Laravel 7 : array validation messages with wildcard index

Question

So I have an array of data (not necessary coming from a $request)

       $validator = Validator::make($array, [
           '*.client_name' => 'required',
           '*.client_phone' => ['required ', 'regex:/^(0)(5|6|7)[0-9]{8}/'],
       ]);

       $validator->validate();

So far, validation messages shows as

The field 1.client_name is required

I want something like

Row 1 : The field client_name is required

If I use $validator->setAttributeNames($newAttributeNames); I lose row number from the wildcard(*) even if I set teh wildcard in the new attribute name.

Also note that I don't want to override messages of all the rules provided by laravel (here are 2 examples but irl I have many rules)

So any idea how to accomplish this ?

Answer 1

The best approach I could find so far is inspired from @Tim Welis answer but using loops instead

$rules = [
    '*.client_name' => 'required',
    '*.client_phone' => ['required ', 'regex:/^(0)(5|6|7)[0-9]{8}/'],
    '*.age' => 'required | numeric | between:0,100',
];

$messages = [];
foreach($array as $rowNum => $row)
{
    foreach($row as $field => $value) {
        $messages["{$rowNum}.".$field.'.required'] = "Row {$rowNum} : The field {$field} is required";
        $messages["{$rowNum}.".$field.'.regex'] = "Row {$rowNum} : The field {$field} format is invalid";
        $messages["{$rowNum}.".$field.'.numeric'] = "Row {$rowNum} : The field {$field} must be numeric";
        $messages["{$rowNum}.".$field.'.between'] = "Row {$rowNum} : The field {$field} value must be between :min - :max";
    }
}

$validator = Validator::make($array, $rules, $messages);
$validator->validate();   

The rule message is written only once for all the attributes

Answer 2

An approach I generally use is dynamic validation; from your uploaded input, construct the $rules and $messages:

$rules = [];
$messages = [];
for($i = 0; $i <= count($array); $i++){
  // Since arrays are 0-based, 0 will be Row 1, etc.
  // If you want index 0 to be Row 0, then just use `$i` below
  $rowNum = $i + 1; 

  $cnKey = "{$i}.client_name";

  $rules[$cnKey] = 'required';
  $messages["{$cnKey}.required"] = "Row {$rowNum}: The field client_name is required";

  $cpKey = "{$i}.client_phone";

  $rules[$cpKey] = ['required', 'regex:/^(0)(5|6|7)[0-9]{8}/'];
  $messages["{$cpKey}.required"] = "Row {$rowNum}: The field client_phone is required";
  $messages["{$cpKey}.regex"] = "Row {$rowNum}: The field client_phone format is invalid";
}

$validator = Validator::make($array, $rules, $messages);
$validator->validate();

This discards the wildcards, and uses 0.client_name, 0.client_phone, etc etc explicitly, and allows you to construct unique validation messages on the fly.