How to display validation errors in CakePHP 3.6? - php

Question

I'm having trouble displaying the validation errors of a form using a custom validator.
The errors does exist as the debug method shows, it just won't be displayed in the form.
I'd like to be able to show the error message under (or above, or anywhere) the field.
What I've tried
Well, the documentation does state:
When using View\Helper\FormHelper::control(), errors are rendered by
default, so you don’t need to use isFieldError() or call error()
manually.
Nevertheless, I added the following in the form (just below the email control), which didn't do anything more. No message displayed.
if ($this->Form->isFieldError('email')) {
echo $this->Form->error('email', 'Yes, it fails!');
}
I've also found several questions and answers about this issue on SO, but they look outdated (from '09 to '13) and do not seem to correspond to today's CakePHP syntax.
What I've done
Users/forgot_password.ctp
<?= $this->Form->create() ?>
<?= $this->Form->control('email', ['type' => 'email']) ?>
<?= $this->Form->button(__('Reset my password')) ?>
<?= $this->Form->end() ?>
UsersController.php
(notice the specific validation set, as explained in documentation)
public function forgotPassword()
{
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
$user = $this->Users->newEntity($this->request->getData(), ['validate' => 'email']);
if ($user->errors()) {
debug($user->errors()); // <- shows the validation error
$this->Flash->error(__('An error occurred.'));
} else {
// ... procedure to reset password (which works fine!) and redirect to login...
return $this->redirect(['action' => 'login']);
}
}
}
UsersTable.php
public function validationEmail(Validator $validator)
{
$validator
->email('email')
->notEmpty('email', __('An email address is required.'));
return $validator;
}
What it looks like
Update
Thanks to #ndm comment, here is the correct way to display the error.
In UsersController.php:
public function forgotPassword()
{
// user context for the form
$user = $this->Users->newEntity();
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
$user = $this->Users->patchEntity(§user, $this->request->getData(), ['validate' => 'email']); <- validation done on patchEntity
if ($user->errors()) {
$this->Flash->error(__('An error occurred.'));
} else {
// ... procedure to reset password and redirect to login...
return $this->redirect(['action' => 'login']);
}
}
// pass context to view
$this->set(compact('user'));
}
And in the view forgotPassword.ctp:
<?= $this->Form->create($user) ?>

Answer 1

//modify your function as below
public function forgotPassword()
{
if ($this->request->is('post')) {
$user = $this->Users->newEntity($this->request->getData(), ['validate' => 'email']);
if ($user->getErrors()) {
debug($user->getError('email')); // <- shows the validation error
$this->Flash->error(__($user->getError('email')['_empty']));
} else {
// ... procedure to reset password (which works fine!) and redirect to login...
return $this->redirect(['action' => 'login']);
}
}
}