customizing error messages with a str_replace()

[prescriptionlifeline]

In a CRUD you can do CRUD::setValidation(MyValidationClass::class); to validate messages. Here's the contents of MyValidationClass.php:

<?php

namespace App\Http\Requests;

use Illuminate\Foundation\Http\FormRequest;

class CommonUserRequest extends FormRequest
{
    /**
     * Determine if the user is authorized to make this request.
     *
     * @return bool
     */
    public function authorize()
    {
        // only allow updates if the user is logged in
        return backpack_auth()->check();
    }

    /**
     * Get the validation rules that apply to the request.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function rules()
    {
        return [
            'currentDues.*.amountPaid' => ['nullable', 'integer', 'numeric', 'lte:36'],
        ];
    }

    /**
     * Get the validation attributes that apply to the request.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function attributes()
    {
        return [
            //
        ];
    }

    /**
     * Get the validation messages that apply to the request.
     *
     * @return array
     */
    public function messages()
    {
        return [
            'currentDues.*.amountPaid' => 'The amount paid field must be less than or equal to 36.',
        ];
    }
}

If I don't do the messages() method then the error messages would look like this:

The currentDues.0.amountPaid field must be less than or equal to 36.

That's suboptimal because what the end user sees isn't a field name with that but rather one that says, simply, "Amount Due". That was my motivation for changing it. The problem is if someone tries to submit currentDues.*.amountPaid with "20.00" instead of "99". Without the messages() method you'd get an error like this:

The currentDues.0.amountPaid field must be an integer.

Like the error message changes based on the validation method that's being employed.

My question is... is there a way to do an str_replace() on the error message that Laravel would return vs replacing it with one error message across all error types? eg. I'd like to do this:

str_replace('currentDues.0.amountPaid', 'amount paid', $message);

[backpack-ai-bot[bot]]

Yes, you can customize error messages in Backpack to make them more user-friendly. There are a few approaches to handle this situation:

1. Using attributes() method

The best way to handle this is to use the attributes() method in your FormRequest class. This method allows you to map field names to more user-friendly labels:

public function attributes()
{
    return [
        'currentDues.*.amountPaid' => 'amount paid',
    ];
}

This will replace all instances of "currentDues.*.amountPaid" with "amount paid" in all validation error messages, regardless of which validation rule failed.

2. Specific validation rule messages

If you need different messages for different validation rules, you can specify them individually:

public function messages()
{
    return [
        'currentDues.*.amountPaid.integer' => 'The amount paid must be a whole number.',
        'currentDues.*.amountPaid.numeric' => 'The amount paid must be a number.',
        'currentDues.*.amountPaid.lte' => 'The amount paid must be less than or equal to 36.',
    ];
}

3. For repeatable fields

For repeatable fields specifically, Backpack has improved how error messages are displayed. In newer versions, you can customize messages for repeatable fields using the standard Laravel nested array validation syntax as mentioned in the GitHub issue #4089:

public function messages()
{
    return [
        'repeatable.*.field_name.required' => 'this field is required'
    ];
}

Alternative approach

If you're working with a simpler model, you could also use the array validation approach directly in your CrudController instead of creating a separate FormRequest class:

$rules = ['currentDues.*.amountPaid' => 'nullable|integer|numeric|lte:36'];
$messages = [
    'currentDues.*.amountPaid.integer' => 'The amount paid must be a whole number.',
    'currentDues.*.amountPaid.lte' => 'The amount paid must be less than or equal to 36.',
];
$this->crud->setValidation($rules, $messages);

This approach is documented in the Backpack Create Operation docs and Update Operation docs.

Remember that Backpack uses standard Laravel validation under the hood, so all Laravel validation customization techniques will work.

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Relevant sources:

Github Issue (closed): Customize integrity error message (question)
Github Issue (closed): [Editable Columns] [Bug] [Minor improvement] Empty custom messages
FAQs for the admin UI|Customize the translated strings (aka overwrite the language files)
Github Issue (closed): UX: Inline error messages
Setting crud level errors
Github Issue (closed): [4.1][Feature] Custom error message in case destroy() failed
Github Issue (closed): [Bug] forms with custom errorBags don't show error messages
Bug report
removing HTML from errors at top of CRUD page
Validation inside CrudController, from array or field definition
Localized Request->messages
Create Operation|(B) Validating fields using a rules array
Update Operation|Validating fields using a rules array
Github Issue (closed): [Bug] repeatable subfield error messages are a bit odd
Github Issue (closed): How should I be using the messages() method in EntityRequest?