oracular (3) Data::FormValidator::Constraints::DateTime.3pm.gz
NAME
Data::FormValidator::Constraints::DateTime - D::FV constraints for dates and times
DESCRIPTION
This package provides constraint routines for Data::FormValidator for dealing with dates and times. It
provides an easy mechanism for validating dates of any format (using strptime(3)) and transforming those
dates (as long as you 'untaint' the fields) into valid DateTime objects, or into strings that would be
properly formatted for various database engines.
ABSTRACT
use Data::FormValidator;
use Data::FormValidator::Constraints::DateTime qw(:all);
# create our profile
my $profile = {
required => [qw(my_date)],
constraint_methods => {
my_date => to_datetime('%D'), # in the format MM/DD/YYYY
},
untaint_all_constraints => 1,
};
# validate 'my_date'
my $results = Data::FormValidator->check($my_input, $profile);
if( $results->success ) {
# if we got here then $results->valid('my_date')
# is a valid DateTime object
my $datetime = $results->valid('my_date');
.
.
}
STRPTIME FORMATS
Most of the validation routines provided by this module use strptime(3) format strings to know what format your date string is in before we can process it. You specify this format for each date you want to validate using by passing it to constraint generation routine (see the example above). We use DateTime::Format::Strptime for this transformation. If you need a list of these formats (if you haven't yet committed them to memory) you can see the strptime(3) man page (if you are on a *nix system) or you can see the DateTime::Format::Strptime documentation. There are however some routines that can live without the format param. These include routines which try and validate according to rules for a particular database ("to_mysql_*" and "to_pg_*"). If no format is provided, then we will attempt to validate according to the rules for that datatype in that database (using DateTime::Format::MySQL and DateTime::Format::Pg). Here are some examples: without a format param my $profile = { required => [qw(my_date)], constraint_methods => { my_date => to_mysql_datetime(), }, }; with a format param my $profile = { required => [qw(my_date)], constraint_methods => { my_date => to_mysql_datetime('%m/%d/%Y'), }, }; DateTime::Format Objects Using strptime(3) format strings gives a lot of flexibility, but sometimes not enough. Suppose you have a web form that allows the user to input a date in the format '11/21/2006' or simply '11/21/06'. A simple format string is not enough. To take full advantage of the DateTime project, any place that you can pass in a strptime(3) format string, you can also pass in a DateTime::Format object. To solve the above problem you might have code that looks like this: # your formatter code package MyProject::DateTime::FlexYear; use DateTime::Format::Strptime; use DateTime::Format::Builder ( parsers => { parse_datetime => [ sub { eval { DateTime::Format::Strptime->new(pattern => '%m/%d/%Y')->parse_datetime($_[1]) } }, sub { eval { DateTime::Format::Strptime->new(pattern => '%m/%d/%y')->parse_datetime($_[1]) } }, ] } ); 1; # in your web validation code my $profile = { required => [qw(my_date)], constraint_methods => { my_date => to_mysql_datetime(MyProject::DateTime::FlexYear->new()), }, };
VALIDATION ROUTINES
Following is the list of validation routines that are provided by this module.
to_datetime
The routine will validate the date aginst a strptime(3) format and change the date string into a DateTime
object. This routine must have an accompanying strptime format param.
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
ymd_to_datetime
This routine is used to take multiple inputs (one each for the year, month, and day) and combine them
into a DateTime object, validate the resulting date, and give you the resulting DateTime object in your
"valid()" results. It must receive as "params" the year, month, and day inputs in that order. You may
also specify additional "params" that will be interpretted as 'hour', 'minute' and 'second' values to
use. If none are provided, then the time '00:00:00' will be used.
my $profile = {
required => [qw(my_year)],
constraint_methods => {
my_year => ymd_to_datetime(qw(my_year my_month my_day my_hour my_min my_sec)),
},
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
before_today
This routine will validate the date and make sure it less than or equal to today (using
"DateTime->today"). It takes one param which is the <strptime|DateTime::Format::Strptime> format string
for the date.
If it validates and you tell D::FV to untaint this parameter it will be converted into a DateTime object.
# make sure they weren't born in the future
my $profile = {
required => [qw(birth_date)],
constraint_methods => {
birth_date => before_today('%m/%d/%Y'),
},
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
after_today
This routine will validate the date and make sure it is greater than or equal to today (using
"DateTime->today()"). It takes only one param, which is the strptime format for the date being validated.
If it validates and you tell D::FV to untaint this parameter it will be converted into a DateTime object.
# make sure the project isn't already due
my $profile = {
required => [qw(death_date)],
constraint_methods => {
death_date => after_today('%m/%d/%Y'),
},
untaint_all_constraints => 1,
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
ymd_before_today
This routine will validate the date and make sure it less than or equal to today (using
"DateTime->today"). It works just like ymd_to_datetime in the parameters it takes.
