Zend Form Custom Validation Path issues - zend-framework

Question

The issue:
Plugin by name 'Spam' was not found in
the registry; used paths:
Zend_Validate_: Zend/Validate/
I have this on my bootstrap.php file (it's NOT a class):
include_once 'config_root.php';
set_include_path ( $PATH );
require_once 'Initializer.php';
require_once "Zend/Loader.php";
require_once 'Zend/Loader/Autoloader.php';
// Set up autoload.
$loader = Zend_Loader_Autoloader::getInstance ();
$loader->setFallbackAutoloader ( true );
$loader->suppressNotFoundWarnings ( false );
//resource Loader
$resourceLoader = new Zend_Loader_Autoloader_Resource(array(
'basePath' => APPLICATION_PATH,
'namespace' => '',
));
$resourceLoader->addResourceType('validate', 'validators/', 'My_Validate_');
$loader->pushAutoloader($resourceLoader);
I've named a file called Spam.php like this:
application/validators/Spam.php
class My_Validate_Spam extends Zend_Validate_Abstract {
On the form class I have:
//HONEY POT
$this->addElement(
'text', 'honeypot', array(
'label' => 'Honeypot',
'required' => false,
'class' => 'honeypot',
'decorators' => array('ViewHelper'),
'validators' => array(
array(
'validate' => 'Spam'
)
)
)
);
With all this, I'm getting:
Plugin by name 'Spam' was not found in
the registry; used paths:
Zend_Validate_: Zend/Validate/
Why ?
Thanks a lot.

Answer 1

You have to add the directory where you have your custom validators to your form elements prefix path. For example:
$elementPrefixPaths =
array(
array(
array(
'prefix' => 'My_Validate_',
'path' => 'My/Validate', // 'application/validators' in your case
'type' => 'validate',
)
)
);
$form->addElementPrefixPaths($elementPrefixPaths);
// or, if your're inside the form,
// $this->addElementPrefixPaths($elementPrefixPaths)
// before any elements make use of the validator.
The 'path' should be in your include path. You have to do the same with your custom filters. Also there is a similar approach for custom decorators and elements (which use the method setPrefixPaths() instead).
Read more here.
Your path is 'application/validators', but it would be better to follow ZF convention on class naming and path mirroring; as such you should put your validator in a directory such as 'My/Validate' You should follow this convention on all custom ZF extensions you develop (filters, helpers, plugins, etc). It will make your life easier in the long run. Also, as a final suggestion, don't use "My_" as your classes prefix, use something more personal, such as "Mem_" (considering your nickname).