Form validation with fields having space as value

Question

This is the field in the admin side form which is ment to be required.

<field name="exam_name" 
type="text"
label="Name"
required="true" />

In the form if I leave this field empty (null) then it shows a validation error Invalid Field.

But if I leave a space then it submits the page and space stored in the database.

Is there a way to validate the form even a particular field is having space instead of empty?

Answer 1

You could use client side validation. So firstly, add the following to the form view (Choose one depending on your Joomla version)

JHtml::_('behavior.formvalidation'); // Joomla 3.3
JHtml::_('behavior.formvalidator');  // Joomla 3.4

Then add the form-validate class to your form so it looks like this:

<form class="form-validate">

Then add the required classes to your form field like so:

<field name="exam_name" class="required validate-custom"

Then apply the same to your form submit button, like so:

<input type="submit" class="required validate-custom"

And finally, you can use the following jQuery:

jQuery(document).ready(function($){
    document.formvalidator.setHandler('custom', function (value) {
        // Perform your validation for blank spaces
        // You could use a regex or maybe trim the value
        // Whatever method you prefer
    });
});

Answer 2

If your model extends JModelAdmin or JModelForm, you can use its validate function to validate client input before saving it to database.

class MyComponentModelForm extends JModelAdmin
{

  ....
  ....

  /* Override */
  public function validate($form, $data, $group = null)
  {
     $data = parent::validate($form, $data, $group = null);
     if(!$data || empty($data['myfield']))
     {
       JFactory::getApplication()->enqueueMessage(JText::_('COM_MYCOMPONENT_FIELD_REQUIRED'));
       return false;
     }

    return $data;
  }
}