Rules

The rules callback defines the validation rules. Rules can be defined for each route action method (for example, store for a POST call). These validation rules are then transformed into validation rules that Laravel's Validator can use.

use Apitizer\Validation\Rules;
use Apitizer\Validation\ObjectRules;

class PostSchema extends Schema
{
    // --snip-- the other callbacks

    public function rules(Rules $rules)
    {
        // Define two fields for "store" call.
        $rules->storeRules(function (ObjectRules $object) {
            $object->string('title')->required()->max(100);
            $object->string('body')->required();
        });

        // Same, but for the "update" call.
        $rules->updateRules(function (ObjectRules $object) {
            $object->string('title')->max(100);
            $object->string('body');
        });

        // Define rules for arbitrary methods
        $rules->define('my_controller_action', function (ObjectRules $object) {
            // rules...
        });
    }
}

Documentation is automatically generated for each rule.

Defining rules

Defining a new validation rule always starts with the type, followed by the key name, followed by any validation rules. Some examples:

$rules->define('store', function (ObjectRules $object) {
    $object->string('name');
    $object->uuid('id'); // Alias for $object->string('id')->uuid();
    $object->boolean('accepted_terms')->accepted();
    $object->date('good_before')->before(Carbon::now()->addDays(7));
    $object->datetime('scheduled_at')->afterOrEqual(Carbon::now());
    $object->number('count')->digits(4);
    $object->integer('rating')->between(0, 5);
    $object->file('csv_import')->mimetypes(['text/csv']);
    $object->image('avatar'); // Alias for $object->file('avatar')->image();
});

All of the standard Laravel validation rules have been defined on the builders. Some are only available with the appropriate type, such as the before and after variants for dates.

Arrays and objects

In the examples above, we really only defined scalar types. Sometimes, however, your input will be a bit more complex with various arrays or nested objects. These are supported by the validation rules too, and may be nested to arbitrary depth.

$rules->storeRules(function (ObjectRules $object) {
    // An array of UUIDs, with a limit of 100 elements.
    $object->array('posts')->max(100)->whereEach()->uuid();

    // An array of datetimes where each datetime must be after or equal to now.
    $object->array('available_dates')->whereEach()->datetime()->afterOrEqual(Carbon::now());

    // An array of objects.
    $object->array('contacts')->whereEach()->object(function (ObjectRules $object) {
        $object->string('name');
        $object->string('phonenumber');

        // objects and arrays may be nested.
        $object->array('aliases')->whereEach()->string();
    });

    // A single object.
    $object->object('address', function (ObjectRules $object) {
        $object->string('street');
        $object->string('city');
        // etc.
    });
});

Custom rules

If you have a custom rule that you would like to add to the validation that's not available in the builder, then you may use the addRule method on a field:

$rules->storeRules(function (ObjectRules $object) {
    $object->string('iban')->addRule(new IbanRule);
});

The addRule method accepts three possible types:

• A string with the validation rule as you would have defined it in Laravel. For example, before:tomorrow;
• An object that implements Illuminate\Contracts\Validation\Rule.
• An object that implements Apitizer\Validation\ValidationRule.

The Apitizer\Validation\ValidationRule interface is primarily meant for rules that should also be documented in the generated documentation.