Fully custom validation error message with Rails

Matheus Mello
Matheus Mello
September 2, 2023
Cover Image for Fully custom validation error message with Rails

Fully Custom Validation Error Message with Rails

πŸ“’ Hey there! Are you facing difficulty in getting a user-friendly error message for your Rails application? Don't worry, I've got your back! In this blog post, I'm going to show you how to fully customize validation error messages in Rails and make them more user-friendly. Let's dive in! πŸš€

πŸ” Understanding the Problem

So here's the situation. You have a Rails application and you want to display a customized error message when saving a record. You've tried using the validates_presence_of method with a custom error message like this:

validates_presence_of :song_rep_xyz, :message => "can't be empty"

However, you noticed that the generated error message displays the attribute name exactly as it is defined in your code, which may not be the most user-friendly version. πŸ˜•

πŸ€” The Challenge

You desire to change the title of the field displayed in the error message, without compromising the actual attribute name defined in the database. And the good news is, there is a way to fix this without hacking around Rails' validation process! πŸ’ͺ

πŸ”§ The Solution

To achieve full customization of validation error messages, you can make use of the :message option and combine it with the :inclusion validation. Let me show you how it works step by step:

  1. Open the model file where you have defined the validations, such as app/models/song.rb.

  2. Instead of using validates_presence_of, let's use the validates method and the :inclusion validation. Update your code like this:

    validates :song_rep_xyz, presence: true, inclusion: { in: [nil], message: "The song field can't be empty" }

    Here, we are specifying that the song_rep_xyz field must be included in the array [nil], which means it can't have a value other than nil. If it does have a value, the custom error message will be displayed.

  3. Now, if you try to save a record without providing a value for song_rep_xyz, you will see the desired error message: "The song field can't be empty" πŸŽ‰

By using the :inclusion validation and specifying an array with a single nil value, we are essentially forcing the field to always be empty. And we can display any error message we want!

🌟 Take it a Step Further

If you have multiple "song" fields and each one requires a unique error message, you can apply the same technique to all of them. Just repeat the process for each field, adjusting the attribute name and error message accordingly. 🎡

πŸ“£ Join the Conversation

I hope this guide helped you customize your validation error messages in Rails! Now it's your turn to take action and implement this solution in your own app. Let me know in the comments below if you faced any challenges or if you have any additional tips to share. I'd love to hear from you! πŸ’¬

Remember, don't get frustrated with seemingly difficult problems – there's always a way to fix them, even if it requires a bit of creativity. Stay curious, keep learning, and happy coding! πŸŽΆπŸ’»

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