CODEWITHSUNDEEP
phpmodel-view-controllervalidationkohana
alex
alex

Reputation: 490143

Where should form validation occur in a MVC project?

I'm using Kohana, but I think this question is more general.

I have been doing form validation in the controller, and it has worked well so far. But lately, I've ran into a problem.

I have a comments model, and I send comments from a few different controllers to it. Instead of having a validator in every controller, I placed it in the model.

This is great because

This sucks because

ON SUCCESS

array('success' => true);

ON FAIL

array('success' => false, $errors);

I can't help but think this is wrong. It feels wrong.

If I do it in the controller, I can simply do

if ($post->validate()) {
     doWhatever();
} else {
     $this->template->formErrors = $post->errors('form_errors');
}

Which seems better (to me).

Is there a better way to do this? Should I validate in the controller or method? Am I going crazy?

Upvotes: 8

Views: 1547

Answers (6)

gpilotino
gpilotino

Reputation: 13302

I don't think all validation rules can go inside the model. Validation is all about the form (or the API). The fact is that when you are validating your data, most of the things depend on the context.

For example, is this a logged-in user taking the action? You wouldn't couple your authentication layer with the model being validated. So, all the checks must go inside the controller. The model is context-agnostic; the form "belongs" to the controller and is context-aware.

I think that having per-form validation rules plus basic in-model checks for well-formed data is the way to go. If you're calling Auth::instance() or Session::instance() inside your model's validate() function, then you're doing it wrong.

Upvotes: 6

user192083
user192083

Reputation: 1

I do validation in the model too. Most modeling libs like ORM, Auto_Modeler etc. also support validation. BTW it's faster if you ask on the #kohana channel on FreeNode (irc.freenode.net). We (usually) don't bite :)

Upvotes: 0

cp3
cp3

Reputation: 2139

Fat models. Small controllers. That's the way I always did it. Validation to me is at the data layer. The data layer (to me, at least) is the model. I normally use CakePHP as my MVC framework... Maybe that's why my validation is at the model. It's CakePHP's way.

Upvotes: 2

Bostone
Bostone

Reputation: 37126

You should always (if you can) validate on client (JS). And since that can be bypassed - you validate on server as well. And yes - putting your validation to some reusable form is great idea

Upvotes: 0

Steven Mercatante
Steven Mercatante

Reputation: 25295

I honestly don't see anything wrong with your method, alex. It seems like you're doing it properly. You're following the DRY principle, which for me is usually the yardstick to measure if I'm doing something right when it comes to MVC.

Upvotes: 4

Anthony Potts
Anthony Potts

Reputation: 9160

I prefer to not repeat myself over feelings, do the method. Besides the array is handy since you can show the errors from the array in a view if you wanted. I have not used kohana, but the validation method I have been using in ASP.NET MVC provides me with a similar list and I can then show the user what precisely is wrong.

Upvotes: 0

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