validation

I like CakePHP’s error validation quite a lot. I use it in nearly every case because it’s easy and it works. There are times when the standard error validation scheme does not work. Like when you have a field that you want to validate manually in the controller, but still use CakePHP’s error display method. There is no method to simply inject an error into the existing validation system. After a bit of searching I finally found where the error messages are being stored. The error messages are stored on the model instance in the controller, such as $this->User->validationErrors. When the controller renders the view it copies each model’s validationErrors into the view. To add your error it’s as simple as adding another item to that array that matches your field.

For registration that requires a promotional code:

<?php echo $form->input('promo'); ?>

Then after checking the promo code you can set an error message like this:

$this->User->validationErrors['promo'] = 'Invalid promo code';

The promo code isn’t really part of our User model, it’s only used during registration. However, as far as I see you must have the field associated with a model to add that error message. I suppose an alternate option would be to make a Promo model and associate that with your controller, but that seems like too much work.