How can we access the value inside the callback of Rule::when(), when the field is an array.

[itxshakil]

• Laravel Version: 8..55.0
• PHP Version: 7.4.9
• Database Driver & Version:

Description:

How can we access the value inside the callback of Rule::when(), when the field is an array.

• The problem is we don't know the iteration(key), so we can't access it from request.

I guess we may pass the current value as the second parameter to the callback.

$validator = Validator::make($request->all(), [
'openings.*.from' => ['required_with:openings.*.id', 'date_format:H:i'],
'openings.*.to' => ['required_with:openings.*.id', Rule::when(function($a){
// Need the current value for conditional check
},['date_format:H:i']), 'after:openings.*.from'],
]);

If we wanted to add validation(date_format:H:i) on the basis of the current value of openings's to.

But I can not access the value of current openings to.

Originally posted by @itxshakil in #38361 (comment)

Steps To Reproduce:

• Add an array field for validation (For eg. : request()->validate([ 'abc.*' => ['required'] ]);
• Try to add conditional validation on the basis of the value of field.

[derekmd]

The Rule::when() closure argument is only given the $validator->getData() / $request->all() payload so the nested array key context isn't available. The code that invokes the closure also doesn't have that context available since the Rule::when() filter happens before the request's nested array payload is traversed during validation.

framework/src/Illuminate/Validation/ValidationRuleParser.php

Lines 285 to 307 in 1b2107e

	public static function filterConditionalRules($rules, array $data = [])
	{
	return collect($rules)->mapWithKeys(function ($attributeRules, $attribute) use ($data) {
	if (! is_array($attributeRules) &&
	! $attributeRules instanceof ConditionalRules) {
	return [$attribute => $attributeRules];
	}
	if ($attributeRules instanceof ConditionalRules) {
	return [$attribute => $attributeRules->passes($data)
	? array_filter($attributeRules->rules())
	: array_filter($attributeRules->defaultRules()), ];
	}
	return [$attribute => collect($attributeRules)->map(function ($rule) use ($data) {
	if (! $rule instanceof ConditionalRules) {
	return [$rule];
	}
	return $rule->passes($data) ? $rule->rules() : $rule->defaultRules();
	})->filter()->flatten(1)->values()->all()];
	})->all();
	}

---

// Need the current value for conditional check

This is the most important part of your question that has been excluded. What is the conditional you need to check? Some other validation features may cover the requirement.

1. Use one of the required_with* rules such as required_with_all:openings.*.id,openings.*.from

2. Create a ValidatorAwareRule rule object that will be given the nested array key being validated and can also access the full data payload: https://laravel.com/docs/8.x/validation#using-rule-objects

   $validator = Validator::make($request->all(), [
       'openings.*.from' => [
           'required_with:openings.*.id',
           'date_format:H:i'
       ],
       'openings.*.to' => [
           'required_with:openings.*.id',
           new DateRangeEndRule,
       ],
   ]);

   use Illuminate\Contracts\Validation\Rule;
   use Illuminate\Contracts\Validation\ValidatorAwareRule;
   
   class DateRangeEndRule implements Rule, ValidatorAwareRule
   {
       public function setValidator($validator)
       {
           $this->validator = $validator;
       }
   
       public function passes($attribute, $to)
       {
           // $attribute is 'openings.0.to', 'openings.1.to', etc.
   
           $key = preg_replace('/\.to$/', '.from', $attribute);
           $from = $this->validator->getData()[$key] ?? null;
   
           if (from === null) {
                return true;
           }
   
           // compare $from and $to, then conditionally run validation
           // for 'date_format:H:i' & 'after:openings.*.from'
       }
   
       public function message()
       {
           // ...
       }
   }

[itxshakil]

Thanks, it solved the issue.
I was not aware that the code that invokes the closure also doesn't have that context available since the Rule::when() filter happens before the request's nested array payload is traversed during validation.

[driesvints]

Thanks @derekmd