Request Class

The Request class is the base class for all request DTOs. Extend it to define your request structures.

Usage

use Solo\RequestHandler\Attributes\Field;
use Solo\RequestHandler\Request;

final class CreateUserRequest extends Request
{
    #[Field(rules: 'required|string|max:255')]
    public string $name;

    #[Field(rules: 'required|email')]
    public string $email;

    #[Field(rules: 'nullable|string')]
    public ?string $bio = null;
}

---

Methods

toArray()

Convert all initialized properties to an array. Excludes fields with exclude: true.

public function toArray(): array

Returns: Associative array of property names to values.

Example:

$dto->name = 'John';
$dto->email = 'john@example.com';

$data = $dto->toArray();
// ['name' => 'John', 'email' => 'john@example.com']

Uninitialized Properties

Properties that were not in the request (and have no default value) are not included in the result.

---

has()

Check if a property is initialized (was present in the request or has a default value).

public function has(string $name): bool

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
$name	string	Property name to check

Returns: true if property is initialized, false otherwise.

Example:

if ($dto->has('bio')) {
    echo $dto->bio;
}

---

get()

Get property value with optional default for uninitialized properties.

public function get(string $name, mixed $default = null): mixed

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
$name	string	Property name
$default	mixed	Default value if not initialized

Returns: Property value or default.

Example:

$bio = $dto->get('bio', 'No bio provided');

---

group()

Get all fields belonging to a specific group as a flat array.

public function group(string $groupName): array

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
$groupName	string	Name of the group to extract

Returns: Flat array of grouped field values.

Behavior:

• Array properties: contents are merged into result
• Scalar properties: added by property name
• Throws LogicException on duplicate keys

Example:

final class SearchRequest extends Request
{
    #[Field(group: 'filters')]
    public array $search = [];

    #[Field(group: 'filters')]
    public ?string $status = null;

    #[Field(group: 'pagination')]
    public int $page = 1;
}

$filters = $dto->group('filters');
// ['name' => 'test', 'status' => 'active']

$pagination = $dto->group('pagination');
// ['page' => 1]

See Field Grouping for details.

---

getMessages()

Get custom validation error messages defined in the request class.

public function getMessages(): array

Returns: Associative array of message overrides.

Example:

final class RegisterRequest extends Request
{
    #[Field(rules: 'required|email')]
    public string $email;

    protected function messages(): array
    {
        return [
            'email.required' => 'Please enter your email',
            'email.email' => 'Invalid email format',
        ];
    }
}

$dto->getMessages();
// ['email.required' => 'Please enter your email', ...]

---

clearGroupCache()

Clear the static group cache. Useful for long-running processes.

public static function clearGroupCache(?string $className = null): void

Parameters:

Name	Type	Description
$className	?string	Clear specific class cache, or all if null

Example:

// Clear all cache
Request::clearGroupCache();

// Clear specific class
Request::clearGroupCache(SearchRequest::class);

---

Protected Methods

messages()

Override this method to provide custom validation error messages.

protected function messages(): array

Returns: Array mapping field.rule to custom message.

Example:

protected function messages(): array
{
    return [
        'name.required' => 'Name cannot be empty',
        'email.email' => 'Please provide a valid email address',
        'age.min' => 'You must be at least 18 years old',
    ];
}

---

Direct Property Access

Properties can be accessed directly when initialized:

$dto = $handler->handle(UserRequest::class, $request);

echo $dto->name;   // Works if 'name' was in request
echo $dto->email;  // Works if 'email' was in request

Uninitialized Access

Accessing an uninitialized property throws a PHP Error:

// If 'bio' was not in request and has no default:
echo $dto->bio; // Error: must not be accessed before initialization

// Use has() or get() instead:
if ($dto->has('bio')) {
    echo $dto->bio;
}
// Or:
echo $dto->get('bio', 'Default value');

---

Best Practices

Always Use Defaults for Optional Fields

// ✅ Good: optional with default
public ?string $bio = null;
public int $page = 1;

// ❌ Bad: optional without default (requires has() check)
public ?string $bio;

Use Strict Types

<?php

declare(strict_types=1);

final class MyRequest extends Request
{
    // ...
}

Keep DTOs Final

// ✅ Recommended
final class CreateUserRequest extends Request {}

// ❌ Avoid inheritance chains
class BaseUserRequest extends Request {}
class CreateUserRequest extends BaseUserRequest {}