The field was not set error in codeigniter - php

Question

I get field was not set error when I'm validating a form
Here is my view
<div class="panel-body">
<h3>Basic Information</h3>
<?php $atrrib = array('class' => 'form-horizontal','role' => 'form');?>
<?php echo form_open('school/shule',$atrrib);?>
<div class="col-md-6">
<div class="form-group">
<label for="add_name" class="col-md-2 control-label">School:</label>
<div class="col-md-7">
<input type="text" class="form-control" name="add_name" id="addSchoolName" placeholder="School name">
</div>
</div>
</div>
<button type="submit" class="btn btn-default">Next</button>
<?php echo form_close();?>
</div>
</div>
</div>
<div class="col-md-2"><?php include_once (APPPATH. 'views/admin/admin_right_column.php');?></div>
</div>
Here is my controller
class School extends CI_Controller {
public function __construct() {
parent::__construct();
}// End of construct
public function shule(){
$this->load->library('form_validation');
if($this->form_validation->run('first_form') === TRUE){
echo 'Valid';
}
else{
if(validation_errors()){
echo validation_errors();
}
$data['title'] = "Add School";
$data['page'] = "admin| add school";
$this->load->view('admin/admin_header',$data);
$this->load->view('admin/add_school',$data);
$this->load->view('admin/admin_footer');
}
}
}
Here is my form_validation configuration
$config['first_form'] = array(
array(
'field' => 'add_name',
'label' => 'School name',
'rules' => 'required|xss_clean|min_length[2]'
)
);
I get an field was not set error when I left the field blank and also I get an Unable to access an error message corresponding to your field name error when I input a single char.

Answer 1

I tried looking where CI fire up your error
Unable to access an error message corresponding to your field name
Then I found this
if ($result === FALSE)
{
if ( ! isset($this->_error_messages[$rule]))
{
if (FALSE === ($line = $this->CI->lang->line($rule)))
{
$line = 'Unable to access an error message corresponding to your field name.';
}
}
else
{
$line = $this->_error_messages[$rule];
}
So this means CI checks if you have not set rule message to the field then check if there is a line that corresponds to the fired function/rule in the form_validation_lang.php file .
So I assumed CI does not find the error message corresponding to your field name because
You have edited/deleted line with the name of the callback/rule
You have created another language file under /application/language with the same name as the default form_validation_lang and haven't defined the rule corresponding to your field name .
Solution is to cross check your lang file if it has a line defined with the same name as your rule or delete any custom language file that has the same name as form_validation_lang.php or you can add up a rule such as
$lang['required'] = 'Name field is required";
or any other rule you have defined in your validation file/function in your custom language file .

Answer 2

try
$this->form_validation->set_rules('add_name', 'School name', 'trim|required||min_length[2]');
if ($this->form_validation->run() == TRUE){
echo 'Valid';
}
else {
$data['title'] = "Add School";
$data['page'] = "admin| add school";
$this->load->view('admin/admin_header',$data);
$this->load->view('admin/add_school',$data);
$this->load->view('admin/admin_footer');
}
and check for errors on view
if(validation_errors()){
echo validation_errors();
}

Answer 3

You can set a custom error message with set_message and use the label from the set_rules function. You can find the documentation here.
Here is an example:
// Set the validation rule
$this->form_validation->set_rules('project_name', 'Project Name', 'trim|required');
// Set the custom message with %s where the label should go
$this->form_validation->set_message('required', '%s is required. Please enter a value.');
// For an invalid project_name, you will get the error:
// Project Name is required. Please enter a value.