12. Form Validation

Form Validation

Validation is an important process while building web application. It ensures that the data that we are getting is proper and valid to store or process. CodeIgniter has made this task very easy. Let us understand this process with a simple example.

Example

Create a view file myform.php and save the below code it inapplication/views/myform.php. This page will display form where user can submit his name and we will validate this page to ensure that it should not be empty while submitting.

<html>
 
   <head> 
      <title>My Form</title> 
   </head>
 
   <body>
      <form action = "" method = "">
         <?php echo validation_errors(); ?>  
         <?php echo form_open('form'); ?>  
         <h5>Name</h5> 
         <input type = "text" name = "name" value = "" size = "50" />  
         <div><input type = "submit" value = "Submit" /></div>  
      </form>  
   </body>
 
</html>

Create a view file formsuccess.php and save it inapplication/views/formsuccess.php. This page will be displayed if the form is validated successfully.

<html>
 
   <head> 
      <title>My Form</title>
   </head> 
 
   <body>  
      <h3>Your form was successfully submitted!</h3>  
      <p><?php echo anchor('form', 'Try it again!'); ?></p>  
   </body>
 
</html>

Create a controller file Form.php and save it inapplication/controller/Form.php. This form will either, show errors if it is not validated properly or redirected to formsuccess.php page.

<?php
  
   class Form extends CI_Controller { 
 
      public function index() { 
         /* Load form helper */ 
         $this->load->helper(array('form'));
   
         /* Load form validation library */ 
         $this->load->library('form_validation');
   
         /* Set validation rule for name field in the form */ 
         $this->form_validation->set_rules('name', 'Name', 'required'); 
   
         if ($this->form_validation->run() == FALSE) { 
         $this->load->view('myform'); 
         } 
         else { 
            $this->load->view('formsuccess'); 
         } 
      }
   }
?>

Add the following line in application/config/routes.php.

$route['validation'] = 'Form';

Let us execute this example by visiting the following URL in the browser. This URL may be different based on your site.

http://yoursite.com/index.php/validation

It will produce the following screen −

We have added a validation in the controller − Name is required field before submitting the form. So, if you click the submit button without entering anything in the name field, then you will be asked to enter the name before submitting as shown in the screen below.

After entering the name successfully, you will be redirected to the screen as shown below.

In the above example, we have used the required rule setting. There are many rules available in the CodeIgniter, which are described below.

Validation Rule Reference

The following is a list of all the native rules that are available to use −

Given below are the most commonly used list of native rules available to use.

11. Sending Email

Sending Email

Sending email in CodeIgniter is much easier. You also configure the preferences regarding email in CodeIgniter. CodeIgniter provides following features for sending emails −

Multiple Protocols − Mail, Sendmail, and SMTP
TLS and SSL Encryption for SMTP
Multiple recipients
CC and BCCs
HTML or Plaintext email
Attachments
Word wrapping
Priorities
BCC Batch Mode, enabling large email lists to be broken into small BCC batches.
Email Debugging tools

Email class has the following functions to simplify the job of sending emails.

S.N.	Syntax	Parameters	Return	Return Type
1	from($from[, $name = ''[,$return_path = NULL]])	$from (string) − “From” e-mail address $name (string) − “From” display name $return_path(string) − Optional email address to redirect undelivered e-mail to	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
2	reply_to($replyto[, $name = ''])	$replyto (string) − E-mail address for replies $name (string) − Display name for the reply-to e-mail address	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
2	to($to)	$to (mixed) − Comma-delimited string or an array of e-mail addresses	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
3	cc($cc)	$cc (mixed) − Comma-delimited string or an array of e-mail addresses	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
4	bcc($bcc[, $limit = ''])	$bcc (mixed) − Comma-delimited string or an array of e-mail addresses $limit (int) − Maximum number of e-mails to send per batch	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
5	subject($subject)	$subject (string) − E-mail subject line	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
6	message($body)	$body (string) − E-mail message body	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
7	set_alt_message($str)	$str (string) − Alternative e-mail message body	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
8	set_header($header, $value)	$header (string) − Header name $value (string) − Header value	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
9	clear([$clear_attachments = FALSE])	$clear_attachments(bool) – Whether or not to clear attachments	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
10	send([$auto_clear = TRUE])	$auto_clear (bool) − Whether to clear message data automatically	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
11	attach($filename[, $disposition = ''[, $newname = NULL[, $mime = '']]])	$filename (string) − File name $disposition (string) − ‘disposition’ of the attachment. Most email clients make their own decision regardless of the MIME specification used here. iana $newname (string) − Custom file name to use in the e-mail $mime (string) − MIME type to use (useful for buffered data)	CI_Email instance (method chaining)	CI_Email
12	attachment_cid($filename)	$filename (string) − Existing attachment filename	Attachment Content-ID or FALSE if not found	string

Sending an Email

To send an email using CodeIgniter, first you have to load email library using the following −

$this->load->library('email');

After loading the library, simply execute the following functions to set necessary elements to send an email. The from() function is used to set − from where the email is being sent and to() function is used − to whom the email is being sent. The subject() and message()function is used to set the subject and message of the email.

