Symfony2 - Validation not working for embedded Form Type

Question

I have a form that combines two entities (User and Profile).

Validation seems to work on the first part of the form that comes form the User Entity and is the basis of the form.

The ProfileType is included inside the UserType. The form renders correctly and displays the correct information, so it seems it is properly connected to the Profile entity. It's just the validation that is broken on the ProfileType.

Any idea as to why one part would validate and the other wouldn't?

Code below:

Validation.yml

DEMO\DemoBundle\Entity\User\Profile:
    properties:
        address1:
            - NotBlank: { groups: [profile] }
        name:
            - NotBlank: { groups: [profile] }
        companyName:
            - NotBlank: { groups: [profile] }

DEMO\DemoBundle\Entity\User\User:
    properties:
        username:
            - NotBlank:
                groups: profile
                message: Username cannot be left blank.
        email:
            - NotBlank:
                groups: profile
                message: Email cannot be left blank
            - Email:
                groups: profile
                message: The email "{{ value }}" is not a valid email.
                checkMX: true
        password:
            - MaxLength: { limit: 20, message: "Your password must not exceed {{ limit }} characters." }
            - MinLength: { limit: 4, message: "Your password must have at least {{ limit }} characters." }
            - NotBlank: ~

UserType.php

namespace DEMO\DemoBundle\Form\Type\User;

use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\CallbackValidator;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilder;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormError;

use DEMO\DemoBundle\Form\Type\User\ProfileType;

class UserType extends AbstractType
{
    public function buildForm(FormBuilder $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder->add('username');
        $builder->add('email');
        $builder->add('profile', new ProfileType());
    }

    public function getDefaultOptions(array $options)
    {
        return array(
            'data_class' => 'DEMO\DemoBundle\Entity\User\User',
            'validation_groups' => array('profile')
        );
    }

    public function getName()
    {
        return 'user';
    }
}

ProfileType.php

namespace DEMO\DemoBundle\Form\Type\User;

use Symfony\Component\Form\AbstractType;
use Symfony\Component\Form\CallbackValidator;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormBuilder;
use Symfony\Component\Form\FormError;

class ProfileType extends AbstractType
{
    public function buildForm(FormBuilder $builder, array $options)
    {
        $builder->add('name');
        $builder->add('companyName', null, array('label' => 'Company Name'));
        $builder->add('address1', null, array('label' => 'Address 1'));
        $builder->add('address2', null, array('label' => 'Address 2'));
        $builder->add('city');
        $builder->add('county');
        $builder->add('postcode');
        $builder->add('telephone');
    }

    public function getDefaultOptions(array $options)
    {
        return array(
            'data_class' => 'DEMO\DemoBundle\Entity\User\Profile',
        );
    }

    public function getName()
    {
        return 'profile';
    }
}

Controller

$user = $this->get('security.context')->getToken()->getUser();

        $form = $this->createForm(new UserType(), $user);

        if ($request->getMethod() == 'POST') {
            $form->bindRequest($request);

            if ($form->isValid()) {
                // Get $_POST data and submit to DB
                $em = $this->getDoctrine()->getEntityManager();
                $em->persist($user);
                $em->flush();

                // Set "success" flash notification
                $this->get('session')->setFlash('success', 'Profile saved.');
            }

        }

        return $this->render('DEMODemoBundle:User\Dashboard:profile.html.twig', array('form' => $form->createView()));

Answer 1

I spent an age searching and found that it was adding 'cascade_validation' => true to the setDefaults() array in my parent type's class that fixed it (as mentioned already in the thread). This causes the entity constraint validation to trigger in the child types shown in the form. e.g.

public function setDefaultOptions(OptionsResolverInterface $resolver)
{
    $resolver->setDefaults(array(            
        ...
        'cascade_validation' => true,
    ));
}

For collections, also make sure to add 'cascade_validation' => true to the $options array for the collection field on the form. e.g.

$builder->add('children', 'collection', array(
    'type'         => new ChildType(),
    'cascade_validation' => true,
));

This will have the UniqueEntity validation take place as it should in the child entity used in the collection.

Answer 2

A note to those using Symfony 3.0 and up: the cascade_validation option has been removed. Instead, use the following for embedded forms:

$builder->add('embedded_data', CustomFormType::class, array(
    'constraints' => array(new Valid()),
));

Sorry for adding to this old thread with a slightly off-topic answer (Symfony 3 vs. 2), but finding this information here would have saved me a few hours today.