Laravel 5 Validation - Return as json / ajax

Question

I am trying to post the values into validation and return the response as json rather than return view as given in the documentation.

    $validator = Validator::make($request->all(), [
        'about' => 'min:1'
    ]);

    if ($validator->fails()) {
        return response()->json(['errors' => ?, 'status' => 400], 200);
    } 

The post is made by ajax so I need to receive the response in the ajax as well.

I figured out that in order to prevent refresh of the page in the returning response, I have to give it a status code of 200 outside the array. But I couldn't figure out what to give the 'errors' part. What should I write in there?

Answer 1

You can use $validator->messages() that returns an array which contains all the information about the validator, including errors. The json function takes the array and encodes it as a json string.

if ($validator->fails()) {    
    return response()->json($validator->messages(), Response::HTTP_BAD_REQUEST);
}

Note: In case of validation errors, It's better not to return response code 200. You can use other status codes like 400 or Response::HTTP_BAD_REQUEST

Answer 2

You can also tell Laravel you want a JSON response. Add this header to your request:

'Accept: application/json'

And Laravel will return a JSON response.

Answer 3

In Laravel 5.4 the validate() method can automatically detect if your request is an AJAX request, and send the validator response accordingly.

See the documentation here

If validation fails, a redirect response will be generated to send the user back to their previous location. The errors will also be flashed to the session so they are available for display. If the request was an AJAX request, a HTTP response with a 422 status code will be returned to the user including a JSON representation of the validation errors.

So you could simply do the following:

Validator::make($request->all(), [
    'about' => 'min:1'
])->validate();