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eval

eval

Type: string (list of keywords)
Path: $GLOBALS['TCA'][$table]['columns'][$field]['config']
Scope: Display / Proc.
RenderTypes: default, colorpicker, inputLink

Configuration of field evaluation.

Some of these evaluation keywords will trigger a JavaScript pre- evaluation in the form. Other evaluations will be performed in the backend. The evaluation functions will be executed in the list-order. Keywords:

alpha

Allows only a-zA-Z characters.

alphanum

Same as "alpha" but allows also "0-9"

alphanum_x

Same as "alphanum" but allows also "_" and "-" chars.

domainname

Allows a domain name such as example.org and automatically transforms the value to punicode if needed.

double2: Converts the input to a floating point with 2 decimal positions, using the "." (period) as the decimal delimited (accepts also "," for the same).
email: This type adds a server-side validation of an email address. If the input does not contain a valid email address, a flash message warning will be displayed.
int: Evaluates the input to an integer.
is_in: Will filter out any character in the input string which is not found in the string entered in the property is_in.
lower: Converts the string to lowercase (only A-Z plus a selected set of Western European special chars).
md5: Will convert the input value to its md5-hash using a JavaScript function.
nospace: Removes all occurrences of space characters (chr(32))
null: An empty value (string) will be stored as NULL in the database, requires a proper sql definition.
num: Allows only 0-9 characters in the field.
password: Will show "*******" in the field after entering the value and moving to another field. Thus passwords can be protected from display in the field.

Note

The value is visible while it is being entered!
required: A non-empty value is required in the field (otherwise the form cannot be saved).
saltedPassword: The value will be hashed using the password hash configuration for BE for all tables except fe_user, where the password hash configuration for FE is used. Note this eval is typically only used core internally for tables be_users and fe_users on the password field.
trim: The value in the field will have white spaces around it trimmed away.
unique: Requires the field to be unique for the whole table. Evaluated on the server only.

Note

When selecting on unique-fields, make sure to select using AND pid>=0 since the field can contain duplicate values in other versions of records (always having PID = -1). This also means that if you are using versioning on a table where the unique-feature is used you cannot set the field to be truly unique in the database either!
uniqueInPid: Requires the field to be unique for the current PID among other records on the same page. Evaluated on the server only.
upper: Converts to uppercase (only A-Z plus a selected set of Western European special chars).
year: Evaluates the input to a year between 1970 and 2038. If you need any year, then use "int" evaluation instead.
Vendor\Extension\*: User defined form evaluations.

Examples

Trim white space

Trimming the value for white space before storing in the database:

'aField' => [
    'label' => 'aLabel',
    'config' => [
        'type' => 'input',
        'eval' => 'trim',
    ],
],

Combine eval rules

By this configuration the field will be stripped for any space characters, converted to lowercase, only accepted if filled in and on the server the value is required to be unique for all records from this table:

'eval' => 'nospace,lower,unique'

Custom eval rules

You can supply own form evaluations in an extension by creating a class with three functions, one which returns the JavaScript code for client side validation called returnFieldJS() and two for the server side: deevaluateFieldValue() called when opening the record and evaluateFieldValue() called for validation when saving the record:

EXT:extension/Classes/Evaluation/ExampleEvaluation.php

namespace Vendor\Extension\Evaluation;

/**
 * Class for field value validation/evaluation to be used in 'eval' of TCA
 */
class ExampleEvaluation
{

    /**
     * JavaScript code for client side validation/evaluation
     *
     * @return string JavaScript code for client side validation/evaluation
     */
    public function returnFieldJS()
    {
        return 'return value + " [added by JavaScript on field blur]";';
    }

    /**
     * Server-side validation/evaluation on saving the record
     *
     * @param string $value The field value to be evaluated
     * @param string $is_in The "is_in" value of the field configuration from TCA
     * @param bool $set Boolean defining if the value is written to the database or not.
     * @return string Evaluated field value
     */
    public function evaluateFieldValue($value, $is_in, &$set)
    {
        return $value . ' [added by PHP on saving the record]';
    }

    /**
     * Server-side validation/evaluation on opening the record
     *
     * @param array $parameters Array with key 'value' containing the field value from the database
     * @return string Evaluated field value
     */
    public function deevaluateFieldValue(array $parameters)
    {
        return $parameters['value'] . ' [added by PHP on opening the record]';
    }
}

EXT:extension/ext_localconf.php

// Register the class to be available in 'eval' of TCA
$GLOBALS['TYPO3_CONF_VARS']['SC_OPTIONS']['tce']['formevals'][\Vendor\Extension\Evaluation\ExampleEvaluation::class] = '';

EXT:extension/Configuration/TCA/tx_example_record.php

'columns' => [
   'example_field' => [
      'config' => [
         'type' => 'text',
         'eval' => 'trim,required,' . \Vendor\Extension\Evaluation\ExampleEvaluation::class
      ],
   ],
],