model validate method cannot evaluate this.propertyIsPresent in a condition argument

[chapmandu]

Describe the bug

The `condition` expression `this.propertyIsPresent('productid')` could not be evaluated: The parameter [property] to function [propertyIsPresent] is required but was not passed in.
validations.cfc:587

Supported forms: `this.property`, `this.method()`, bare `method()` (optionally negated with `!`), and binary comparisons using eq/neq/lt/lte/gt/gte or ==/!=//>=.

    /app/vendor/wheels/model/validations.cfc:587
    /app/vendor/wheels/model/validations.cfc:484
    /app/vendor/wheels/model/create.cfc:155
    /app/vendor/wheels/Global.cfc:358
    /app/vendor/wheels/model/transactions.cfc:74
    /app/vendor/wheels/model/create.cfc:92

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:
Create a custom validation method on a model with a condition as below

validate(method = "_validateSomething", condition = "this.propertyIsPresent('productid')");

Expected behavior
Validation method should be executed only if productid property exists and has a value.

[wheels-bot]

Wheels Bot — Triage

Classified as bug.

The report shows a concrete failure (The parameter [property] to function [propertyIsPresent] is required but was not passed in) with an expected behavior (the validation should run only when productid is present) and a minimal reproduction:

validate(method = "_validateSomething", condition = "this.propertyIsPresent('productid')");

Suspected layer

model — custom-validation condition evaluation. See .ai/wheels/snippets/model-snippets.md for validation patterns; the condition evaluator lives in vendor/wheels/model/validations.cfc.

Fix sketch

Root cause is in vendor/wheels/model/validations.cfc. $resolveThisReference() (~line 886) parses this.propertyIsPresent('productid') into methodName="propertyIsPresent" / argsRaw="'productid'", then hands argsRaw to $parseConditionArgs() (~line 923). That parser only understands named arguments (key=value) — it guards on Find("=", local.param), so a bare positional argument like 'productid' is silently dropped and an empty struct is returned. invoke(this, "propertyIsPresent", {}) then throws because property is required. The fix is to teach $parseConditionArgs() to also handle positional argument(s) — when a parameter has no =, collect it (unquoted) into an ordered/positional argument set and invoke with it — so single-arg method conditions like propertyIsPresent('productid') resolve. The error-message extendedInfo ("Supported forms…") should likely be updated to reflect that method calls with arguments are now supported.

Confidence: medium

The report and layer are unambiguous, but the fix involves a parsing/argument-mapping decision (how positional args map onto a method signature, and how invoke() is called with positional vs named arguments) whose semantics vary subtly across Lucee/Adobe/BoxLang — so it warrants cross-engine verification rather than a purely mechanical one-liner.

<!-- wheels-bot:triage:3238 -->
<!-- wheels-bot:triage-class:bug -->
<!-- wheels-bot:triage-confidence:medium -->

[wheels-bot]

Wheels Bot — Fix on hold for human review

A fix for this issue was prepared (root cause confirmed, spec + implementation drafted below), but it is held before opening a PR for two reasons:

1. The TDD loop cannot be verified in this environment. The wheels CLI / Lucee runtime that tools/test-local.sh depends on is not available here (no wheels binary on PATH, none bundled under cli/lucli/lib/). The TDD-mandatory step requires capturing a failing spec, then a passing spec, then a green tools/test-local.sh run — none of which can be produced without a CFML runtime.
2. Cross-engine sensitivity (per triage, medium confidence). The fix changes how a this.method('arg') condition maps a positional argument onto a method call (GetMetaData() on a function reference + a dynamic invoke()). The exact behaviour of dynamic dispatch and metadata shape differs subtly across Lucee / Adobe CF / BoxLang, so this needs the cross-engine test matrix (tools/test-matrix.sh adobe2023 mysql and tools/test-matrix.sh lucee7 mysql) before it can be trusted.

A human (or a re-run in a runtime-equipped environment) can pick this up directly from the analysis below.

Root cause (confirms triage)

vendor/wheels/model/validations.cfc::$resolveThisReference() parses this.propertyIsPresent('productid') into methodName="propertyIsPresent" / argsRaw="'productid'" and calls $parseConditionArgs(argsRaw). That parser (~line 923) only handles named args — it guards on Find("=", local.param), so a bare positional argument like 'productid' is silently dropped and an empty struct is returned. invoke(this, "propertyIsPresent", {}) then throws because property is required.

