CakePHP 4.x - Validate password when not empty

Hi all!

While editing a user in CakePHP 4, I want to validate the fields ‘password’ and ‘password_check’ only when the ‘password’ field is not empty.

When ‘password’ is not empty, those validation rules should be active:

  • ‘password’ should count at least 8 characters.
  • ‘password’ should count at most 60 characters.
  • ‘password_check’ should be required.
  • ‘password_check’ should count at least 8 characters.
  • ‘password_check’ should count at most 60 characters.
  • 'password_check should be identical to ‘password’.

I tried to remove the ‘password’ value out of the request data so it’s not validated when the entity is patched, but apperently that’s not possible:

if (empty($this->request->getData('password'))) {
    unset($this->request->getData('password')); // error: can't use method return value in write context
    unset($this->request->getData('password_check')); // error: can't use method return value in write context
};

$user = $this->Users->patchEntity($user, $this->request->getData()); // validator is called here

Can somebody guide me the way so my preferred validation happens in an efficient way?
Thanks a lot!

Oh yes, here’s my UsersTable.php code:

<?php
declare(strict_types=1);

namespace App\Model\Table;

use Cake\ORM\Query;
use Cake\ORM\RulesChecker;
use Cake\ORM\Table;
use Cake\Validation\Validator;

/**
 * Users Model
 *
 * @property \App\Model\Table\LanguagesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\BelongsTo $Languages
 * @property \App\Model\Table\RolesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\BelongsTo $Roles
 * @property \App\Model\Table\ArticleCategoriesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $ArticleCategories
 * @property \App\Model\Table\ArticleImagesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $ArticleImages
 * @property \App\Model\Table\ArticleTagsTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $ArticleTags
 * @property \App\Model\Table\ArticlesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Articles
 * @property \App\Model\Table\CategoriesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Categories
 * @property \App\Model\Table\LinksTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Links
 * @property \App\Model\Table\MenusTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Menus
 * @property \App\Model\Table\ModulePartsTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $ModuleParts
 * @property \App\Model\Table\ModulesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Modules
 * @property \App\Model\Table\PagesTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Pages
 * @property \App\Model\Table\PartsTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Parts
 * @property \App\Model\Table\TagsTable&\Cake\ORM\Association\HasMany $Tags
 *
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User newEmptyEntity()
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User newEntity(array $data, array $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User[] newEntities(array $data, array $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User get($primaryKey, $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User findOrCreate($search, ?callable $callback = null, $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User patchEntity(\Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface $entity, array $data, array $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User[] patchEntities(iterable $entities, array $data, array $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User|false save(\Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface $entity, $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User saveOrFail(\Cake\Datasource\EntityInterface $entity, $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User[]|\Cake\Datasource\ResultSetInterface|false saveMany(iterable $entities, $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User[]|\Cake\Datasource\ResultSetInterface saveManyOrFail(iterable $entities, $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User[]|\Cake\Datasource\ResultSetInterface|false deleteMany(iterable $entities, $options = [])
 * @method \App\Model\Entity\User[]|\Cake\Datasource\ResultSetInterface deleteManyOrFail(iterable $entities, $options = [])
 *
 * @mixin \Cake\ORM\Behavior\TimestampBehavior
 */
class UsersTable extends Table
{
    /**
     * Initialize method
     *
     * @param array $config The configuration for the Table.
     * @return void
     */
    public function initialize(array $config): void
    {
        parent::initialize($config);

        $this->setTable('users');
        $this->setDisplayField('username');
        $this->setPrimaryKey('id');

        $this->addBehavior('Timestamp');

        $this->belongsTo('Languages', [
            'foreignKey' => 'language_id',
            'joinType' => 'INNER',
        ]);
        $this->belongsTo('Roles', [
            'foreignKey' => 'role_id',
            'joinType' => 'INNER',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('ArticleCategories', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('ArticleImages', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('ArticleTags', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Articles', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Categories', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Links', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Menus', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('ModuleParts', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Modules', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Pages', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Parts', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
        $this->hasMany('Tags', [
            'foreignKey' => 'user_id',
        ]);
    }

