Validation

Owner: Nuwan Danushka

Introduction

The Validation class holds checks for common input: email addresses, phone numbers, Sri Lankan NIC numbers, US ZIP codes, URLs, passwords, Base64 and JSON. Get an object through the Util accessor:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();

if (!$validation_object->emailValidation($email)) {
    // reject the request
}

To validate several fields of a request at once with PHP filters, see validateData in Common Functions.

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Validation Methods

phoneValidation

Description:

The phoneValidation method checks a phone number against three fixed formats.

Accepted formats:

• (+94)771234567: 14 characters. (+, a 2-digit country code, ), then 9 digits.
• +94771234567: 12 characters. + then 11 digits.
• 0771234567: 10 characters. 0 then 9 digits.

Spaces, dashes and other lengths are rejected.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->phoneValidation($phone);

Parameters:

• $phone: The phone number to validate.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the number matches one of the formats, false otherwise.

⚠️ In the 12-character format only the first 10 characters after + are checked, so the last character can be anything: +9477123456x passes. Use validateAllPhone2 if you need every character checked.

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nicValidation

Description:

The nicValidation method checks a Sri Lankan NIC number in the old 10-character format: 9 digits followed by one non-digit character.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->nicValidation($nic);

Parameters:

• $nic: The NIC number to validate, such as 123456789V.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the NIC has the old format, false otherwise.

The method does not accept the 12-digit NIC format, and it accepts any letter in the last position, not only V or X.

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emailValidation

Description:

The emailValidation method checks an email address with PHP's FILTER_VALIDATE_EMAIL filter.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->emailValidation($email);

Parameters:

• $email: The email address to validate.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the email is valid, false otherwise.

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arrayKeyExists

Description:

The arrayKeyExists method counts how many of the given keys exist in an array.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->arrayKeyExists(['name', 'email'], $data);

if ($result !== 2) {
    // a required key is missing
}

Parameters:

• $keys: A list of key names.
• $checkArray: The array to look in.

Return Value:

• Integer: How many of $keys are keys of $checkArray.

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imageStringValidation

Description:

The imageStringValidation method decodes a Base64 string and returns the decoded data if it is plain ASCII text. Despite its name, it does not check for an image, and it rejects real binary images.

It returns the decoded data only when both checks pass:

1. Decoding the string and encoding it again gives exactly the original string. A data:image/png;base64, prefix, line breaks or missing padding make this fail.
2. mb_detect_encoding reports the decoded data as ASCII.

PNG, JPEG, GIF and WebP files contain bytes outside the ASCII range, so they fail the second check and the method returns false. A Base64-encoded SVG file or any other ASCII text passes.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->imageStringValidation($imageString);

Parameters:

• $imageString: A Base64 string, without a data: prefix.

Return Value:

• String: The decoded data, when it is valid Base64 of ASCII-only content.
• false: Otherwise, including for every PNG or JPEG image.

To accept uploaded images, check the Base64 with validateBase64String, then check the decoded bytes with PHP's getimagesizefromstring() or finfo.

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validateUSAZip

Description:

The validateUSAZip method checks a US ZIP code: five digits, optionally followed by a dash and four more digits.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->validateUSAZip($zip_code);

Parameters:

• $zip_code: The ZIP code to validate, such as 90210 or 90210-1234.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the ZIP code is valid, false otherwise.

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valid_phone

Description:

The valid_phone method checks a phone number and returns it in a normalised form. It recognises US numbers in most common layouts. With $international set to true, it also accepts other numbers that have at least 8 digits.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->valid_phone('(212) 555-1234 ext 5');          // "212-555-1234 ext 5"
$result = $validation_object->valid_phone('+94 77 123 4567', true);         // "+94 77 123 4567"

Parameters:

• $str: The phone number to validate.
• $international: Optional. true to accept non-US numbers. Default: false.

Return Value:

• String: A US number as NNN-NNN-NNNN, followed by a space and ext N when there is an extension. An international number is returned trimmed.
• false: The number is not valid. Without $international, every non-US number returns false.

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validateAllPhone2

Description:

The validateAllPhone2 method removes (, ), -, . and spaces from a phone number, then checks that what's left is 10 to 15 digits, optionally starting with +.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->validateAllPhone2('+94 (77) 123-4567');   // "+94771234567"

Parameters:

• $phone: The phone number to validate.

Return Value:

• String: The cleaned number, with its leading + if it had one.
• false: The number is not valid.

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validateAllPhone

Description:

The validateAllPhone method checks a phone number against several regional patterns (international, North American, UK, French and Sri Lankan). If none matches, it accepts any number with 10 to 15 digits, optionally starting with +. The check is permissive.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->validateAllPhone($phone);

Parameters:

• $phone: The phone number to validate. (, ), -, . and spaces are removed first.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the number is valid, false otherwise.

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validateLKRPhone

Description:

The validateLKRPhone method checks a Sri Lankan mobile number. Landline numbers are rejected.

It removes every non-digit character and any leading zeros. Then:

• With exactly 9 digits left, the number must start with a mobile prefix (see check_for_mobile).
• With more than 9 digits, the last 9 must start with a mobile prefix, and the digits before them must be 94.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$validation_object->validateLKRPhone('077 123 4567');   // true
$validation_object->validateLKRPhone('+94771234567');   // true
$validation_object->validateLKRPhone('0112345678');     // false: landline

Parameters:

• $phone: The phone number to validate.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the number is a valid Sri Lankan mobile number, false otherwise.

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check_for_mobile

Description:

The check_for_mobile method checks whether a number starts with a Sri Lankan mobile prefix: 70, 71, 72, 75, 76, 77 or 78. It only looks at the first two characters.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->check_for_mobile('771234567');

Parameters:

• $num: The number without the leading 0 or country code.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the number starts with a mobile prefix, false otherwise.

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validateBase64String

Description:

The validateBase64String method checks that a string is valid, canonical Base64. It decodes the string in strict mode, encodes it again and compares the result with the input.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->validateBase64String($data);

Parameters:

• $data: The string to validate. A data: prefix or line breaks make it fail.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the string is valid Base64, false otherwise.

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checkURL

Description:

The checkURL method checks whether a string is a valid URL, using PHP's FILTER_VALIDATE_URL filter.

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->checkURL($string);

Parameters:

• $string: The string to check. It needs a scheme, such as https://.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the string is a valid URL, false otherwise.

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validatePassword

Description:

The validatePassword method checks that a password meets these rules:

1. At least 6 characters long.
2. Contains at least one uppercase letter.
3. Contains at least one lowercase letter.
4. Contains at least one digit (0-9).

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->validatePassword($password);

Parameters:

• $password: The password to check.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the password meets all rules, false otherwise.

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isJson

Description:

The isJson method checks whether a string is valid JSON by decoding it with json_decode().

Syntax:

$validation_object = Util::Validation();
$result = $validation_object->isJson($string);

Parameters:

• $string: The string to check.

Return Value:

• Boolean: true if the string decodes without errors, false otherwise. Scalar JSON such as 123 or "text" also counts as valid. An empty string is not valid.

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