PHPackages ianaleck/guard - PHPackages - PHPackages [Skip to content](#main-content)[PHPackages](/)[Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Leaderboard](/leaderboard)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)[Collections](/collections)[Log in](/login)[Sign up](/register) 1. [Directory](/) 2. / 3. [Validation & Sanitization](/categories/validation) 4. / 5. ianaleck/guard ActiveLibrary[Validation & Sanitization](/categories/validation) ianaleck/guard ============== Guard is an easy to use, highly customisable PHP validator. 1.0.1(5y ago)139MITPHPPHP >=5.4 Since Nov 18Pushed 5y ago1 watchersCompare [ Source](https://github.com/ianaleck/guard)[ Packagist](https://packagist.org/packages/ianaleck/guard)[ Docs](https://github.com/ianaleck/guard)[ RSS](/packages/ianaleck-guard/feed)WikiDiscussions master Synced today READMEChangelog (1)Dependencies (2)Versions (3)Used By (0) guard ===== [](#guard) Guard is an easy to use, highly customisable PHP validator. Installing ---------- [](#installing) Install using Composer. ``` { "require": { "ianaleck/guard": "1.*" } } ``` composer require ianaleck/guard Basic usage ----------- [](#basic-usage) ``` use VGuard\VGuard; $v = new VGuard; $v->validate([ 'name' => ['john', 'required'], 'age' => [20, 'required|int'] ]); if($v->passes()) { echo 'Validation passed, woopie!'; } else { echo '', var_dump($v->errors()->all()), ''; } ``` Adding custom rules ------------------- [](#adding-custom-rules) Adding custom rules is simple. If the closure returns false, the rule fails. ``` $v->addRuleMessage('isbanana', 'The {field} field expects "mango", found "{value}" instead.'); $v->addRule('isbanana', function($value, $input, $args) { return $value === 'banana'; }); $v->validate([ 'fruit' => ['apple', 'isbanana'] ]); ``` Adding custom error messages ---------------------------- [](#adding-custom-error-messages) You can add rule messages, or field messages for total flexibility. ### Adding a rule message [](#adding-a-rule-message) ``` $v->addRuleMessage('required', 'You better fill in the {field} field, or else.'); ``` ### Adding rule messages in bulk [](#adding-rule-messages-in-bulk) ``` $v->addRuleMessages([ 'required' => 'You better fill in the {field} field, or else.', 'int' => 'The {field} needs to be an integer, but I found {value}.', ]); ``` ### Adding a field message [](#adding-a-field-message) Any field messages you add are used before any default or custom rule messages. ``` $v->addFieldMessage('username', 'required', 'You need to enter a username to sign up.'); ``` ### Adding field messages in bulk [](#adding-field-messages-in-bulk) ``` $v->addFieldMessages([ 'username' => [ 'required' => 'You need to enter a username to sign up.' ], 'age' => [ 'required' => 'I need your age.', 'int' => 'Your age needs to be an integer.', ] ]); ``` ### Using Field Aliases [](#using-field-aliases) Field Aliases helps you format any error messages without showing weird form names or the need to create a custom error. ``` $v->validate([ 'username_box|Username' => ['' => 'required'] ]); // Error output: "Username is required." ``` ### Extending Guard [](#extending-guard) You can extend the Guard class to add custom rules, rule messages and field messages. This way, you can keep a tidy class to handle custom validation if you have any dependencies, like a database connection or language files. ``` class MyValidator extends VGuard { protected $db; public function __construct(PDO $db) { $this->db = $db; // Add rule message for custom rule method. $this->addRuleMessage('uniqueUsername', 'That username is taken.'); } // Custom rule method for checking a unique username in our database. // Just prepend custom rules with validate_ public function validate_uniqueUsername($value, $input, $args) { $user = $this->db->prepare(" SELECT count(*) as count FROM users WHERE username = :username "); $user->execute(['username' => $value]); if($user->fetchObject()->count) { return false; // Username exists, so return false. } return true; } } // A database connection. $db = new PDO('mysql:host=127.0.0.1;dbname=website', 'root', 'root'); // Instantiate your custom class with dependencies. $v = new MyValidator($db); $v->validate([ 'username' => ['john', 'required|uniqueUsername'] ]); ``` Rules ----- [](#rules) This list of rules are **in progress**. Of course, you can always contribute to the project if you'd like to add more to the base ruleset. #### alnum [](#alnum) If the value is alphanumeric. #### alnumDash [](#alnumdash) If the value is alphanumeric. Dashes and underscores are permitted. #### alpha [](#alpha) If the value is alphabetic letters only. #### alphaDash [](#alphadash) If the value is alphabetic letters only. Dashes and underscores are permitted. #### array [](#array) If the value is an array. #### between(int, int) [](#betweenint-int) Checks if the value is within the intervals defined. This check is inclusive, so 5 is between 5 and 10. #### bool [](#bool) If the value is a boolean. #### email [](#email) If the value is a valid email. #### int [](#int) If the value is an integer, including numbers within strings. 