Question

I’m looking for best way of getting form element values inside isValid() method.

I had something like this isValid():

public function isValid($data) {

    $start = (int)($data['start_hour'] . $data['start_minute']);
    $end   = (int)($data['end_hour'] . $data['end_minute']);

    if ($start >= $end) {
        $this->getElement('start_hour')->addError('Start time should be less than end time');
        return false;
    }

    return parent::isValid($data);
}

but problem is that when my data structure changes I have to change validation too.
For example, now values of start_hour, start_minute, etc becomes elements of multidimensional array, and I need edit validation like

public function isValid($data) {

    $start = (int)($data['send']['start_hour'] . $data['send']['start_minute']);
    $end   = (int)($data['send']['end_hour'] . $data['send']['end_minute']);

    .......
}

It would be great to get value of element by permanent key (like element name), so my isValid could looks like:

public function isValid($data) {

    $start = (int)($this->getElement('start_hour')->getValue() . $this->getElement('start_minute')->getValue());
    $end   = (int)($this->getElement('end_hour')->getValue() . $this->getElement('end_minute')->getValue());

    .......
}

but $this->getElement(‘start_hour’)->getValue() inside validation method return an empty value.

Is this possible to get element value in such way?

Thanks.

Answer 1

If this code takes place in the isValid() method of the form, then sure you could do it as you have described. It’s just that isValid() usually needs some data passed – $form->isValid($_POST), for example – and you just end up ignoring it (assuming the parent is Zend_Form, which has an empty isValid() method; intermediate ancestors could potentially inspect the passed data). I would consider that to be potentially confusing.

Al alternative could be to create a custom validator, attach it to one of the form elements (say, the start_hour elements). The signature for the validator’s isValid() can use the optional $context parameter – isValid($value, $context = null). When you call $form->isValid($data), it will pass that $data as the $context to the the element validator. You can then use that $context variable to inspect the other values (start_min, end_hour, end_min, etc).