Problem: validation in meta boxes

[patrickf0]

I´ve got a problem when validating field data in meta boxes on post.php

public function validation_Event_Location_MetaBox( $inputArray , $oldInputArray ) {

    if ( !empty( $inputArray['event_location_new']['event_location_name'] ) ) {

            $this->setFieldErrors( $inputArray['event_location_new']['event_location_name'] );
            $this->setSettingNotice( 'There was an error in your input.' );
            return $oldInputArray;

        } else {
           // Do something else cause data is valid
        }

}

Everything is fine but it sets no setting notice at all. From what I can tell it still saves the post data whether there is an error or not...?

[michaeluno]

Currently meta box fields do not support validation errors and preventing saving submitted data.

I'll add this to the todo list.

[michaeluno]

It has been added in the 3.0.4b branch,

3.0.4b: https://github.com/michaeluno/admin-page-framework/tree/3.0.4b download: https://github.com/michaeluno/admin-page-framework/archive/3.0.4b.zip

[patrickf0]

Works nice ;)

Maybe you can get the setFieldErrors method running as well?

[patrickf0]

The Post is still published or updated even when a field value is not valid, is there a way to avoid this?

[michaeluno]

Maybe you can get the setFieldErrors method running as well?

The setFieldErrors() method is already available.

The Post is still published or updated even when a field value is not valid, is there a way to avoid this?

Currently if the framework sees the transient set via the setFieldErrors() method, it marks the post as draft. So set a value that yields true in setFieldErrors() in the validation callback method. The example is included in the APF_MetaBox_BuiltinFieldTypes class.

    public function validation_APF_MetaBox_BuiltinFieldTypes( $aInput, $aOldInput ) {   // validation_{instantiated class name}

        $_fIsValid = true;
        $_aErrors = array();

        // You can check the passed values and correct the data by modifying them.
        // $this->oDebug->logArray( $aInput );      

        // Validate the submitted data.
        if ( strlen( trim( $aInput['metabox_text_field'] ) ) < 3 ) {

            $_aErrors['metabox_text_field'] = __( 'The entered text is too short! Type more than 2 characters.', 'admin-page-framework-demo' ) . ': ' . $aInput['metabox_text_field'];
            $_fIsValid = false;         

        }

        if ( ! $_fIsValid ) {

            $this->setFieldErrors( $_aErrors );
            $this->setSettingNotice( 'There was an error in your input.' ); 
            return $aOldInput;

        }

        return $aInput;

    }

[patrickf0]

Okay got it.

It seems work very well but when you put a field inside a section there is no error label on the field. So the setFieldErrors does not do it´s job within a field within a section.

Otherwise it works.

[michaeluno]

Really? Try adding the section dimension to the field error array.

[patrickf0]

I already did but no effect.

if ( empty( $inputArray['event_location_new']['event_street'] ) ) {

        $_aErrors['event_location_new']['event_street'] = __( 'The entered text is too short! Type more than 2 characters.', 'admin-page-framework-demo' ) . ': ' . $inputArray['event_location_new']['event_street'];
        $_fIsValid = false;         

    }

[michaeluno]

I uploaded the 3.0.4b branch that includes an example of setting a field error for the field that belongs to a section.

    public function validation_APF_MetaBox_BuiltinFieldTypes( $aInput, $aOldInput ) {   // validation_{instantiated class name}

        $_fIsValid = true;
        $_aErrors = array();

        // You can check the passed values and correct the data by modifying them.
        // $this->oDebug->logArray( $aInput );      

        // Validate the submitted data.
        if ( strlen( trim( $aInput['metabox_text_field'] ) ) < 3 ) {

            $_aErrors['metabox_text_field'] = __( 'The entered text is too short! Type more than 2 characters.', 'admin-page-framework-demo' ) . ': ' . $aInput['metabox_text_field'];
            $_fIsValid = false;         

        }
        if ( empty( $aInput['misc']['metabox_password'] ) ) {

            $_aErrors['misc']['metabox_password'] = __( 'The password cannot be empty.', 'admin-page-framework-demo' );
            $_fIsValid = false;

        }

        if ( ! $_fIsValid ) {

            $this->setFieldErrors( $_aErrors );
            $this->setSettingNotice( __( 'There was an error in your input.', 'admin-page-framework-demo' ) );  
            return $aOldInput;

        }

        return $aInput;

    }

Download: https://github.com/michaeluno/admin-page-framework/archive/3.0.4b.zip

In this update, the ability to set an error message to the whole section was added.

