Codeigniter -> Select Menu Form Validation - codeigniter

Question

I have come to writing my controller code after doing the view:
A few questions regarding the Select Menus:
How do I validate the select menu - I do not want them to be able to select “Please Select”
Can I still use $this->form_validation->set_rules('','','required');
How do I send the correct answer into the controller?
<label for="hostingRequired">Hosting Required:</label>
<select name="hostingRequired">
<option value="pleaseSelect"> Please Select</option>
<option value="yes">Yes</option>
<option value="no">No</option>
</select>
<label for="domainRequired">Domain Registration: </label>
<select name="domainRequired">
<option value="pleaseSelect">Please Select</option>
<option value="yes">Yes</option>
<option value="no">No</option>
</select>
<div id="domainToBeReged">
<label for="domainToBeReged">Domain:</label><input name="domainToBeReged" type="text" placeholder="http://www." />
<label for="domainToBeReged0">Domain:</label><input name="domainToBeReged0" type="text" placeholder="http://www." />
</div>

Answer 1

You could do the following
then use the following validation rule
$this->form_validation->set_rules('','','required|callback_is_default');
function is_default($array)
{
foreach($array as $element)
{
if($element == 'pleaseSelect')
{
return FALSE;
}
}
return TRUE;
}

Answer 2

If you didnt find validation rule that you want, extend Validation library and write your own rule. Look example how to do this.

Answer 3

In your validation rules add:
$this->form_validation->set_rules('hostingRequired','Hosting Required','required|callback__check_select_yes_or_no');
$this->form_validation->set_rules('domainRequired','Domain registration','required|callback__check_select_yes_or_no');
Also, add this additional method to your controller as a validation rule callback:
function _check_select_yes_or_no($str)
{
if ($str != 'yes' && $str != 'no')
{
$this->form_validation->set_message('_check_select_yes_or_no', 'Please select yes or no for the %s field');
return FALSE;
}
else
{
return TRUE;
}
}
This will work for 'Yes' or 'No' options - if you would like to add more adjust the callback, or invert the check to fail if the user selects 'Please select'.
Alternatively, a better way to do this may be to use radio buttons for 'Yes' and 'No' and not have one 'checked' when the form loads.
<fieldset><legend> Hosting required:</legend>
<label><input type="radio" name="hostingRequired" value="yes">Yes</label><br />
<label><input type="radio" name="hostingRequired" value="no">No</label>
</fieldset>

Answer 4

The correct way of doin this is as follows:
first you set the value of the default option to empty
second you use a simple validation rule
So here goes the code
<label for="hostingRequired">Hosting Required:</label>
<select name="hostingRequired">
<option value=""> Please Select</option>
<option value="yes">Yes</option>
<option value="no">No</option>
</select>
<label for="domainRequired">Domain Registration: </label>
<select name="domainRequired">
<option value="">Please Select</option>
<option value="yes">Yes</option>
<option value="no">No</option>
</select>
<div id="domainToBeReged">
<label for="domainToBeReged">Domain:</label><input name="domainToBeReged" type="text" placeholder="http://www." />
<label for="domainToBeReged0">Domain:</label><input name="domainToBeReged0" type="text" placeholder="http://www." />
</div>
.
$this->form_validation->set_rules('hostingRequired','HostingRequired','required');
$this->form_validation->set_rules('domainRequired','DomainRequired','required');