cakePHP Could not find validation handler - php

Question

I'm struggeling with my cakePHP validation
Scenario:
In my DB I have one table "alliances" and one "federations". In "federations" connections between alliances are stored. "alliances" has got stupid cols like id, name, etc.. federations is like this:
id, request_alliance, accept_alliance, type, requested_at, accepted_at
where request_alliance and accept_alliance are FK to alliances, type is 1 or 2.
So my model looks like this:
class Federation extends AppModel
{
// Bundarten:
// 1 - NAP
// 2 - Bund
public $displayField;
var $belongsTo = array('Alliance_requesting' => array('className' => 'Alliance', 'foreignKey' => 'request_alliance'),
'Alliance_accepting' => array('className' => 'Alliance', 'foreignKey' => 'accept_alliance'));
public $validate = array(
'request_alliance' => array('required' => true, 'allowEmpty' => false),
'accept_alliance' => array('required' => true, 'allowEmpty' => false),
'type' => array('required' => true, 'allowEmpty' => false, 'rule' => array('between', 1, 2))
);
}
Alliance (created by an former partner, I only added the $hasMany)
class Alliance extends AppModel{
var $hasMany = array(
'Federation_requesting' => array('className' => 'Federation', 'foreignKey' => 'request_alliance', 'dependent' => true),
'Federation_accepting' => array('className' => 'Federation', 'foreignKey' => 'accept_alliance', 'dependent' => true)
);
public $validationDomain = 'alliance';
public $validate = array(
'tag' => array(
'uniqueTag' => array(
'rule' => 'isUnique',
'message' => 'Alliance tag already in use'),
'between' => array(
'rule' => array('between', 2, 15),
'message' => 'Alliance tag must betwenn %d to %d characters')),
'name' => array(
'rule' => array('between', 3, 30),
'message' => 'Alliance name must between %d to %d characters'),
'image_url' => array(
'rule' => 'url',
'message' => 'Alliance picture must be a valid URL',
'allowEmpty' => true),
'homepage' => array(
'rule' => 'url',
'message' => 'Homepage must be a valid URL',
'allowEmpty' => true));
}
So far I've written a view to add a new federation between two alliances. The controller for this
class FederationsController extends AppController
{
var $name = 'Federations';
var $components = array('Message');
var $uses = array('Alliance', 'Federation');
// Requesting new federation
function add()
{
if(empty($this->data['Federation'])) {
$message = __d('federation', "Invalid Request");
$this->notice($message);
return $this->redirect(Path::overall_highscore_alliances_path());
}
$requesting_alliance_id = $this->data['Federation']['req_alliance_id'];
$req_alliance = $this->Alliance->get($requesting_alliance_id);
if(!$req_alliance) {
return $this->redirect(Path::overall_highscore_alliances_path());
}
if(!$this->Alliance->isCurrentUserDiplomat($req_alliance)) {
$message = __d('federation', "Only the diplomat is allowed to modify federations.");
$this->notice($message);
return $this->redirect(Path::alliance_path($requesting_alliance_id));
}
$accepting_alliance_id = $this->data['Federation']['acc_alliance_id'];
$acc_alliance = $this->Alliance->get($accepting_alliance_id);
if(!$acc_alliance) {
$message = __d('federation', "The target alliance for this federation doesn't exists.");
$this->notice($message);
return $this->redirect(Path::alliance_path($requesting_alliance_id));
}
$type = $this->data['Federation']['type'];
$requested_at = time();
$this->Federation->create();
$values = array('request_alliance' => $requesting_alliance_id,
'accept_alliance' => $accepting_alliance_id,
'type' => $type,
'requested_at' => $requested_at);
$saved = $this->Federation->save($values, true, array('request_alliance', 'accept_alliance', 'type', 'requested_at'));
$name = h($acc_alliance['name']);
$message = $saved ? __d('federation', "Federation with '%s' successfully requested.", $name) : '';
$this->notice($message);
$this->errors($this->Federation->validationErrors);
$this->redirect(Path::alliance_path($requesting_alliance_id));
}
}
When I try to add a new federation it the above function is called and a new row is stored inside the DB with the correct values. But the page still shows me the following errors
Could not find validation handler 1 for request_alliance
Could not find validation handler for request_alliance
Could not find validation handler 1 for accept_alliance
Could not find validation handler for accept_alliance
I can't imagine that my validation is not done, because some hours ago I had a mistake which leads to empty fields and I got the correct validation message that this field can't left blank.
Can anyone tell me where I do the mistake which leads to these errors and how to correct it?
Thanks in advance!

Answer 1

There is no validation rule definition
From the question, compare:
'request_alliance' => array(
'required' => true,
'allowEmpty' => false
),
With
'type' => array(
'required' => true,
'allowEmpty' => false,
'rule' => array('between', 1, 2)
)
In the first case there is no rule, rule is a mandatory key if you define the validation rules as an array.
Use the notEmpty validation rule
From the validation rules defined, it looks like there's a misunderstanding. You probably want the notEmpty validation rule:
'request_alliance' => array(
'rule' => 'notEmpty'
)
If you want to ensure that the field is present in all saves, use the required key
'request_alliance' => array(
'rule' => 'notEmpty',
'required' => true
)
There is no need to define the allowEmpty key, as it is the same as the notEmpty validation rule if false, and illogical if defined as true.