elofson.ca

I have preached about how Solar makes my web development life so much easier, and here is another example of why.

Every once in a while, I have to add or modify my record validation before it is saved in the database. For example, I am working on a publication database where a publication has several availability “flags”, such as

• available as pdf,
• available in print,
• available as pdf by email

In this scenario, all three can be “unchecked”, however; available as pdf and available as pdf by email can NOT both be checked. So, to validate that, I use a pre-save hook in the publication record class and set a filter.

<?php
class Bookstore_Model_Publications_Record extends Bookstore_Sql_Model_Record
{
    protected function _preSave()
    {
        parent::_preSave();
        // Check to make sure that email_pdf and pdf are not both checked
	if ($this->_data['available_pdf'] == '1' && 
            $this->_data['available_pdf_email'] == '1') {
                $this->addFilter(
                    'available_pdf_email', 
                    'validateNotEquals', 
                    'available_pdf'
                );
	    }
	}
    }
}
?>

So, basically, before the record is saved, I look to see if available_pdf == 1 AND available_pdf_email == 1 and if so, add a new validation filter on available_pdf_email. The new filter is called “validateNotEquals” and you pass the name of a field you don’t want to allow it to be the same as. In this case available_pdf.

With this filter added, the record won’t save and will display an error message under available_pdf_email.

Simple.