Show validation errors on custom elements added using hooks

Question

I added a text element to a New Event page using buildForm hook.

function mymodule_civicrm_buildForm($formName, &$form) {
 if ('CRM_Event_Form_ManageEvent_EventInfo' == $formName) {
    $form->add('text', 'custom_element', ts('Custom Element Label));
    CRM_Core_Region::instance('page-body')->add(array(
     'template' => 'CustomElement.tpl',
    ));
  }
}

And I added a validation code using validateForm hook which looks like this:

function mymodule_civicrm_validateForm($formName, &$fields, &$files, &$form, &$errors) {
  if ('CRM_Event_Form_ManageEvent_EventInfo' == $formName) {
    if ( validation condition fails )
      $form->_errors['custom_element'] = 'Validation message';
    }
  }
}

But when validation fails, let alone error, the text element is not shown at all. How do I get it to show both the element and the error on the element?

Answer 1

It should be something like below

function mymodule_civicrm_validateForm($formName, &$fields, &$files, &$form, &$errors) {
  if ('CRM_Event_Form_ManageEvent_EventInfo' == $formName) {
    if ( validation condition fails )
      $errors['custom_element'] = ts('Validation message');
    }
  }
}

HTH

Answer 2

Did you know that in your buildform hook - you can add a $form->addRule:

two real-life examples:

$form->addRule('bank_account_number', ts('%1 must contain only digits.', array(1 => ts('Bank Account Number'))), 'numeric');
$form->addRule('encrypted_credit_card_number', ts('%1 is a required field.', array(1 => ts('Encrypted'))), 'required');