I'm not getting the response I expect.

This is the controller code for a Location web-service request:

```
<?php
namespace App\Http\Controllers;

use App\Location;
use Illuminate\Http\Request;

class LocationController extends Controller
{

    /**
     * Action method to add a location with the supplied Data
     * 
     * @param \Illuminate\Http\Request $p_oRequest Request
     * 
     * @return JSON
     */
    public function add(Request $p_oRequest)
    {

        try {

            $p_oRequest->validate(
                array(
                    'name' => 'required|alpha_num',
                    'user_id' => 'required|integer',
                ),
                array(
                    'name.required' => 'Name is required',
                    'name.string' => 'Name must be alphanumeric',
                    'user_id.required' => 'Curator User Id is required',
                    'user_id.required' => 'Curator User Id must be an integer',
                )
            );

        } catch (\Exception $ex) {

            $arrResponse = array(
                'result' => 0,
                'reason' => $ex->getMessage(),
                'data' => array(),
                'statusCode' => 404
            );

        } finally {

            return response()->json($arrResponse);

        }

    }

}

```

The request is <http://mydomain/index.php/api/v1/location/add?name=@>!^

The response reason I expect is: { "result": 0, "reason": "Name must be alphanumeric", "data": [], "statusCode": 404 }

The actual response I get instead is: { "result": 0, "reason": "The given data was invalid.", "data": [], "statusCode": 404 }

Please help. This is bugging me.
['https://Stackoverflow.com/questions/46257191', 'https://Stackoverflow.com', 'https://Stackoverflow.com/users/3125602/']
I've only just seen this but all you need to do is move the validate call **before** the try/catch 

```
$p_oRequest->validate(
    [
        'name'    => 'required|alpha_num',
        'user_id' => 'required|integer',
    ],
    [
        'name.required'    => 'Name is required',
        'name.string'      => 'Name must be alphanumeric',
        'user_id.required' => 'Curator User Id is required',
        'user_id.required' => 'Curator User Id must be an integer',
    ]
);

try {

...

} catch(\Exception $e) {
    return back()->withErrors($e->getMessage())->withInput();
}

```

Because Laravel catches the validation exception automatically and returns you back with old input and an array of errors which you can output like

```
@if ($errors->any())
    <div class="alert alert-danger">
        <ul>
            @foreach ($errors->all() as $error)
                <li>{{ $error }}</li>
            @endforeach
        </ul>
    </div>
@endif

```
Your messages should be validation rules, so instead of:

```
'name.required' => 'Name is required',
'name.string' => 'Name must be alphanumeric',
'user_id.required' => 'Curator User Id is required',
'user_id.required' => 'Curator User Id must be an integer',

```

you should have:

```
'name.required' => 'Name is required',
'name.alpha_num' => 'Name must be alphanumeric',
'user_id.required' => 'Curator User Id is required',
'user_id.integer' => 'Curator User Id must be an integer',

```