1 and '1' are both classed as integers. #### number [](#number) If the value is a number, including numbers within strings. > Numeric strings consist of optional sign, any number of digits, optional decimal part and optional exponential part. Thus +0123.45e6 is a valid numeric value. Hexadecimal (e.g. 0xf4c3b00c), Binary (e.g. 0b10100111001), Octal (e.g. 0777) notation is allowed too but only without sign, decimal and exponential part. #### ip [](#ip) If the value is a valid IP address. #### min(int, \[number\]) [](#minint-number) Check if string length is greater than or equal to given `int`. To check the size of a number, pass the optional `number` option. ``` $v->validate([ 'username' => ['john', 'required|min(3)|max(20)'], 'age' => ['20', 'required|min(18, number)|max(100, number)'] ]); ``` #### max(int, \[number\]) [](#maxint-number) Check if string length is less than or equal to given `int`. To check the size of a number, pass the optional `number` option. #### required [](#required) If the value is present. #### url [](#url) If the value is formatted as a valid URL. #### matches(field) [](#matchesfield) Checks if one given input matches the other. For example, checking if *password* matches *password\_confirm*. #### date [](#date) If the given input is a valid date. You can validate human readable dates like '25th October 1961' and instances of `DateTime`. For example: ``` $twoDaysAgo = new DateTime('2 days ago'); $date = $twoDaysAgo->format('d M Y'); $v->validate([ 'date' => [$date, 'required|date'] ]); ``` #### checked [](#checked) If a field has been 'checked' or not, meaning it contains one of the following values: *'yes'*, *'on'*, *'1'*, *1*, *true*, or *'true'*. This can be used for determining if an HTML checkbox has been checked. #### regex(expression) [](#regexexpression) If the given input has a match for the regular expression given. Contributing ------------ [](#contributing) Please file issues under GitHub, or submit a pull request if you'd like to directly contribute. ### Running tests [](#running-tests) Tests are run with phpunit. Run `./vendor/bin/phpunit` to run tests. **Note: This package is under heavy development and is not recommended for production.** ### Health Score 24 — LowBetter than 31% of packages Maintenance20 Infrequent updates — may be unmaintained Popularity10 Limited adoption so far Community4 Small or concentrated contributor base Maturity50 Maturing project, gaining track record How is this calculated?**Maintenance (25%)** — Last commit recency, latest release date, and issue-to-star ratio. Uses a 2-year decay window. **Popularity (30%)** — Total and monthly downloads, GitHub stars, and forks. Logarithmic scaling prevents top-heavy scores. **Community (15%)** — Contributors, dependents, forks, watchers, and maintainers. Measures real ecosystem engagement. **Maturity (30%)** — Project age, version count, PHP version support, and release stability. ### Release Activity Cadence Every ~0 days Total 2 Last Release 2052d ago ### Community Maintainers ![](https://avatars.githubusercontent.com/u/63958975?v=4)[Ian Manda](/maintainers/ianaleck)[@ianaleck](https://github.com/ianaleck) --- Tags validatevalidate-phpvalidationvalidatorvalidationvalidate ### Code Quality TestsPHPUnit Code StylePHP\_CodeSniffer ### Embed Badge ![Health badge](/badges/ianaleck-guard/health.svg) ``` [![Health](https://phpackages.com/badges/ianaleck-guard/health.svg)](https://phpackages.com/packages/ianaleck-guard) ``` ### Alternatives [wixel/gump A fast, extensible & stand-alone PHP input validation class that allows you to validate any data. 1.2k1.4M31](/packages/wixel-gump)[inhere/php-validate generic data validate, filter library of the php 26089.0k13](/packages/inhere-php-validate)[sadegh19b/laravel-persian-validation A comprehensive Laravel validation package for Persian text, numbers, dates, and Iranian national identifiers 18598.1k1](/packages/sadegh19b-laravel-persian-validation)[awurth/slim-validation A wrapper around the respect/validation PHP validation library for easier error handling and display 65399.7k9](/packages/awurth-slim-validation)[bartosz-maciaszek/validation Validation library for PHP 5.6+ / HHVM inspired by Joi. 3223.8k](/packages/bartosz-maciaszek-validation)[czim/laravel-dataobject Basic validatable standardized data object. 11142.9k7](/packages/czim-laravel-dataobject) PHPackages © 2026 [Directory](/)[Categories](/categories)[Trending](/trending)[Changelog](/changelog)[Analyze](/analyze)