            $_aErrors['misc'] = __( 'There is an error in your input in the misc section.', 'admin-page-framework-demo' );

[patrickf0]

I still do not get the error message :/

My SectionSetting

$this->addSettingSections(
        array( 
            'section_id'    => 'event_location_old',
            'description'   => 'Sie können entweder einen bereits gespeicherten Ort suchen oder einen neuen Ort anlegen.',
        ),
        array(
            'section_id'    => 'event_location_new',
            'description'   => 'Legen Sie hier einen neuen Ort an. Er wird automatisch abgespeichert, sobald Sie die Veranstaltung spiechern.',
        )
    );

My fields

 $this->addSettingFields(
        array(
            'section_id'    =>  'event_location_old',
            'type'          =>  'autocomplete',     
            'field_id'      =>  'event_location',
            'title'         =>  'Ort auswählen',
            'settings'      =>  $event_locations,
            'settings2'     =>  array(  // equivalent to the second parameter of the tokenInput() method
                'tokenLimit'        =>  1,
                'hintText'          =>  'Geben Sie einen Kurznamen, die Strasse oder den Ort ein'
            ),
        ),
        array(
            'field_id'      =>  'event_location_add',
            'section_id'    =>  'event_location_old',
            'type'          =>  'submit',
            'value'         =>  'Neuen Ort eingeben',
            'attributes'    =>  array(
                'class'     =>  'button button-secondary'
            )
        ),
        array(
            'field_id'      =>  'event_street',
            'section_id'    =>  'event_location_new',
            'title'         =>  'Stra&szlige und Hausnummer',
            'type'          =>  'text',
            'attributes'    =>  array(
                'size'  => 30
            )
        ),
        array(
            'field_id'      =>  'event_zip',
            'section_id'    =>  'event_location_new',
            'title'         =>  'PLZ',
            'type'          =>  'text',
            'attributes'    =>  array(
                'size'  => 30
            )
        ),
        array(
            'field_id'      =>  'event_town',
            'section_id'    =>  'event_location_new',
            'title'         =>  'Ort',
            'type'          =>  'text',
            'attributes'    =>  array(
                'size'  => 30
            )
        ),
        array(
            'field_id'      =>  'event_location_name',
            'section_id'    =>  'event_location_new',
            'title'         =>  'Kurzname des Ortes',
            'type'          =>  'text',
            'attributes'    =>  array(
                'size'  => 30
            ),
            'description'   =>  'Bitte beachten Sie, dass Sie einen eindeutigen Kurznamen angeben<br/>
                                (Unter diesem Kurznamen wird der Ort abgespeichert)!'
        )
    );

My validation:

public function validation_Event_Location_MetaBox( $inputArray , $oldInputArray ) {

    $_fIsValid = true;
    $_aErrors = array();

    // You can check the passed values and correct the data by modifying them.
    // $this->oDebug->logArray( $aInput );      

    // Validate the submitted data.
    if ( empty( $inputArray['event_location_new']['event_street'] ) ) {

        $_aErrors['event_location_new'] = __( 'The entered text is too short! Type more than 2 characters.', 'admin-page-framework-demo' );
        $_fIsValid = false;         

    }

    if ( ! $_fIsValid ) {

        $this->setFieldErrors( $_aErrors );
        $this->setSettingNotice( 'There was an error in your input.' ); 
        return $$oldInputArray;

    }

    return $inputArray;

}

[michaeluno]

That's strange. Is the example of the demo plugin working?

By the way, I just updated the 3.0.4b branch which fixes a fatal error that occurred in some pages so please make sure that you have the latest version 3.0.4b04.

[edit] You have a typo here return $$oldInputArray; but I'm not sure if that helps.

[patrickf0]

The Demo does the job... maybe I´ve got an error somewhere. I corrected the typo but doesn´t make a difference.

[michaeluno]

It is recommended to set these constants in your wp-config.php.

    define('WP_DEBUG', true);
    define('WP_DEBUG_LOG', true);

And try inserting the following debug function calls in your start_{class name}() method and creating a new post with field values which deliberately fail the validation. A framework log file should be created in the wp-content folder. And let me know if the field errors are recorded.

    public function start_Event_Location_MetaBox() {        // start_{instantiated class name}

        // check the field error transient
        $this->oDebug->logArray( array( 'AdminPageFramework_FieldErrors' => get_transient( 'AdminPageFramework_FieldErrors' ) ) );
        $this->oDebug->logArray( array( '_getFieldErrors()' => $this->_getFieldErrors() ) );

    }

[michaeluno]

The request has been implemented so I'm going to close this topic. If there is a problem with this new functionality, post a new issue.