expecting throw_error_status(422, "name", "must be present") to display some sort of message at /create-account.. but not seeing it

[jf]

as per subject. I am trying to add new fields to the registration form (http://rodauth.jeremyevans.net/rdoc/files/doc/guides/registration_field_rdoc.html); option 1 if it matters (add new fields to the accounts table).

The sample code has this:

    unless name = param_or_nil("name")
      throw_error_status(422, "name", "must be present")
    end

1. I have yet to customize my create-account view yet (maybe this is the issue? but if so it's not clear), and just wanted to test the before_create_account hook and the throw. If the standard built-in create-account view does not show any error messages, what must I do to show the error messages? Looking at Rodauth's code, I'm guessing that this has something to do with @field_errors... but trying to access it from my customer create-account view gives nil.

2. is there a method to basically only return true if param is not nil and not empty? if there's nothing built-in that's fine, but I'm just wondering. I'm hoping to reject "" empty values as well. Yes I know I could set required='required' on the input field... but that's a separate discussion.

[jeremyevans]

If there are errors creating the account, the default create-account view shows them. You can use rodauth.field_error(rodauth.login_param) to see if there is a field error for the login param. What you may be missing is that @field_errors is a Rodauth scope instance variable, but your view is executed in Roda scope, not Rodauth scope.

There isn't a method that returns whether a submitted parameter is not nil or empty. param(param) will always return a string, and param_or_nil(param) will return a string or nil. You can use param(key) != '' to explicitly check for a non-empty param.

[jf]

nvm, I got it. On a hunch tried rodauth.field_error('name'), and that worked. I assume that is the way to do it? I certainly get back the error I set in set_field_error

[jf]

If there are errors creating the account, the default create-account view shows them.

I'm not sure... What I get is the same create-form, with no "name must be present" anywhere in sight. Not in the HTML, nor in the HTTP headers. I do get the 422... but no sight of the rest of the parameters for throw_error_status(422, "name", "must be present")

[jeremyevans]

If you go to http://rodauth-demo.jeremyevans.net/create-account, use the inspector to remove the required flag, and click the Create Account button, the field error is shown on the resulting page "invalid login, minimum 3 characters".

So if you aren't showing an error on your custom page, it's a problem with the custom page, not a general issue with Rodauth. You mentioned that rodauth.field_error('name') worked, so are you using the result on the custom page you created?

[jf]

sorry if I wasnt clear. I started out not creating a custom page.. but simply adding the extra column to the table, + the before_create_account hook with the code that throws the 422. What I'm saying is that the standard built-in page did not show any error for the missing new attribute.

I do see the error message at http://rodauth-demo.jeremyevans.net/create-account. I'm trying to do a quick glance through the code now; is that from an internal throw_error_status call?

EDIT: what's more important to me is actually figuring out how to detect, and then show errors. With rodauth.field_error('name') working, I think I have my answer.

[jf]

Just to update: I see now that the standard built-in page does show errors, but it is for the login field, as part of rodauth.render('login-field'). I was hoping to be able to have the page show errors for the new field ("name"); but I see now that that's something else altogether that I must build for myself.

[jf]

UPDATE:

I now have a custom create-form view, that has a name field (rendered using HTML), and a login field (rendered using rodauth.render('login-field'))

I've also got debug statements in a before_create_account block (as recommended by http://rodauth.jeremyevans.net/rdoc/files/doc/guides/registration_field_rdoc.html) to help validate the name field.

I am expecting for before_create_account to ALWAYS be called each time the form is submitted; but it isn't the case for me:

ONE: if I submit a string that parses as a valid email address, before_create_account gets called

TWO: if I submit an invalid email address (I use a@a; apparently Firefox allows me to do this), I find that the before_create_account never runs (no debug statements are printed). There is still some validation going on apparently (just that before_create_account is skipped?); because the page comes back with both flash['error'] ("There was an error creating your account"), and rodauth.field_error('login') ("invalid login, not a valid email address") displayed on the page.

Perhaps I could say that I should be happy that there IS still some validaton happening... but it would appear that my own validation / before_create_account hook does not run UNTIL the login field validates. Is this by design? Even if so, I was expecting my "before" hook to run first.

[jeremyevans]

It's by design that before_create_account is only called if Rodauth expects it will create the account, and is not called if earlier checks fail.

If you want to run code before the other checks, use before_create_account_route (note that this is called for both GET and POST requests).

[jf]

ok I see. Thank you for the explanation and help!

If I may ask, how do I get access to the request object to check if it's a GET or a POST in before_create_account_route?

[jeremyevans]

Call the request method.