If it validates and you tell D::FV to untaint this parameter it will be converted into a DateTime object.
# make sure they weren't born in the future
my $profile = {
required => [qw(birth_date)],
constraint_methods => {
birth_date => ymd_before_today(qw(dob_year dob_month dob_day)),
},
untaint_all_constraints => 1,
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
ymd_after_today
This routine will validate the date and make sure it greater than or equal to today (using
"DateTime->today"). It works just like ymd_to_datetime in the parameters it takes.
If it validates and you tell D::FV to untaint this parameter it will be converted into a DateTime object.
# make sure the project isn't already due
my $profile = {
required => [qw(due_date)],
constraint_methods => {
birth_date => ymd_after_today(qw(dob_year dob_month dob_day)),
},
untaint_all_constraints => 1,
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
before_datetime
This routine will validate the date and make sure it occurs before the specified date. It takes two
params:
• first, the strptime format
(for both the date we are validating and also the date we want to compare against)
• second, the date we are comparing against.
This date we are comparing against can either be a specified date (using a scalar ref), or a named
parameter from your form (using a scalar name).
If it validates and you tell D::FV to untaint this parameter it will be converted into a DateTime object.
# make sure they were born before 1979
my $profile = {
required => [qw(birth_date)],
constraint_methods => {
birth_date => before_datetime('%m/%d/%Y', '01/01/1979'),
},
untaint_all_constraints => 1,
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
after_datetime
This routine will validate the date and make sure it occurs after the specified date. It takes two
params:
• first, the strptime format
(for both the date we are validating and also the date we want to compare against)
• second, the date we are comparing against.
This date we are comparing against can either be a specified date (using a scalar ref), or a named
parameter from your form (using a scalar name).
# make sure they died after they were born
my $profile = {
required => [qw(birth_date death_date)],
constraint_methods => {
death_date => after_datetime('%m/%d/%Y', 'birth_date'),
},
untaint_all_constraints => 1,
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
between_datetimes
This routine will validate the date and make sure it occurs after the first specified date and before the
second specified date. It takes three params:
• first, the strptime format
(for both the date we are validating and also the dates we want to compare against)
• second, the first date we are comparing against.
• third, the second date we are comparing against.
This date (and the second) we are comparing against can either be a specified date (using a scalar
ref), or a named parameter from your form (using a scalar name).
# make sure they died after they were born
my $profile = {
required => [qw(birth_date death_date marriage_date)],
constraint_methods => {
marriage_date => between_datetimes('%m/%d/%Y', 'birth_date', 'death_date'),
},
untaint_all_constraints => 1,
};
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
DATABASE RELATED VALIDATION ROUTINES
to_mysql_datetime
The routine will change the date string into a DATETIME datatype suitable for MySQL. If you don't provide
a format parameter then this routine will just validate the data as a valid MySQL DATETIME datatype
(using DateTime::Format::MySQL).
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
to_mysql_date
The routine will change the date string into a DATE datatype suitable for MySQL. If you don't provide a
format param then this routine will validate the data as a valid DATE datatype in MySQL (using
DateTime::Format::MySQL).
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
to_mysql_timestamp
The routine will change the date string into a TIMESTAMP datatype suitable for MySQL. If you don't
provide a format then the data will be validated as a MySQL TIMESTAMP datatype.
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
to_pg_datetime
The routine will change the date string into a DATETIME datatype suitable for PostgreSQL. If you don't
provide a format then the data will validated as a DATETIME datatype in PostgreSQL (using
DateTime::Format::Pg).
If the value is untainted (using "untaint_all_constraints" or "untaint_constraint_fields", it will change
the date string into a DateTime object.
AUTHOR
Michael Peters <mpeters@plusthree.com> Thanks to Plus Three, LP (http://www.plusthree.com) for sponsoring my work on this module
CONTRIBUTORS
Mark Stosberg <mark@summersault.com> Charles Frank <cfrank@plusthree.com> Aaron Ross <aaronelliotross@gmail.com>
SUPPORT
This module is a part of the larger Data::FormValidator project. If you have questions, comments, bug
reports or feature requests, please join the Data::FormValidator's mailing list.
CAVEAT
When passing parameters to typical Data::FormValidator constraints you pass plain scalars to refer to
query params and scalar-refs to refer to literals. We get around that in this module by assuming
everything could be refering to a query param, and if one is not found, then it's a literal. This works
well unless you have query params with names like '01/02/2005' or '%m/%d/%Y'.
And if you do, shame on you for having such horrible names.
SEE ALSO
Data::FormValidator, DateTime. DateTime::Format::Strptime, DateTime::Format::MySQL, DateTime::Format::Pg
COPYRIGHT & LICENSE
Copyright Michael Peters 2010, all rights reserved.
This library is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify it under the same terms as Perl
itself.