Laravel validations with "or" condition

Luís Henriques :

I'm trying to make an input validation in Laravel with a somewhat complex "or" condition.

I need the validator to validate the input (let it pass) if its value is present in a specific table or if its value is "other".

So far, I have:

$validator = Validator::make($data, [

    ...

    'doc_organization' => ['required_with:rb_regist,doctor, exists:user_organizations,full_name'], // TODO: must exist in user_organizations table or be "other"
    'doc_custom_organization' => ['required_if:doc_organization,other', 'max:160'],

    ...

I took a look at Laravel's custom validation rules, conditionally adding rules, and so forth, as well as these posts:

Laravel Validation with or

Validation rules required_if with other condition (Laravel 5.4)

But I can't seem to come up with a custom rule in which I don't query the whole table to know if the name exists (in case it is not "other"). That would make the rule too complex for its purpose.

The other solution I have is to add an entry named "other" in the user_organizations table, which is not ideal.

Am I missing something? How can I make the condition I want without a complex custom validation rule?

Thank you very much.

pr1nc3 :

Since "other" is just a value and not a record in your database you can simply "twist it" a bit to something like:

'doc_organization' => ['nullable|required_with:rb_regist,doctor, exists:user_organizations,full_name'],

The twist is that before your Validator you can have a simple check in your requested value like:

if($request->doc_organization == "other"){
  $request->merge(['doc_organization' => null]);
}

And inject null value to the field inside the request.

Having done that you will comply with "nullable" option which will allow you to pass through.