Laravel 5 compatible and generic way:
I just had the same problem and solved it in a generic way. If you create an item it uses the default rules, if you update an item it will check your rules for :unique and insert an exclude automatically (if needed).
Create a BaseModel class and let all your models inherit from it:
<?php namespace App;
use Illuminate\Database\Eloquent\Model;
class BaseModel extends Model {
/**
* The validation rules for this model
*
* @var array
*/
protected static $rules = [];
/**
* Return model validation rules
*
* @return array
*/
public static function getRules() {
return static::$rules;
}
/**
* Return model validation rules for an update
* Add exception to :unique validations where necessary
* That means: enforce unique if a unique field changed.
* But relax unique if a unique field did not change
*
* @return array;
*/
public function getUpdateRules() {
$updateRules = [];
foreach(self::getRules() as $field => $rule) {
$newRule = [];
// Split rule up into parts
$ruleParts = explode('|',$rule);
// Check each part for unique
foreach($ruleParts as $part) {
if(strpos($part,'unique:') === 0) {
// Check if field was unchanged
if ( ! $this->isDirty($field)) {
// Field did not change, make exception for this model
$part = $part . ',' . $field . ',' . $this->getAttribute($field) . ',' . $field;
}
}
// All other go directly back to the newRule Array
$newRule[] = $part;
}
// Add newRule to updateRules
$updateRules[$field] = join('|', $newRule);
}
return $updateRules;
}
}
You now define your rules in your model like you are used to:
protected static $rules = [
'name' => 'required|alpha|unique:roles',
'displayName' => 'required|alpha_dash',
'permissions' => 'array',
];
And validate them in your Controller. If the model does not validate, it will automatically redirect back to the form with the corresponding validation errors. If no validation errors occurred it will continue to execute the code after it.
public function postCreate(Request $request)
{
// Validate
$this->validate($request, Role::getRules());
// Validation successful -> create role
Role::create($request->all());
return redirect()->route('admin.role.index');
}
public function postEdit(Request $request, Role $role)
{
// Validate
$this->validate($request, $role->getUpdateRules());
// Validation successful -> update role
$role->update($request->input());
return redirect()->route('admin.role.index');
}
That's it! :) Note that on creation we call Role::getRules() and on edit we call $role->getUpdateRules().