Collection¶

This constraint is used when the underlying data is a collection (i.e. an array or an object that implements Traversable and ArrayAccess), but you’d like to validate different keys of that collection in different ways. For example, you might validate the email key using the Email constraint and the inventory key of the collection with the Min constraint.

This constraint can also make sure that certain collection keys are present and that extra keys are not present.

Applies to	property or method
Options	fields allowExtraFields extraFieldsMessage allowMissingFields missingFieldsMessage
Class	`Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints\Collection`
Validator	`Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints\CollectionValidator`

Basic Usage¶

The Collection constraint allows you to validate the different keys of a collection individually. Take the following example:

namespace Acme\BlogBundle\Entity;

class Author
{
    protected $profileData = array(
        'personal_email',
        'short_bio',
    );

    public function setProfileData($key, $value)
    {
        $this->profileData[$key] = $value;
    }
}

To validate that the personal_email element of the profileData array property is a valid email address and that the short_bio element is not blank but is no longer than 100 characters in length, you would do the following:

YAML

properties:
    profileData:
        - Collection:
            fields:
                personal_email: Email
                short_bio:
                    - NotBlank
                    - MaxLength:
                        limit:   100
                        message: Your short bio is too long!
            allowMissingfields: true

Annotations

// src/Acme/BlogBundle/Entity/Author.php
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

class Author
{
    /**
     * @Assert\Collection(
     *     fields = {
     *         "personal_email" = @Assert\Email,
     *         "short_bio" = {
     *             @Assert\NotBlank(),
     *             @Assert\MaxLength(
     *                 limit = 100,
     *                 message = "Your bio is too long!"
     *             )
     *         }
     *     },
     *     allowMissingfields = true
     * )
     */
     protected $profileData = array(
         'personal_email',
         'short_bio',
     );
}

XML

<!-- src/Acme/BlogBundle/Resources/config/validation.xml -->
<class name="Acme\BlogBundle\Entity\Author">
    <property name="profileData">
        <constraint name="Collection">
            <option name="fields">
                <value key="personal_email">
                    <constraint name="Email" />
                </value>
                <value key="short_bio">
                    <constraint name="NotBlank" />
                    <constraint name="MaxLength">
                        <option name="limit">100</option>
                        <option name="message">Your bio is too long!</option>
                    </constraint>
                </value>
            </option>
            <option name="allowMissingFields">true</option>
        </constraint>
    </property>
</class>

PHP

// src/Acme/BlogBundle/Entity/Author.php
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Mapping\ClassMetadata;
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints\Collection;
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints\Email;
use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints\MaxLength;

class Author
{
    private $options = array();

    public static function loadValidatorMetadata(ClassMetadata $metadata)
    {
        $metadata->addPropertyConstraint('profileData', new Collection(array(
            'fields' => array(
                'personal_email' => new Email(),
                'lastName' => array(new NotBlank(), new MaxLength(100)),
            ),
            'allowMissingFields' => true,
        )));
    }
}

Presence and Absence of Fields¶

By default, this constraint validates more than simply whether or not the individual fields in the collection pass their assigned constraints. In fact, if any keys of a collection are missing or if there are any unrecognized keys in the collection, validation errors will be thrown.

If you would like to allow for keys to be absent from the collection or if you would like “extra” keys to be allowed in the collection, you can modify the allowMissingFields and allowExtraFields options respectively. In the above example, the allowMissingFields option was set to true, meaning that if either of the personal_email or short_bio elements were missing from the $personalData property, no validation error would occur.

Options¶

fields¶

type: array [default option]

This option is required, and is an associative array defining all of the keys in the collection and, for each key, exactly which validator(s) should be executed against that element of the collection.

allowExtraFields¶

type: Boolean default: false

If this option is set to false and the underlying collection contains one or more elements that are not included in the fields option, a validation error will be returned. If set to true, extra fields are ok.

extraFieldsMessage¶

type: Boolean default: The fields {{ fields }} were not expected

The message shown if allowExtraFields is false and an extra field is detected.

allowMissingFields¶

type: Boolean default: false

If this option is set to false and one or more fields from the fields option are not present in the underlying collection, a validation error will be returned. If set to true, it’s ok if some fields in the fields_ option are not present in the underlying collection.

missingFieldsMessage¶

type: Boolean default: The fields {{ fields }} are missing

The message shown if allowMissingFields is false and one or more fields are missing from the underlying collection.