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Validators

zend-i18n provides a set of validators that use internationalization capabilities.

Alnum

Zend\I18n\Validator\Alnum allows you to validate if a given value contains only alphabetical characters and digits. There is no length limitation for the input you want to validate.

Supported options

The following options are supported for Zend\I18n\Validator\Alnum:

  • allowWhiteSpace: Whether or not whitespace characters are allowed. This option defaults to FALSE.

Basic usage

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\Alnum();
if ($validator->isValid('Abcd12')) {
    // value contains only allowed chars
} else {
    // false
}

Using whitespace

By default, whitespace is not accepted as it is not part of the alphabet. However, if you want to validate complete sentences or phrases, you may need to allow whitespace; this can be done via the allowWhiteSpace option, either at instantiation or afterwards via the setAllowWhiteSpace() method.

To get the current state of the flag, use the getAllowWhiteSpace() method.

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\Alnum(['allowWhiteSpace' => true]);

// or set it via method call:
$validator->setAllowWhiteSpace(true);

if ($validator->isValid('Abcd and 12')) {
    // value contains only allowed chars
} else {
    // false
}

Using different languages

Several languages supported by ext/intl use alphabets where characters are formed from multiple bytes, including Korean, Japanese, and Chinese. Such languages therefore are unsupported with regards to the Alnum validator.

When using the Alnum validator with these languages, the input will be validated using the English alphabet.

Alpha

Zend\I18n\Validator\Alpha allows you to validate if a given value contains only alphabetical characters. There is no length limitation for the input you want to validate. This validator is identical to the Zend\I18n\Validator\Alnum validator with the exception that it does not accept digits.

Supported options

The following options are supported for Zend\I18n\Validator\Alpha:

  • allowWhiteSpace: Whether or not whitespace characters are allowed. This option defaults to FALSE.

Basic usage

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\Alpha();
if ($validator->isValid('Abcd')) {
    // value contains only allowed chars
} else {
    // false
}

Using whitespace

By default, whitespace is not accepted as it is not part of the alphabet. However, if you want to validate complete sentences or phrases, you may need to allow whitespace; this can be done via the allowWhiteSpace option, either at instantiation or afterwards via the setAllowWhiteSpace() method.

To get the current state of the flag, use the getAllowWhiteSpace() method.

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\Alpha(['allowWhiteSpace' => true]);

// or set it via method call:
$validator->setAllowWhiteSpace(true);

if ($validator->isValid('Abcd and efg')) {
    // value contains only allowed chars
} else {
    // false
}

Using different languages

When using Zend\I18n\Validator\Alpha, the language provided by the user's browser will be used to set the allowed characters. For locales outside of English, this means that additional alphabetic characters may be used — such as ä, ö and ü from the German alphabet.

Which characters are allowed depends completely on the language, as every language defines its own set of characters.

Three languages supported by ext/intl, however, define multibyte characters, which cannot be matched as alphabetic characters using normal string or regular expression options. These include Korean, Japanese, and Chinese.

As a result, when using the Alpha validator with these languages, the input will be validated using the English alphabet.

IsFloat

Zend\I18n\Validator\IsFloat allows you to validate if a given value contains a floating-point value. This validator takes into account localized input.

Supported options

The following options are supported for Zend\I18n\Validator\IsFloat:

  • locale: Sets the locale to use when validating localized float values.

Basic float validation

By default, if no locale is provided, IsFloat will use the system locale.

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\IsFloat();

$validator->isValid(1234.5);    // returns true
$validator->isValid('10a01');   // returns false
$validator->isValid('1,234.5'); // returns true

(The above example assumes that the environment locale is set to en.)

Localized float validation

Float values are often written differently based on the country or region. For example, using English, you might write 1.5, whereas in german you would write 1,5, and in other languages you might use grouping.

Zend\I18n\Validator\IsFloat is able to validate such notations. However, it is limited to the locale you set. See the following code:

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\IsFloat(['locale' => 'de']);

$validator->isValid(1234.5);    // returns true
$validator->isValid("1 234,5"); // returns false
$validator->isValid("1.234");   // returns true

By using a locale, your input is validated based on the locale provided. Using a notation not specific to the locale results in a false evaulation.

The default validation locale can also be set after instantiation using setLocale(), and retrieved using getLocale().

