LessThan

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Validates that a value is less than another value, defined in the options. To force that a value is less than or equal to another value, see LessThanOrEqual. To force a value is greater than another value, see GreaterThan.

Applies to property or method
Class LessThan
Validator LessThanValidator

Basic Usage

The following constraints ensure that:

  • the number of siblings of a Person is less than 5
  • age is less than 80
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// src/Entity/Person.php
namespace App\Entity;

use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

class Person
{
    #[Assert\LessThan(5)]
    protected int $siblings;

    #[Assert\LessThan(
        value: 80,
    )]
    protected int $age;
}

Comparing Dates

This constraint can be used to compare DateTime objects against any date string accepted by the DateTime constructor. For example, you could check that a date must be in the past like this:

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// src/Entity/Person.php
namespace App\Entity;

use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

class Person
{
    #[Assert\LessThan('today')]
    protected \DateTimeInterface $dateOfBirth;
}

Be aware that PHP will use the server's configured timezone to interpret these dates. If you want to fix the timezone, append it to the date string:

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// src/Entity/Person.php
namespace App\Entity;

use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

class Person
{
    #[Assert\LessThan('today UTC')]
    protected \DateTimeInterface $dateOfBirth;
}

The DateTime class also accepts relative dates or times. For example, you can check that a person must be at least 18 years old like this:

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// src/Entity/Person.php
namespace App\Entity;

use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints as Assert;

class Person
{
    #[Assert\LessThan('-18 years')]
    protected \DateTimeInterface $dateOfBirth;
}

Options

groups

type: array | string default: null

It defines the validation group or groups of this constraint. Read more about validation groups.

message

type: string default: This value should be less than {{ compared_value }}.

This is the message that will be shown if the value is not less than the comparison value.

You can use the following parameters in this message:

Parameter Description
{{ compared_value }} The upper limit
{{ compared_value_type }} The expected value type
{{ value }} The current (invalid) value

payload

type: mixed default: null

This option can be used to attach arbitrary domain-specific data to a constraint. The configured payload is not used by the Validator component, but its processing is completely up to you.

For example, you may want to use several error levels to present failed constraints differently in the front-end depending on the severity of the error.

propertyPath

type: string default: null

It defines the object property whose value is used to make the comparison.

For example, if you want to compare the $endDate property of some object with regard to the $startDate property of the same object, use propertyPath="startDate" in the comparison constraint of $endDate.

Tip

When using this option, its value is available in error messages as the {{ compared_value_path }} placeholder. Although it's not intended to include it in the error messages displayed to end users, it's useful when using APIs for doing any mapping logic on client-side.

value

type: mixed [default option]

This option is required. It defines the comparison value. It can be a string, number or object.

This work, including the code samples, is licensed under a Creative Commons BY-SA 3.0 license.
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