$/x is considered a group option (the reason that either group or general may be used is that CGI::Ex::Validate used to have the concept of validation groups - these were not commonly used so support has been removed as of the 2.10 release). (the old name of 'general' vs 'group' is still supported but deprecated)

title

Used as a group section heading when as_array or as_string is called by the error object.

'group title' => 'Title of errors',

order

Order in which to validate key/value pairs of group.

'group order' => [qw(user pass email OR phone)],

# OR

'group order' => [{
    field    => 'field1',
    required => 1,
}, {
    field    => 'field2',
    required => 1,
}],

fields

Alias for 'group order'.

validate_if

If specified - the entire hashref will only be validated if the "if" conditions are met.

'group validate_if => {field => 'email', required => 1},

This group would only validate all fields if the email field was present.

raise_error

If raise_error is true, any call to validate that fails validation will die with an error object as the value.

no_extra_fields

If no_extra_fields is true, validate will add errors for any field found in form that does not have a field_val hashref in the validation hash. Default is false. If no_extra_fields is set to 'used', it will check for any keys that were not in a group that was validated.

An important exception to this is that field_val hashrefs or field names listed in a validate_if or required_if statement will not be included. You must have an explicit entry for each key.

\w+_error

These items allow for an override of the default errors.

'group required_error' => '$name is really required',
'group max_len_error'  => '$name must be shorter than $value characters',
  # OR #
my $self = CGI::Ex::Validate->new({
    max_len_error => '$name must be shorter than $value characters',
});

as_array_title

Used as the section title for all errors that occur, when as_array or as_string is called by the error object.

as_array_prefix

Used as prefix to individual errors that occur, when as_array or as_string is called by the error object. Each individual error will be prefixed with this string. Headings will not be prefixed. Default is ' '.

as_string_join

When as_string is called, the values from as_array will be joined with as_string_join. Default value is "\n".

as_string_header

If set, will be pre-pended onto the string when as_string is called.

as_string_footer

If set, will be pre-pended onto the string when as_string is called.

as_hash_suffix

Added on to key names during the call to as_hash. Default is '_error'.

as_hash_join

By default, as_hash will return hashref values that are errors joined with the default as_hash_join value of <br />. It can also return values that are arrayrefs of the errors. This can be done by setting as_hash_join to a non-true value (for example '')

as_hash_header

If as_hash_join has been set to a true value, as_hash_header may be set to a string that will be pre-pended on to the error string.

as_hash_footer

If as_hash_join has been set to a true value, as_hash_footer may be set to a string that will be postpended on to the error string.

onevent

Defaults to {submit => 1}. This controls when the javascript validation will take place. May be passed any or all or load, submit, change, or blur. Multiple events may be passed in the hash.

'group onevent' => {submit => 1, change => 1}',

A comma separated string of types may also be passed:

'group onevent' => 'submit,change,blur,load',

Currently, change and blur will not work for dynamically matched field names such as 'm/\w+/'. Support will be added.

set_hook

Defaults document.validate_set_hook which defaults to nothing. If "group set_hook" or document.validate_set_hook are set to a function, they will be passed the key name of a form element that had a validation error and the error that will be set. If a true value is returned, then validate will not also the inline error. If no value or false is returned (default) the validate will continue setting the inline error. This gives full control over setting inline errors. samples/validate_js_2_onchange.html has a good example of using these hooks.

'group set_hook' => "function (args) {
    alert("Setting error to field "+args.key);
}",

The args parameter includes key, value, val_hash, and form.

The document.validate_set_hook option is probably the better option to use, as it helps to separate display functionality out into your html templates rather than storing too much html logic in your CGI.

clear_hook

Similar to set_hook, but called when inline error is cleared. Its corresponding default is document.validate_clear_hook. The clear hook is also sampled in samples/validate_js_2_onchange.html

'group clear_hook' => "function (args) {
    alert("Clear error on field "+args.key);
}",

The args parameter includes key, val_hash, form, and was_valid.

no_inline

If set to true, the javascript validation will not attempt to generate inline errors when the only "group onevent" type is "submit". Default is true. Inline errors are independent of confirm and alert errors.

'group no_inline' => 1,

no_confirm

If set to true, the javascript validation will try to use an alert instead of a confirm to inform the user of errors when one of the "group onevent" types is "submit". Alert and confirm are independent or inline errors. Default is false.