Migration from 2.0-2.3 to 2.4+

Version 2.4 adds support for PHP 7. In PHP 7, float is a reserved keyword, which required renaming the Float validator. If you were using the Float validator directly previously, you will now receive an E_USER_DEPRECATED notice on instantiation. Please update your code to refer to the IsFloat class instead.

Users pulling their Float validator instance from the validator plugin manager receive an IsFloat instance instead starting in 2.4.0.

IsInt

Zend\I18n\Validator\IsInt validates if a given value is an integer, using the locale provided.

Supported Options

The following options are supported for Zend\I18n\Validator\IsInt:

  • locale: Sets the locale to use when validating localized integers.
  • strict: Sets whether or not the value's data type should be checked.

Basic integer validation

When no locale is provided to the validator, it uses the system locale:

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\IsInt();

$validator->isValid(1234);    // returns true
$validator->isValid(1234.5);  // returns false
$validator->isValid('1,234'); // returns true

(The above example assumes that the environment locale is set to en.)

Strict validation

By default, the value's data type is not enforced.

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\IsInt();

$validator->isValid(1234);    // returns true
$validator->isValid('1234');  // returns true

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\IsInt();
$validator->setStrict(true);

$validator->isValid(1234);    // returns true
$validator->isValid('1234');  // returns false

Localized integer validation

Integer values are often written differently based on country or region. For example, using English, you may write "1234" or "1,234"; both are integer values, but the grouping is optional. In German, you'd write "1.234", and in French, "1 234".

Zend\I18n\Validator\IsInt will use a provided locale when evaluating the validity of an integer value. In such cases, it doesn't simply strip the validator, but instead validates that the correct separator as defined by the locale is used.

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\IsInt(['locale' => 'de']);

$validator->isValid(1234);    // returns true
$validator->isValid("1,234"); // returns false
$validator->isValid("1.234"); // returns true

By using a locale, your input is validated based on the locale provided. Using a notation not specific to the locale results in a false evaulation.

The default validation locale can also be set after instantiation using setLocale(), and retrieved using getLocale().

Migration from 2.0-2.3 to 2.4+

Version 2.4 adds support for PHP 7. In PHP 7, int is a reserved keyword, which required renaming the Int validator. If you were using the Int validator directly previously, you will now receive an E_USER_DEPRECATED notice on instantiation. Please update your code to refer to the IsInt class instead.

Users pulling their Int validator instance from the validator plugin manager receive an IsInt instance instead starting in 2.4.0.

PostCode

Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode allows you to determine if a given value is a valid postal code. Postal codes are specific to cities, and in some locales termed ZIP codes.

Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode knows more than 160 different postal code formats. To select the correct format there are two ways. You can either use a fully qualified locale, or you can set your own format manually.

Supported options

The following options are supported for Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode:

  • format: Sets a postcode format which will be used for validation of the input.
  • locale: Sets a locale from which the postcode will be taken from.

Usage

Using a locale is more convenient as zend-validator already knows the appropriate postal code format for each locale; however, you need to use the fully qualified locale (one containing a region specifier) to do so. For instance, the locale de is a locale but could not be used with Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode as it does not include the region; de_AT, however, would be a valid locale, as it specifies the region code (AT, for Austria).

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode('de_AT');

When you don't set a locale yourself, then Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode will use the application wide set locale, or, when there is none, the locale returned by Locale.

// application wide locale within your bootstrap
Locale::setDefault('de_AT');

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode();

You can also change the locale afterwards by calling setLocale(). And of course you can get the actual used locale by calling getLocale().

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode('de_AT');
$validator->setLocale('en_GB');

Postal code formats are regular expression strings. When the international postal code format, which is used by setting the locale, does not fit your needs, then you can also manually set a format by calling setFormat().

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode('de_AT');
$validator->setFormat('AT-\d{5}');

Conventions for self defined formats

When using self defined formats, you should omit the regex delimiters and anchors ('/^' and '$/'). They are attached automatically.

You should also be aware that postcode values will always be validated in a strict way. This means that they have to be written standalone without additional characters when they are not covered by the format.

Constructor options

At its most basic, you may pass a string representing a fully qualified locale to the constructor of Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode.

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode('de_AT');

Additionally, you may pass either an array or a Traversable instance to the constructor. When you do so, you must include either the key locale or format; these will be used to set the appropriate values in the validator object.

$validator = new Zend\I18n\Validator\PostCode([
    'locale' => 'de_AT',
    'format' => 'AT_\d+'
]);

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