Laravel - Validation - Complex Conditional Validation

Sometimes you may wish to add validation rules based on more complex conditional logic. For example, you may wish to require a given field only if another field has a greater value than 100. Or, you may need two fields to have a given value only when another field is present. Adding these validation rules doesn't have to be a pain. First, create a Validator instance with your static rules that never change:

    
    use Illuminate\Support\Facades\Validator;
    
    $validator = Validator::make($request->all(), [
        'email' => 'required|email',
        'games' => 'required|numeric',
    ]);
	

Let's assume our web application is for game collectors. If a game collector registers with our application and they own more than 100 games, we want them to explain why they own so many games. For example, perhaps they run a game resale shop, or maybe they just enjoy collecting games. To conditionally add this requirement, we can use the sometimes method on the Validator instance.

    
    $validator->sometimes('reason', 'required|max:500', function ($input) {
        return $input->games >= 100;
    });
	

The first argument passed to the sometimes method is the name of the field we are conditionally validating. The second argument is a list of the rules we want to add. If the closure passed as the third argument returns true, the rules will be added. This method makes it a breeze to build complex conditional validations. You may even add conditional validations for several fields at once:

    
    $validator->sometimes(['reason', 'cost'], 'required', function ($input) {
        return $input->games >= 100;
    });
	

The $input parameter passed to your closure will be an instance of Illuminate\Support\Fluent and may be used to access your input and files under validation.