Proposed implementation

Pass the resolved function reference into the parser and map positional args onto the function's declared parameter names, producing a single named-argument struct (named-arg invoke() resolves uniformly across engines; a numeric-keyed positional argumentCollection does not).

$resolveThisReference() (line ~900):

-				local.rv.value = invoke(this, local.methodName, $parseConditionArgs(local.argsRaw));
+				local.rv.value = invoke(this, local.methodName, $parseConditionArgs(local.argsRaw, this[local.methodName]));

$parseConditionArgs():

public struct function $parseConditionArgs(required string argsString, any targetFunction) {
    local.named = {};
    local.positional = [];
    for (local.param in ListToArray(arguments.argsString, ",")) {
        local.param = Trim(local.param);
        if (!Len(local.param)) {
            continue;
        }
        if (Find("=", local.param)) {
            local.varName = Trim(ListFirst(local.param, "="));
            local.named[local.varName] = $unquoteConditionValue(Trim(ListRest(local.param, "=")));
        } else {
            ArrayAppend(local.positional, $unquoteConditionValue(local.param));
        }
    }

    // Map positional args onto the target function's declared parameter names so
    // the result is a single named-argument struct. invoke() with named args is
    // portable across Lucee/Adobe/BoxLang; a numeric-keyed positional
    // argumentCollection is not.
    if (ArrayLen(local.positional) && StructKeyExists(arguments, "targetFunction")) {
        local.paramNames = $conditionFunctionParameterNames(arguments.targetFunction);
        for (local.i = 1; local.i <= ArrayLen(local.positional); local.i++) {
            if (local.i <= ArrayLen(local.paramNames) && !StructKeyExists(local.named, local.paramNames[local.i])) {
                local.named[local.paramNames[local.i]] = local.positional[local.i];
            }
        }
    }

    return local.named;
}

/**
 * Returns the ordered parameter names declared by a function reference.
 * Used to map positional condition-method arguments onto named arguments.
 */
public array function $conditionFunctionParameterNames(required any targetFunction) {
    local.rv = [];
    local.meta = GetMetaData(arguments.targetFunction);
    if (StructKeyExists(local.meta, "parameters") && IsArray(local.meta.parameters)) {
        for (local.param in local.meta.parameters) {
            ArrayAppend(local.rv, local.param.name);
        }
    }
    return local.rv;
}

The extendedInfo "Supported forms…" string at line ~587 should also be updated to note that this.method('arg') calls with arguments are now supported.

Proposed spec (vendor/wheels/tests/specs/model/validationsSpec.cfc, inside describe("Tests conditional validations", …))

it("evaluates a this.method call with a single positional argument (##3238)", () => {
    expect(user.$evaluateConditionString("this.propertyIsPresent('username')")).toBeTrue()
    expect(user.$evaluateConditionString("this.propertyIsPresent('nonexistent')")).toBeFalse()
})

it("evaluates a this.method call with multiple positional arguments", () => {
    user.stupid_mixin = stupid_mixin
    expect(user.$evaluateConditionString("this.stupid_mixin('1', '2') eq 3")).toBeTrue()
    expect(user.$evaluateConditionString("this.stupid_mixin('1', '2') neq 3")).toBeFalse()
})

it("if validation runs when a positional-argument method condition is true (##3238)", () => {
    args.condition = "this.propertyIsPresent('username')"
    user.validatesLengthOf(argumentCollection = args)
    assert_test(user, false)
})

it("if validation is skipped when a positional-argument method condition is false (##3238)", () => {
    args.condition = "this.propertyIsPresent('nonexistent')"
    user.validatesLengthOf(argumentCollection = args)
    assert_test(user, true)
})

(Use ## for # inside .cfc string literals per the test-suite escaping rule.)

Cross-engine verification checklist (before merge)

• GetMetaData(udf).parameters[i].name returns declared param names on Lucee 6/7, Adobe CF 2018–2025, and BoxLang (shape/availability for mixed-in UDFs vs component methods).
• Named-arg invoke(this, method, {property = "x"}) dispatches identically on all engines.
• Existing named-arg conditions (this.stupid_mixin(b='1', a='2')) still pass — the ListFirst/ListRest split must preserve current named-arg behaviour.