DataValidator Class Documentation

DataValidator is a fluent PHP class (namespace: Nobanno) for validating and sanitizing data from user input, supporting a wide range of rules and types. All validation failures throw a Nobanno\ValidationException.

1. Basic Usage

use Nobanno\DataValidator;
use Nobanno\ValidationException;

try {
    $value = (new DataValidator())
        ->title('Customer Name')
        ->post('customer_name')
        ->required()
        ->asAlphabetic(true)
        ->minLen(3)
        ->maxLen(50)
        ->sanitize()
        ->validate();
    // Use $value
} catch (ValidationException $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage();
}

2. Setting the Value

• value($val): Set value manually
• post($field): Get value from $_POST
• get($field): Get value from $_GET
• default($val): Set a default value if input is empty

3. Label/Title

• label($str): (deprecated) Set label for error messages
• title($str): Set human-readable name for error messages

4. Sanitization

• sanitize(): Remove tags, slashes, and convert HTML special chars
• removeTags($allowableTags = null)
• removeSlash()
• convert($convertDoubleQuote, $convertSingleQuote)

5. Required/Optional

• required(): Mark as required (throws if empty)
• optional(): Mark as optional (default)

6. Language Checks

• englishOnly(): Only English letters, numbers, spaces
• banglaOnly(): Only Bengali characters and spaces

7. Type Checks

• asAlphabetic($allowSpace): Only A-Z/a-z (optionally spaces)
• asNumeric(): Only numbers
• asAlphaNumeric($allowSpace): Only A-Z/a-z/0-9 (optionally spaces)
• asString($allowSpace): Any string (optionally spaces)
• asInteger($allowNegative): Integer (optionally negative)
• asFloat($allowNegative): Float (optionally negative)
• asArray(): Must be array
• asEmail(): Valid email
• asMobile(): Valid Bangladeshi mobile, returns 8801... format
• asDate($timezone = 'Asia/Dhaka'): Valid date (d-m-Y)
• asBool(): Boolean

8. Length & Range

• exactLen($len): Exact length
• minLen($len): Minimum length
• maxLen($len): Maximum length
• minVal($min): Minimum value
• maxVal($max): Maximum value

9. Miscellaneous

• startsWith($str): Must start with string
• endsWith($str): Must end with string

10. Finalizing

• validate(): Returns the validated value or default, throws on failure

11. Example: Validating a POST Email

try {
    $email = (new DataValidator())
        ->title('Email')
        ->post('email')
        ->required()
        ->asEmail()
        ->sanitize()
        ->validate();
} catch (ValidationException $e) {
    echo $e->getMessage();
}

12. Exception Handling

All validation failures throw ValidationException with a descriptive message. Use try/catch to handle errors.

13. Tips & Best Practices

• Chain methods for readable validation logic.
• Always call validate() at the end.
• Use default() for optional fields.
• Use sanitize() to clean user input before saving or displaying.

14. References

• PHP: Validation Filters
• PHP: filter_var
• PHP: htmlspecialchars