[#60666] User can't save lifecycle modal if project is invalid

[dombesz]

Ticket

https://community.openproject.org/work_packages/60666

What are you trying to accomplish?

Avoid validating the project custom fields when saving the project with a different contract than the Projects::BaseContract and its descendants. This decoupling resolves issues where custom field validations blocked the saving of objects associated with a project when they were being saved through the project.

A few example of such cases:

• Saving the life cycle steps happens via the project, but having an invalid custom field will prevent saving them. See https://community.openproject.org/wp/60666 .
• Saving the project settings Show attachments in the work packages files tab on the /projects/<project_id>/settings/project_storages/attachments page is also fails when there is an invalid custom field on the project. See https://community.openproject.org/wp/55789 .

What approach did you choose and why?

Since the project custom field validations are happening on the model level, there was no way to avoid them even when using different contracts than Projects::BaseContract. Ideally the solution would be to move all the custom field validations to the contract layer of the application, this way we can have more control over where the validation is activated for each entity. Unfortunately that is a massive overhaul, because the acts_as_customizable plugin is used across all the application. Additionally, some models using the plugin are not even updated via a service or contract, meaning the model layer validations are mandatory for them.

A more feasible solution is to introduce context based validation on the custom fields. This way we can easily turn on and off custom field validations on the project model when it is being saved.

The custom field validations will remain enabled on all the models using the acts_as_customizable plugin. The following declaration acts_as_customizable validate_on: :saving_custom_fields will enable custom validation context on a model basis. This means calling the custom field validations are not triggered when calling valid? on the model, but they are triggered when calling valid?(:saving_custom_fields).

Since we are saving custom fields only via the Projects::BaseContract descendants, we only have to enable the context based validations in this contract. This code will enable it:

    def valid?(context = :saving_custom_fields)
      super
    end

As a result, the project custom field validations are only triggered when the project is saved via the Projects::BaseContract and they are not triggered when using other contracts such as the Projects::SettingsContract or the ProjectLifeCycleSteps::BaseContract.

Merge checklist

• Added/updated tests
• Added/updated documentation in Lookbook (patterns, previews, etc)
• Tested major browsers (Chrome, Firefox, Edge, ...)

[github-actions]

Caution

The provided work package version does not match the core version

Details:

• Work package URL: https://community.openproject.org/work_packages/60666
• Work package version: 15.6.0
• Core version: 15.3.0

Please make sure that:

• The work package version OR your pull request target branch is correct

[ulferts]

All good and looking fine.

Super tiny remark on a typo, @dombesz . Feel free to merge after addressing it.

[myabc]

@dombesz genial! - perhaps we can add a Rubocop cop to prefer endless functions?

[dombesz]

Thanks @myabc ! Added it here #17707 .