[RESOLVED] Best option?

[cluelessPHP]

class Validate{
	private $_passed = false,
			$_errors =array(),
			$_db = null;

public function __construct(){
	$this->_db = DB::getInstance();
}

public function check($source, $items = array()){
	foreach($items as $item =>$rules){
		foreach($rules as $rule => $rule_value){

			$value = trim($source[$item]);
			$item = escape($item);

			if ($rule === 'required' && empty($value)){
				$this->addError("{$item} is required");
			} else if(!empty($value)){
				switch($rule){
					case 'min':
						if(strlen($value) < $rule_value){
							$this->addError("{$item} must be a minimum of {$rule_value} characters.");
						}
					break;
					case 'max':
					if(strlen($value) > $rule_value){
							$this->addError("{$item} must be a maximum of {$rule_value} characters.");
						}
					break;
					case 'matches':
						if($value != $source[$rule_value]){
							$this->addError("{$rule_value} must match {$item}");
						}
					break;
					case 'unique':
						$check = $this->_db->get($rule_value, array($item, '=', $value));
						if($check->count()){
							$this->addError("{$item} already take.");
						}
					break;
				}
			}
		}
	}

	if(empty($this->_errors)){
		$this->_passed = true;
	}

	return $this;
}

private function addError($error){
	$this->_errors[] = $error;
	}

public function errors(){
	return $this->_errors;
	}

	public function passed(){
		return $this->_passed;
	}
}

If ($user <3) 
 {
   echo "please enter longer user name";
 }

if($password < 3)
{
  echo "password must be longer than some number";
}

Which validation process would be better? The second one is just quickly typed in as I'm making this thread to give you a rough idea

[sid]

Depends on what you base your definition of "good" on. The first approach is more sophisticated and obviously catches a lot more use cases. Also, the second code block compares the numeric value of $user and $password to be less than 3. I doubt, that's what you're trying to accomplish 😉

[cluelessPHP]

AH yes sorry I didn't explain properly, I'm looking for a validation system that will not put a strain on system memory but is robust enough to clearly articulate to the user any errors they have made.

[Bonesnap]

I don't think validation puts "a strain on system memory". You're far better off making sure your application receives the data it's expecting than not, so I would probably go the more verbose but robust path. On that note, if this data is being stored in the database, make sure the columns have similar restrictions, such as NOT NULL, length and data type restrictions, etc.

[cluelessPHP]

Ah yes, I forgot about that I'll examine my database again, thanks.