Laravel 5 FormRequest custom message for array input

Question

I have a form input with an email-field, email_confirmation-field and then fname- & lname-fields that can be cloned using javascript so multiple names can be added.

The input variables are consequently named email, email_confirmation and persons[0][fname] + persons[0][lname] respectively (with incrementing index 0 if multiple names were supplied).

I'm trying to set custom validation messages for an array input:

in RegisterRequest.php

public function rules()
{
    $rules = array();
    foreach ($this->input('persons') as $index => $person) {
        $fname = 'persons.' . $index . '.fname';
        $lname = 'persons.' . $index . '.lname';
        $rules[$fname] = 'sometimes|required_with:'.$lname.'|max:25';
        $rules[$lname] = 'sometimes|required_with:'.$fname.'|max:35';
    }
    return array_merge([
        'email' => 'required|confirmed|email',
        'email_confirmation' => 'required',
    ], $rules);
}

public function messages()
{
    $array = array(
        'email.required' => 'Je e-mailadres is verplicht.',
        'email.email' => 'Dit is geen geldig e-mailadres',
        'email.confirmed' => 'E-mailadressen komen niet overeen.',
        'email_confirmation.required' => 'Bevestig je e-mailadres.',
    );
    foreach ($this->input('persons') as $index => $person) {
        $fname = 'persons.' . $index . '.fname';
        $lname = 'persons.' . $index . '.lname';
        $array[$fname.'.max:25'] = 'Je kan maximaal 25 karakters ingeven.';
        $array[$lname.'.max:35'] = 'Je kan maximaal 35 karakters ingeven.';
        $array[$fname.'.required_with:' . $lname] = 'Vul de voornaam in.';
        $array[$lname.'.required_with:' .$fname] = 'Vul de achternaam in.';
    }
    return $array;
}

Email error message is correctly being displayed, but unfortunately the messages for the input array don't... Any ideas how to achieve this? I think the problem lies in the fact that validation messages are defined using the dot rule (attribute.rule), but my input array attribute also consists of dots...

Answer 1

For the custom messages you don't specify the actual validation rule with parameters. Just it's name:

$array[$fname.'.max'] = 'Je kan maximaal 25 karakters ingeven.';
$array[$lname.'.max'] = 'Je kan maximaal 35 karakters ingeven.';
$array[$fname.'.required_with'] = 'Vul de voornaam in.';
$array[$lname.'.required_with'] = 'Vul de achternaam in.';

For the max validation you may use the :max placeholder inside your message to retrieve the number that's passed to the rule:

$array[$fname.'.max'] = 'Je kan maximaal :max karakters ingeven.';
$array[$lname.'.max'] = 'Je kan maximaal :max karakters ingeven.';