Added constants for CompareValidator::$type

also improved and fixed docs about 'compare' validator.

fixes #12864

docs/guide/tutorial-core-validators.md

@@ -67,8 +67,11 @@ to make sure an input is the same as the verification code displayed by [[yii\ca
     // validates if the value of "password" attribute equals to that of "password_repeat"
     ['password', 'compare'],
 
+    // same as above but with explicitly specifying the attribute to compare with
+    ['password', 'compare', 'compareAttribute' => 'password_repeat'],
+
     // validates if age is greater than or equal to 30
-    ['age', 'compare', 'compareValue' => 30, 'operator' => '>='],
+    ['age', 'compare', 'compareValue' => 30, 'operator' => '>=', 'type' => 'number'],
 ]
 ```
 
@@ -91,7 +94,9 @@ is as specified by the `operator` property.
      * `>=`: check if value being validated is greater than or equal to the value being compared with.
      * `<`: check if value being validated is less than the value being compared with.
      * `<=`: check if value being validated is less than or equal to the value being compared with.
-
+- `type`: The default comparison type is '[[yii\validators\CompareValidator::TYPE_STRING|string]]', which means the values are
+  compared byte by byte. When comparing numbers, make sure to set the [[yii\validators\CompareValidator::$type|$type]]
+  to '[[yii\validators\CompareValidator::TYPE_NUMBER|number]]' to enable numeric comparison.
 
 ### Comparing date values
 

framework/CHANGELOG.md

@@ -15,6 +15,8 @@ Yii Framework 2 Change Log
 - Bug #12824: Enabled usage of `yii\mutex\FileMutex` on Windows systems (davidsonalencar)
 - Enh #11037 yii.js and yii.validation.js should use Regexp.test instead of String.match (arogachev, nkovacs)
 - Bug #9796: Initialization of not existing `yii\grid\ActionColumn` default buttons (arogachev)
+- Enh: Added constants for specifying `yii\validators\CompareValidator::$type` (cebe)
+
 
 2.0.10 October 20, 2016
 -----------------------

framework/validators/CompareValidator.php

@@ -24,11 +24,28 @@ use yii\helpers\Html;
  * CompareValidator supports different comparison operators, specified
  * via the [[operator]] property.
  *
+ * The default comparison function is based on string values, which means the values
+ * are compared byte by byte. When comparing numbers, make sure to set the [[$type]]
+ * to [[TYPE_NUMBER]] to enable numeric comparison.
+ *
  * @author Qiang Xue <qiang.xue@gmail.com>
  * @since 2.0
  */
 class CompareValidator extends Validator
 {
+    /**
+     * Constant for specifying the comparison [[type]] by numeric values.
+     * @since 2.0.11
+     * @see type
+     */
+    const TYPE_STRING = 'string';
+    /**
+     * Constant for specifying the comparison [[type]] by numeric values.
+     * @since 2.0.11
+     * @see type
+     */
+    const TYPE_NUMBER = 'number';
+
     /**
      * @var string the name of the attribute to be compared with. When both this property
      * and [[compareValue]] are set, the latter takes precedence. If neither is set,
@@ -47,10 +64,10 @@ class CompareValidator extends Validator
     /**
      * @var string the type of the values being compared. The follow types are supported:
      *
-     * - string: the values are being compared as strings. No conversion will be done before comparison.
+     * - [[TYPE_STRING|string]]: the values are being compared as strings. No conversion will be done before comparison.
-     * - number: the values are being compared as numbers. String values will be converted into numbers before comparison.
+     * - [[TYPE_NUMBER|number]]: the values are being compared as numbers. String values will be converted into numbers before comparison.
      */
-    public $type = 'string';
+    public $type = self::TYPE_STRING;
     /**
      * @var string the operator for comparison. The following operators are supported:
      *
@@ -174,7 +191,7 @@ class CompareValidator extends Validator
      */
     protected function compareValues($operator, $type, $value, $compareValue)
     {
-        if ($type === 'number') {
+        if ($type === self::TYPE_NUMBER) {
             $value = (float) $value;
             $compareValue = (float) $compareValue;
         } else {