added recursion to validation, made structural validation a public method

Author: eceltov

app/V1Module/presenters/base/BasePresenter.php

@@ -217,20 +217,24 @@ private function processParams(ReflectionMethod $reflection)
             return;
         }
 
+        ///TODO: handle nested MetaFormat creation
         $fieldNames = FormatCache::getFormatFieldNames($format);
         $formatInstance = MetaFormatHelper::createFormatInstance($format);
         foreach ($fieldNames as $field) {
             ///TODO: check if required
             $value = $this->getPostField($field, false);
-            $this->logger->log(var_export([$field, $value], true), ILogger::DEBUG);
             if (!$formatInstance->checkedAssign($field, $value)) {
                 ///TODO: it would be nice to give a more detailed error message here
                 throw new InvalidArgumentException($field);
             }
         }
 
+        // validate structural constraints
+        if (!$formatInstance->validateStructure()) {
+            throw new BadRequestException("All request fields are valid but additional structural constraints failed.");
+        }
+
         $this->requestFormatInstance = $formatInstance;
-        $this->logger->log(var_export($formatInstance, true), ILogger::DEBUG);
 
         // $this->logger->log(var_export($annotations, true), ILogger::DEBUG);
         // $this->logger->log(var_export($requiredFields, true), ILogger::DEBUG);

app/helpers/MetaFormats/MetaFormat.php

@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ public function checkedAssign(string $fieldName, mixed $value)
     public function validate()
     {
         // check whether all higher level contracts hold
-        if (!$this->validateSelf()) {
+        if (!$this->validateStructure()) {
             return false;
         }
 
@@ -60,19 +60,23 @@ public function validate()
             if (!$this->checkIfAssignable($fieldName, $this->$fieldName)) {
                 return false;
             }
+
+            // check nested formats recursively
+            if ($this->$fieldName instanceof MetaFormat && !$this->$fieldName->validate()) {
+                return false;
+            }
         }
 
         return true;
     }
 
     /**
-     * Validates this format. Automatically called by the validate method on all fields.
-     * Primitive formats should always override this, composite formats might want to override
-     * this in case more complex contracts need to be enforced.
+     * Validates this format. Automatically called by the validate method on all suitable fields.
+     * Formats might want to override this in case more complex contracts need to be enforced.
      * This method should not check the format of nested types.
      * @return bool Returns whether the format is valid.
      */
-    protected function validateSelf()
+    public function validateStructure()
     {
         // there are no constraints by default
         return true;