Cakephp Validation on API input data - api

Question

I have an API that receives data in JSON, XML and FORM data. The API needs to do a bit of validation that depending on the data provided, depends on the data to be validated. I have a "sendmode" field that is required for each API call. If the sendmode = 1 then mobile,firstname and lastname are required fields, however, if sendmode is 2 then group is a required field.
My question is, how can I validate my data in my model according to data provided in the API call without having to do a bunch of If statements at the beginning of my controller?
Thanks
public function api_send() {
//Get Params
$data = $this->request->input('json_decode', TRUE);
//validate here -> first required
$data['sendmode'] //need to validate
$data['subject'] //need to validate
$data['message'] //need to validate
if($validate == false){
return;
break;
}
switch($data['sendmode']){
case 1:
$data['mobile'] //need to validate
$data['firstname'] //need to validate
$data['lastname'] //need to validate
if($validate == TRUE){
//save data
}
//etc
}
}
So I want all my validation done in my model, but first, I need to validate 3 fields, if thats true I need to continue, then if sendmode is 1, I need to validate other fields, as these fields will not exist if sendmode is 2 or 4 etc

Answer 1

First you pass that json (?) data to a model method. Inside your model have a method that switches the validation rules based on the type.
// Controller
$this->Model->validateApiCall($this->request->input('json_decode', TRUE));
// Model
public function setValidationRules($type = 'someDefault') {
switch($type){
case SendMode::GROUP_FIELDS:
$this->validate = array(/* your rules for that type here */);
// ...
}
public function validateApiCall($data) {
$this->setValidationRules($data['type']);
// return or do something else with the data depending on it if its validated or not
return $this->validate($data);
}
Oh, and if you really want to use integers for the types I would recommend to use constants like SendMode::GROUP_FIELDS. I usually create a tableless model for that. Constants are a lot better because if you do a typo it brings up a syntax error and while using plain integers nobody never ever is going to remember what the meaning of a random 3 or 4 or 1 is.