'group no_confirm' => 1,

no_alert

If set to true, the javascript validation will not show an alert box when errors occur. Default is false. This option only comes into play if no_confirm is also set. This option is only in effect if "group onevent" includes "submit". This option is independent of inline errors. Although it is possible to turn off all errors by setting no_inline, no_confirm, and no_alert all to 1, it is suggested that at least one of the error reporting facilities is left on.

'group no_alert' => 1,

JAVASCRIPT

CGI::Ex::Validate provides for having duplicate validation on the client side as on the server side. Errors can be shown in any combination of inline and confirm, inline and alert, inline only, confirm only, alert only, and none. These combinations are controlled by the group options no_inline, no_confirm, and no_alert. Javascript validation can be generated for a page using the ->generate_js method of CGI::Ex::Validate.

(Note: It is also possible to store the validation inline with the html as YAML and have it read in using the HTML conf handler - but this feature has been deprecated - see the included html samples for how to do this).

Generate JS will create something similar to the following (based on your validation):

<script src="/cgi-bin/js/CGI/Ex/validate.js"></script>
<script>
document.validation = {
  'group no_confirm': 1,
  'group no_alert':   1,
  'group onevent':    'change,blur,submit',
  'group order': ['username', 'password'],
  username: {
    required: 1,
    max_len: 20
  },
  password: {
    required: 1,
    max_len: 30
  }
};
if (document.check_form) document.check_form('my_form_name');
</script>

If inline errors are enabled (default), each error that occurs will attempt to find an html element with its name as the id. For example, if the field "username" failed validation and created a "username_error", the javascript would set the html of <span id="username_error"></span> to the error message.

It is suggested to use something like the following so that you can have inline javascript validation as well as report validation errors from the server side as well.

<span class=error id=password_error>[% password_error %]</span><br>

If the javascript fails for some reason, the form should still be able to submit as normal (fail gracefully).

Additionally, there are two hooks that are called when ever an inline error is set or cleared. The following hooks are used in samples/validate_js_2_onchange.html to highlight the row and set an icon.

document.validate_set_hook = function (args) {
  document.getElementById(args.key+'_img').innerHTML
    = '<span style="font-weight:bold;color:red">!</span>';
  document.getElementById(args.key+'_row').style.background
    = '#ffdddd';
};

document.validate_clear_hook = function (args) {
  if (args.was_valid) {
    document.getElementById(args.key+'_img').innerHTML
        = '<span style="font-weight:bold;color:green">+</span>';
    document.getElementById(args.key+'_row').style.background
        = '#ddffdd';
  } else {
    document.getElementById(args.key+'_img').innerHTML = '';
    document.getElementById(args.key+'_row').style.background = '#fff';
  }
};

If you have jquery that looks like:

document.validate_set_hook = function (args) {
  $('#'+args.key+'_img').html('<span style="font-weight:bold;color:red">!</span>');
  $('#'+args.key+'_row').css('backgroundColor', '#ffdddd');
};

document.validate_clear_hook = function (args) {
  if (args.was_valid) {
    $('#'+args.key+'_img').html('<span style="font-weight:bold;color:green">+</span>');
    $('#'+args.key+'_row').css('backgroundColor', '#ddffdd');
  } else {
    $('#'+args.key+'_img').html('');
    $('#'+args.key+'_row').css('backgroundColor', '#fff');
  }
};

These hooks can also be set as "group clear_hook" and "group set_hook" which are defined further above.

If the confirm option is used ("group onevent" includes submit and
"group no_confirm" is false), the errors will be displayed to the
user.  If they choose OK they will be able to try and fix the errors.
If they choose cancel, the form will submit anyway and will rely on
the server to do the validation.  This is for fail safety to make sure
that if the javascript didn't validate correctly, the user can still
submit the data.

LICENSE

This module may be distributed under the same terms as Perl itself.

AUTHOR

Paul Seamons <paul@seamons.com>

1 POD Error

The following errors were encountered while parsing the POD:

Around line 581:: You can't have =items (as at line 587) unless the first thing after the =over is an =item

To install CGI::Ex, copy and paste the appropriate command in to your terminal.

cpanm

cpanm CGI::Ex

CPAN shell

perl -MCPAN -e shell
install CGI::Ex

For more information on module installation, please visit the detailed CPAN module installation guide.

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