Bug: [Validation] field with asterisk (nested array) throws exception

[mostafakhudair]

PHP Version

7.4

CodeIgniter4 Version

4.1.9

CodeIgniter4 Installation Method

Composer (using codeigniter4/appstarter)

Which operating systems have you tested for this bug?

Linux

Which server did you use?

apache

Database

MySQL 4.9

What happened?

    protected array $validationRules = [
        'customer_account_number'                 => [
            'label' => 'ACCOUNT NUMBER',
            'rules' => 'required|exact_length[5]',
        ],
        'debit_amount'                            => [
            'label' => 'DEBIT AMOUNT',
            'rules' => 'required|decimal|is_natural_no_zero',
        ],
        'beneficiaries_accounts.*.account_number' => [
            'label' => 'BENEFICIARY ACCOUNT NUMBER',
            'rules' => 'exact_length[5]',
        ],
        'beneficiaries_accounts.*.credit_amount'  => [
            'label' => 'CREDIT AMOUNT',
            'rules' => 'required|decimal|is_natural_no_zero',
        ],
        'beneficiaries_accounts.*.purpose'        => [
            'label' => 'PURPOSE',
            'rules' => 'required_without[beneficiaries_accounts.*.account_number]|min_length[3]|max_length[255]',
        ],
    ];

    $this->validation->setRules($model->getValidationRules());

Case 1:

    $data = [
        "customer_account_number" => "A_490",
        "debit_amount"            => "1500",
        "beneficiaries_accounts"  => [],
    ];

Case 2:

    $data = [
        "customer_account_number" => "A_490",
        "debit_amount"            => "1500",
        "beneficiaries_accounts"  => [
            "account_1" => [
                "account_number" => "A_103",
                "credit_amount"  => 1000,
                "purpose"        => "",
            ],
        ],
    ];

Case 3:

    $data = [
        "customer_account_number" => "A_490",
        "debit_amount"            => "1500",
        "beneficiaries_accounts"  => [
            "account_1" => [
                "account_number" => "A_103",
                "credit_amount"  => 1000,
                "purpose"        => "Personal",
            ],
            "account_2" => [
                "account_number" => "A_258",
                "credit_amount"  => null,
                "purpose"        => "A",
            ],
        ],
    ];

    if (! $this->validation->run($data))) {
        if ($this->validation->hasError())) {
            return $this->validation->listErrors();
        }

        return "Success";
    }

Steps to Reproduce

Case 1: validation throws an exception: Argument 1 passed to CodeIgniter\Validation\Rules::exact_length() must be of the type string or null, array given, called in .*/vendor/codeigniter4/framework/system/Validation/Validation.php on line 292.

Case 2:
beneficiaries_accounts.account_1.account_number validation successfully as expected
beneficiaries_accounts.account_1.credit_amount validation successfully as expected.
beneficiaries_accounts.account_1.purpose validation successfully as expected.

Case 3:
beneficiaries_accounts.account_1.account_number validation successfully as expected
beneficiaries_accounts.account_1.credit_amount validation successfully as expected.
beneficiaries_accounts.account_1.purpose validation successfully as expected.

beneficiaries_accounts.account_2.account_number validation successfully as expected.
beneficiaries_accounts.account_2.credit_amount validation successfully while value is null, and it's ignored required rule.
beneficiaries_accounts.account_2.purpose validation fails Purpose field must be at least 3 characters in length, and it's ignored required_without rule.

Expected Output

Case 1: expect validation fails without throws an exception

Case 3: validate each array separately

[kenjis]

@mostafakhudair

beneficiaries_accounts.account_2.purpose validation fails Purpose field must be at least 3 characters in length, and it's ignored required_without rule.

The error message seems to be expected behavior.

The purpose is A. So it is invalid.

[iRedds]

@kenjis the required_without rule will not work if the field is specified with a wildcard (asterisk).
For a field with dot notation, the dot_array_search() helper will be called.

CodeIgniter4/system/Validation/Rules.php

Line 302 in 051a578

if ((strpos($field, '.') === false && (! array_key_exists($field, $data) || empty($data[$field]))) || (strpos($field, '.') !== false && empty(dot_array_search($field, $data)))) {

$data = [
    'a' => [
        ['b' => 1, 'c' => 2],
        ['c' => ''],
    ]
];

dd(dot_array_search('a.*.b', $data)); // 1

// Therefore, this test will fail.
$this->validation->setRules([
    'a.*.c' => 'required_without[a.*.b]',
])->run([
    'a' => [
        ['b' => 1, 'c' => 2],
        ['c' => ''],
    ]
]);

$this->assertSame(
    'The a.*.c field is required when a.*.b is not present.', 
    $this->validation->getError('a.1.c')
);

[kenjis]

@iRedds Thank you for explanation. I created an issue: #5942