dbern

dbern

Heyo!

I’ve been noticing across my Elixir projects that use Ecto.Changeset that I have some common code between them. I usually have some extra validation functions, functions that conform some values (like cleaning up strings, eg: turning "null" into nil), and functions that help turn the changeset errors into a string readable by the end-user (like in a flash message on the web page if it’s a web app).

Here are some that I have:

  • full_sentence_errors - Turns an Ecto.Changeset with errors into a humanized string. This has lots of options like excluding keys and flattening embedded changesets’ errors.
  • update_cast_error_message - I found myself needing change Ecto’s casting error messages (something like "my_number_field is invalid") into something else like "my_number_field must be a number" .
  • ensure_uuid - Sometimes (like with Arc/Waffle) you need to have the ID field already present on the changeset so you can upload files while you’re inserting a record.
  • ensure_slug - Create a slug from another field, like “name”. This assumes you would have some unique constraints too on that field.
  • downcase_values - If string values are provided, then downcase them.
  • trim_values - if string values are provided, then trim them.
  • validate_url - Just validating that URI.parse(value) works.
  • validate_phone_number - I’ve used ExPhoneNumber for some stricter phone number validations.
  • normalize_phone_number - to keep user-input on phone numbers more consistent, like always using the national format
  • validate_required_if_any - if one of the fields is present, then require all the fields. For example, an address is optional but if you provide the state then you have to provide the rest of the address.
  • validate_required_any_of - One of the provided of fields is required.
  • validate_date_earlier_than - require a datetime field to be earlier than another field or a given datetime

Is there any interest in a library that includes these? Do you have any yourself that might be good to contribute?

(sidenote: ChangesetHelpers is a terrible name; if you have a suggestion on that I’m all ears)

Showing Posts 1 to 1

cnck1387

cnck1387

For trimming, I ended up going with a custom ecto type because it’s such a common thing to want. So now just about every time I would use :string in my schema, I end up with a TrimmedString custom type that does the trimming.

— All posts loaded —

Where Next? Top

Trending in Discussions Top

cblavier
Hey there, It’s been more than a year since we started using LiveView as our main UI library and building a whole library of UI componen...
New
mudasobwa
I am happy to introduce the very α version of the new programming language compiled to BEAM. Welcome Cure. It has literally three kille...
New
mhanberg
Hi everyone! The first release candidate for the Expert language server project is now available! We’ve published a press release detai...
New
budgie
A little off-topic, but I feel like people here have a good head on their shoulders. I used to be quite good at making software. Was luc...
New
achempion
I’ve been using Emacs as my main code editor for more than a two years. It’s a custom build version although I’ve tried doom emacs and sp...
New
axelson
Hi there! :wave: @frigidcode and I (but mostly him) have been running an Elixir Book club, we’re almost done with Designing Elixir Syste...
New
budgie
I love Elixir. It’s one of 2 programming languages I’ve ever fallen in love with. But I don’t use it anymore. Serverless was the promis...
New

Other Trending Topics Top

GenericJam
Edit: 2026 May 15 - This post is archived. Mob is alive!! Main docs: mob v0.7.11 — Documentation A bit of explanation for the slightly c...
New
JesseHerrick
Hey, I’m Jesse and I’m the main contributor behind Dexter, a full-featured, lightning-fast Elixir LSP optimized for large codebases. It s...
New
garrison
Hobbes is a low-level distributed database for the Elixir programming language. Hobbes provides a simple, safe, and scalable storage lay...
New
mcass19
ExRatatui lets you cook up rich terminal UIs in Elixir, powered by Rust’s ratatui via Rustler NIFs. Build interactive terminal applicatio...
New
georgeguimaraes
Just published claude-code-elixir, a plugin marketplace for Claude Code with Elixir support. These are the plugins I’ve been using for my...
New
Dmk
Xamal is a deployment tool for Elixir apps that deploys native releases to bare metal servers over SSH. It’s a port of GitHub - basecamp/...
New

We're in Beta

About us Mission Statement

Options

Thread Display Mode




Thread Preview

Skip Thread Previews