$this->email->from('your@example.com', 'Your Name');
$this->email->to('someone@example.com');
 
$this->email->subject('Email Test');
$this->email->message('Testing the email class.');

After that, execute the send() function as shown below to send an email.

$this->email->send();

Example

Create a controller file Email_controller.php and save it inapplication/controller/Email_controller.php.

<?php 
   class Email_controller extends CI_Controller { 
 
      function __construct() { 
         parent::__construct(); 
         $this->load->library('session'); 
         $this->load->helper('form'); 
      } 
  
      public function index() { 
 
         $this->load->helper('form'); 
         $this->load->view('email_form'); 
      } 
  
      public function send_mail() { 
         $from_email = "your@example.com"; 
         $to_email = $this->input->post('email'); 
   
         //Load email library 
         $this->load->library('email'); 
   
         $this->email->from($from_email, 'Your Name'); 
         $this->email->to($to_email);
         $this->email->subject('Email Test'); 
         $this->email->message('Testing the email class.'); 
   
         //Send mail 
         if($this->email->send()) 
         $this->session->set_flashdata("email_sent","Email sent successfully."); 
         else 
         $this->session->set_flashdata("email_sent","Error in sending Email."); 
         $this->load->view('email_form'); 
      } 
   } 
?>

Create a view file called email_form.php and save it atapplication/views/email_form.php

<!DOCTYPE html> 
<html lang = "en"> 

   <head> 
      <meta charset = "utf-8"> 
      <title>CodeIgniter Email Example</title> 
   </head>
 
   <body> 
      <?php 
         echo $this->session->flashdata('email_sent'); 
         echo form_open('/Email_controller/send_mail'); 
      ?> 
  
      <input type = "email" name = "email" required /> 
      <input type = "submit" value = "SEND MAIL"> 
  
      <?php 
         echo form_close(); 
      ?> 
   </body>
 
</html>

Make the changes in the routes.php file inapplication/config/routes.php and add the following line at the end of the file.

$route['email'] = 'Email_Controller';

Execute the above example by visiting the following link. Replace the yoursite.com with the URL of your site.

http://yoursite.com/index.php/email

10. File Uploading

File Uploading

Using File Uploading class, we can upload files and we can also, restrict the type and size of the file to be uploaded. Follow the steps shown in the given example to understand the file uploading process in CodeIgniter.

Example

Copy the following code and store it atapplication/view/Upload_form.php.

<html>
 
   <head> 
      <title>Upload Form</title> 
   </head>
 
   <body> 
      <?php echo $error;?> 
      <?php echo form_open_multipart('upload/do_upload');?> 
  
      <form action = "" method = "">
         <input type = "file" name = "userfile" size = "20" /> 
         <br /><br /> 
         <input type = "submit" value = "upload" /> 
      </form> 
  
   </body>
 
</html>

Copy the code given below and store it atapplication/view/Upload_success.php

<html>
 
   <head> 
      <title>Upload Form</title> 
   </head>
 
   <body>  
      <h3>Your file was successfully uploaded!</h3>  
  
      <ul> 
         <?phpforeach ($upload_data as $item => $value):?> 
         <li><?php echo $item;?>: <?php echo $value;?></li> 
         <?phpendforeach; ?>
      </ul>  
  
      <p><?php echo anchor('upload', 'Upload Another File!'); ?></p>  
   </body>
 
</html>

Copy the code given below and store it atapplication/controllers/Upload.php. Create “uploads” folder at the root of CodeIgniter i.e. at the parent directory of application folder.

<?php
  
   class Upload extends CI_Controller {
 
      public function __construct() { 
         parent::__construct(); 
         $this->load->helper(array('form', 'url')); 
      }
  
      public function index() { 
         $this->load->view('upload_form', array('error' => ' ' )); 
      } 
  
      public function do_upload() { 
         $config['upload_path']   = './uploads/'; 
         $config['allowed_types'] = 'gif|jpg|png'; 
         $config['max_size']      = 100; 
         $config['max_width']     = 1024; 
         $config['max_height']    = 768;  
         $this->load->library('upload', $config);
   
         if ( ! $this->upload->do_upload('userfile')) {
            $error = array('error' => $this->upload->display_errors()); 
            $this->load->view('upload_form', $error); 
         }
   
         else { 
            $data = array('upload_data' => $this->upload->data()); 
            $this->load->view('upload_success', $data); 
         } 
      } 
   } 
?>

Make the following change in the route file inapplication/config/routes.php and add the following line at the end of file.

$route['upload'] = 'Upload';

Now let us execute this example by visiting the following URL in the browser. Replace the yoursite.com with your URL.

http://yoursite.com/index.php/upload

It will produce the following screen −

After successfully uploading a file, you will see the following screen −

Codeignitor for beginners

Sunday 25 September 2016

12. Form Validation

Form Validation

Example

Validation Rule Reference

11. Sending Email

Sending Email

Sending an Email

Example

10. File Uploading

File Uploading

Example