[FIXED] Why don't I get any validation errors in this invalid Laravel 8 form?

Issue

I am making a blogging application with Laravel 8 and Bootstrap 5.

I run into a problem trying to validate my Add article form. It fails to validate, meaning that no error messages appear, even if the required form data is not filled.

In the ArticleController controller, I have:

namespace App\Http\Controllers\Dashboard;
use Illuminate\Support\Str;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Validator;
use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Auth;
use App\Http\Controllers\Controller;
use App\Models\ArticleCategory;
use App\Models\Article;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class ArticleController extends Controller
{
    
    private $rules = [
        'category_id' => 'required|exists:categories,id',
        'title' => 'required|string',
        'short_description' => 'required|string',
        'content' => 'required|longText'
    ];

    private $messages = [
        'category_id.required' => 'Please pick a category for the article',
        'title.required' => 'Please provide a title for the article',
        'short_description.required' => 'The article needs a short description',
        'content.required' => 'Please add content'
    ];
    
    public function categories() {
        return ArticleCategory::all();
    }

    public function add(Request $request) {
        // Pass the categories to the articles form
        return view('dashboard/add-article',
            ['categories' => $this->categories()]
        );

    // Validate form (with custom messages)
    $validator = Validator::make($request->all(), $this->rules, $this->messages);

    if ($validator->fails()) {
        return redirect()->back()->withErrors($validator->errors());
    }

    $fields = $validator->validated();

    // Data to be added
    $form_data = [
        'user_id' => Auth::user()->id,
        'category_id' => $fields['category_id'],
        'title' => $fields['title'],
        'slug' => Str::slug($fields['title'], '-'),
        'short_description' => $fields['short_description'],
        'content' => $fields['content'],
        'image' => $fields['image'],
        'featured' => $fields['featured']
    ];

    // Insert data in the 'articles' table
    $query = Article::create($form_data);

        if ($query) {
            return redirect()->route('dashboard.articles')->with('success', 'Article added');
        } else {
            return redirect()->route('dashboard.articles')->with('error', 'Adding article failed');
        }

    }

}

The form:

<form method="POST" action="{{ route('dashboard.articles.add') }}">
    @csrf
    <div class="row mb-2">
            <label for="title" class="col-md-12">{{ __('Title') }}</label>

            <div class="col-md-12 @error('title') has-error @enderror">
                    <input id="title" type="text" placeholder="Title" class="form-control @error('title') is-invalid @enderror" name="title" value="{{ old('title') }}" autocomplete="title" autofocus>

                    @error('title')
                            <span class="invalid-feedback" role="alert">
                                    <strong>{{ $message }}</strong>
                            </span>
                    @enderror
            </div>
    </div>

    <div class="row mb-2">
            <label for="short_description" class="col-md-12">{{ __('Short description') }}</label>

            <div class="col-md-12 @error('short_description') has-error @enderror">
                    <input id="short_description" type="text" placeholder="Short description" class="form-control @error('short_description') is-invalid @enderror" name="short_description" value="{{ old('short_description') }}" autocomplete="short_description" autofocus>

                    @error('short_description')
                            <span class="invalid-feedback" role="alert">
                                    <strong>{{ $message }}</strong>
                            </span>
                    @enderror
            </div>
    </div>

    <div class="row mb-2">
        <label for="category" class="col-md-12">{{ __('Category') }}</label>
    
        <div class="col-md-12 @error('category_id') has-error @enderror">
    
            <select name="category_id" id="category" class="form-control @error('category_id') is-invalid @enderror">
                <option value="0">Pick a category</option>
                @foreach($categories as $category)
                    <option value="{{ $category->id }}">{{ $category->name }}</option>
                @endforeach
            </select>
                
    
                @error('category_id')
                        <span class="invalid-feedback" role="alert">
                                <strong>{{ $message }}</strong>
                        </span>
                @enderror
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="row mb-2">
        <div class="col-md-12 d-flex align-items-center switch-toggle">
                <p class="mb-0 me-3">Featured article?</p>
                <input class="mt-1" type="checkbox" name="featured" id="featured">
                <label class="px-1" for="featured">{{ __('Toggle') }}</label>
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="row mb-2">
        <label for="image" class="col-md-12">{{ __('Article image') }}</label>
    
        <div class="col-md-12 @error('image') has-error @enderror">
            <input type="file" name="image" id="file" value="{{ old('image') }}" class="file-upload-btn">
    
            @error('image')
                <span class="invalid-feedback" role="alert">
                    <strong>{{ $message }}</strong>
                </span>
            @enderror
        </div>
    </div>

    <div class="row mb-2">
        <label for="content" class="col-md-12">{{ __('Content') }}</label>

        <div class="col-md-12 @error('content') has-error @enderror">

            <textarea name="content" id="content" class="form-control @error('content') is-invalid @enderror" placeholder="Content" cols="30" rows="6">{{ old('content') }}</textarea>

            @error('content')
                    <span class="invalid-feedback" role="alert">
                            <strong>{{ $message }}</strong>
                    </span>
            @enderror
        </div>
    </div>
    
    <div class="row mb-0">
            <div class="col-md-12">
                    <button type="submit" class="w-100 btn btn-primary">
                            {{ __('Save') }}
                    </button>
            </div>
    </div>
</form>

The routes:

// Article routes
Route::group(['prefix' => 'articles'], function() {
  Route::get('/', [ArticleController::class, 'index'])->name('dashboard.articles');
  Route::match(['get', 'post'],'/add', [ArticleController::class, 'add'])->name('dashboard.articles.add');
  Route::get('/delete/{id}', [ArticleController::class, 'delete'])->name('dashboard.articles.delete');
});

Why does my form fail to validate?

Solution

Your public function add() starts with a return statement.

The rest of the code is irrelevant since you return from the function at this point.

Answered By - Snapey

Answer Checked By - Willingham (PHPFixing Volunteer)