FosRestBundle PATCH action + entity field with NotBlank constraint

Question

I have a Dns entity who have a content field with a NotBlank constraint

/**
 * @var int
 *
 * @ORM\Column(name="id", type="integer", nullable=false)
 * @ORM\Id
 * @ORM\GeneratedValue(strategy="IDENTITY")
 */
private $id;

/**
 * @var string
 *
 * @ORM\Column(name="name", type="string", length=255, nullable=true)
 * @Assert\Regex("/^(([[:alnum:]-_]+(\.[[:alnum:]-_]+)*)|(\*))$/u")
 */
private $name;

/**
 * @var string
 *
 * @ORM\Column(name="content", type="string", length=64000, nullable=true)
 * @Assert\NotBlank
 * @Assert\Length(max="64000")
 */
private $content;

I have made a working PATCH action with FosRestBundle

/**
 * @ParamConverter("updatedRecord", converter="fos_rest.request_body")
 */
public function patchAction(PowerDNSDomain $domain, PowerDNSRecord $record, PowerDNSRecord $updatedRecord, ConstraintViolationListInterface $validationErrors)
{
    if ($validationErrors->count() > 0) {
        return $this->handleBodyValidationErrorsView($validationErrors);
    }

    $record->setName($updatedRecord->getName())
           ->setContent($updatedRecord->getContent())
           ->setTtl($updatedRecord->getTtl())
           ->setPrio($updatedRecord->getPrio());

    $this->get('manager.dns')->saveRecord($record);

    return $this->view($record);
}

When I'm trying to update a Dns entry without changing the content field i get the following error because of my NotBlank constraint.

{ "error": "validation_failed", "error_description": "Data validation failed. Please check errors below.", "validation_errors": { "content": [ "This value cannot be null." ] } }

This is doing the same with NotNull constraint.

I'm trying to PATCH a Dns entry without changing the content field.

Is this possible to keep my constraint inside the entity or I must use another way ?

Answer 1

You can deal with validation groups to keep your constraint on INSERT and skip it on UPDATE.

Example:

/**
 * @var string
 *
 * @ORM\Column(name="content", type="string", length=64000, nullable=true)
 * @Assert\NotBlank(groups={"new"})
 * @Assert\Length(max="64000")
 */
private $content;

Then, if your method is creating a new entry, set the new validation group in the @ParamConverter annotation:

/**
 * @ParamConverter("updatedRecord", converter="fos_rest.request_body", options={"validator"={"groups"={"new"}}})
 */

See the Request body listener for more.