why is form validation having issue with spaces?

[eluser]Unknown[/eluser]
This problem still exists in CI 2.0.3 but you can use a custom RegEx to validate your names:

Code:

$this->form_validation->set_rules('first_name', 'First Name', 'trim|required|callback_validate_name');

function validate_name($str) {
        if (preg_match("/^[A-Z][a-zA-Z -]+$/", $str) !== 0) {
            return true;
        } else {
            $this->form_validation->set_message("validate_name", '%s is not valid.');
            return false;
        }
}

This RegEx expression will ensure that first_name contains letters, dashes and spaces only, must start with upper case letter and must not start with a dash. (source: PHP validation and verification)

Hope this helps.