    /**
     * Default validation rules.
     *
     * @param \Cake\Validation\Validator $validator Validator instance.
     * @return \Cake\Validation\Validator
     */
    public function validationDefault(Validator $validator): Validator
    {
        $validator
            ->scalar('first_name', __('Valid first_name is required.'))
            ->maxLength('first_name', 30, __('First name should count at most 30 characters.'))
            ->requirePresence('first_name', 'create')
            ->notEmptyString('first_name', __('First name is required.'));

        $validator
            ->scalar('last_name', __('Valid last name is required.'))
            ->maxLength('last_name', 30, __('Last name should count at most 30 characters.'))
            ->requirePresence('last_name', 'create')
            ->notEmptyString('last_name', __('Last name is required.'));

        $validator
            ->scalar('username', __('Valid username is required.'))
            ->maxLength('username', 30, __('Username should count at most 30 characters.'))
            ->requirePresence('username', 'create')
            ->notEmptyString('username', __('Username is required.'));

        $validator
            ->email('email', true, __('Valid email is required.'))
            ->requirePresence('email', 'create')
            ->notEmptyString('email', __('Email is required.'));

        $validator
            ->scalar('password', __('Valid password is required.'))
            ->minLength('password', 8, __('Password should count at least 8 characters.'))
            ->maxLength('password', 60, __('Password should count at most 60 characters.'))
            ->requirePresence('password', 'create')
            ->notEmptyString('password', __('Password is required.'));

        $validator
            ->scalar('password_check', __('Password check is required.'))
            ->minLength('password_check', 8, __('Password check should count at least 8 characters.'))
            ->maxLength('password_check', 60, __('Password check should count at most 60 characters.'))
            ->requirePresence('password_check', 'create')
            ->notEmptyString('password_check', __('Password check is required.'))
            ->sameAs('password_check', 'password', __('Password check and password should be identical.'));
        
        $validator
            ->integer('role_id', __('Valid role is required.'))
            ->notEmptyString('role_id', __('Role is required.'));
        
        $validator
            ->boolean('is_active', __('Valid is active is required.'))
            ->notEmptyString('is_active', __('Is active is required.'));

        $validator
            ->integer('language_id', __('Valid language is required.'))
            ->notEmptyString('language_id', __('Language is required.'));

        return $validator;
    }

    /**
     * Returns a rules checker object that will be used for validating
     * application integrity.
     *
     * @param \Cake\ORM\RulesChecker $rules The rules object to be modified.
     * @return \Cake\ORM\RulesChecker
     */
    public function buildRules(RulesChecker $rules): RulesChecker
    {
        $rules->add($rules->isUnique(['username']), ['errorField' => 'username']);
        $rules->add($rules->isUnique(['email']), ['errorField' => 'email']);
        $rules->add($rules->existsIn('role_id', 'Roles'), ['errorField' => 'role_id']);
        $rules->add($rules->existsIn('language_id', 'Languages'), ['errorField' => 'language_id']);

        return $rules;
    }
}
1 Like

I believe you’ll want to add a conditional statement for each case (password & password_check). For example (untested code):

        $validator
            ->notEmptyString(
                'password_check',
                __('Password check is required.'),
                function ($value, $context) {
                    if (!isset($context['password']) || !Validation::notBlank('password')) {
                        // allow empty
                        return true;
                    }
                    
                    // require field
                    return false;
                }
            );

Note, it’ll probably be cleaner code if you create a reusable method so you can use that callable method.

    public function validationDefault(Validator $validator): Validator
    {
        $validator
            ->scalar('password')
            ->maxLength('password', 60)
            ->minLength('password', 8)
            ->requirePresence('password', 'add')
            ->notEmptyString('password');

        $validator
            ->sameAs('password_check', 'password', 'Password check is required.');

        return $validator;
    }