Validation and Error Handling – Laravel Tutorial Part 5

Welcome back to our Laravel tutorial series! In Part 4, we learned how to perform CRUD operations in Laravel using Eloquent ORM. Now, in Part 5, we’ll focus on form validation and error handling. Proper validation ensures that the data submitted by users meets the specified criteria, improving data integrity and security. By the end of this tutorial, you’ll understand how to validate user input and handle errors gracefully in Laravel applications.

Tutorial Part 5: Form Validation and Error Handling

Step 1: Form Validation Rules

• Laravel provides a convenient way to define validation rules for incoming request data.
• Open your controller file (e.g., PostController.php) and import the necessary classes:

use Illuminate\Http\Request;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Validator;

Step 2: Validate Form Data

• In your controller’s store or update method, use the validate method to validate the incoming request data:

public function store(Request $request)
{
    $validator = Validator::make($request->all(), [
        'title' => 'required|max:255',
        'content' => 'required',
    ]);

    if ($validator->fails()) {
        return redirect()->back()->withErrors($validator)->withInput();
    }

    // Proceed with storing the data if validation passes
}

Step 3: Display Validation Errors

• In your Blade view file (e.g., create.blade.php for the create form), display validation errors next to the corresponding form fields:

@if ($errors->any())
    <div class="alert alert-danger">
        <ul>
            @foreach ($errors->all() as $error)
                <li>{{ $error }}</li>
            @endforeach
        </ul>
    </div>
@endif

Step 4: Flashing Old Input

• To repopulate form fields with old input after a validation error, use the old helper function in your Blade view:

<input type="text" name="title" value="{{ old('title') }}" class="form-control">
<textarea name="content" class="form-control">{{ old('content') }}</textarea>

Step 5: Custom Error Messages

• You can customize error messages for specific validation rules by passing an array of messages to the Validator:

$validator = Validator::make($request->all(), [
    'title' => 'required|max:255',
    'content' => 'required',
], [
    'title.required' => 'The title field is required.',
    'title.max' => 'The title may not be greater than :max characters.',
    'content.required' => 'The content field is required.',
]);

Conclusion: In Part 5 of our Laravel tutorial series, we’ve explored form validation and error handling techniques in Laravel applications. By implementing proper validation rules and error handling mechanisms, we can ensure that our applications are robust, secure, and user-friendly. In the next part of the series, we’ll dive into authentication and authorization, allowing users to register, log in, and access protected areas of our website. Stay tuned for Part 6!