Java – JSR 303 Validation, If one field equals “something”, then these other fields should not be null

bean-validationjavavalidation

I'm looking to do a little custom validation with JSR-303 javax.validation.

I have a field. And If a certain value is entered into this field I want to require that a few other fields are not null.

I'm trying to figure this out. Not sure exactly what I would call this to help find an explanation.

Any help would be appreciated. I am pretty new to this.

At the moment I'm thinking a Custom Constraint. But I'm not sure how to test the value of the dependent field from within the annotation. Basically I'm not sure how to access the panel object from the annotation.

public class StatusValidator implements ConstraintValidator<NotNull, String> {

    @Override
    public void initialize(NotNull constraintAnnotation) {}

    @Override
    public boolean isValid(String value, ConstraintValidatorContext context) {
        if ("Canceled".equals(panel.status.getValue())) {
            if (value != null) {
                return true;
            }
        } else {
            return false;
        }
    }
}

It's the panel.status.getValue(); giving me trouble.. not sure how to accomplish this.

Best Answer

Define method that must validate to true and put the @AssertTrue annotation on the top of it:

  @AssertTrue
  private boolean isOk() {
    return someField != something || otherField != null;
  }

The method must start with 'is'.

Related Solutions

Cross field validation with Hibernate Validator (JSR 303)

Each field constraint should be handled by a distinct validator annotation, or in other words it's not suggested practice to have one field's validation annotation checking against other fields; cross-field validation should be done at the class level. Additionally, the JSR-303 Section 2.2 preferred way to express multiple validations of the same type is via a list of annotations. This allows the error message to be specified per match.

For example, validating a common form:

@FieldMatch.List({
        @FieldMatch(first = "password", second = "confirmPassword", message = "The password fields must match"),
        @FieldMatch(first = "email", second = "confirmEmail", message = "The email fields must match")
})
public class UserRegistrationForm  {
    @NotNull
    @Size(min=8, max=25)
    private String password;

    @NotNull
    @Size(min=8, max=25)
    private String confirmPassword;

    @NotNull
    @Email
    private String email;

    @NotNull
    @Email
    private String confirmEmail;
}

The Annotation:

package constraints;

import constraints.impl.FieldMatchValidator;

import javax.validation.Constraint;
import javax.validation.Payload;
import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.ANNOTATION_TYPE;
import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.TYPE;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;

/**
 * Validation annotation to validate that 2 fields have the same value.
 * An array of fields and their matching confirmation fields can be supplied.
 *
 * Example, compare 1 pair of fields:
 * @FieldMatch(first = "password", second = "confirmPassword", message = "The password fields must match")
 * 
 * Example, compare more than 1 pair of fields:
 * @FieldMatch.List({
 *   @FieldMatch(first = "password", second = "confirmPassword", message = "The password fields must match"),
 *   @FieldMatch(first = "email", second = "confirmEmail", message = "The email fields must match")})
 */
@Target({TYPE, ANNOTATION_TYPE})
@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Constraint(validatedBy = FieldMatchValidator.class)
@Documented
public @interface FieldMatch
{
    String message() default "{constraints.fieldmatch}";

    Class<?>[] groups() default {};

    Class<? extends Payload>[] payload() default {};

    /**
     * @return The first field
     */
    String first();

    /**
     * @return The second field
     */
    String second();

    /**
     * Defines several <code>@FieldMatch</code> annotations on the same element
     *
     * @see FieldMatch
     */
    @Target({TYPE, ANNOTATION_TYPE})
    @Retention(RUNTIME)
    @Documented
            @interface List
    {
        FieldMatch[] value();
    }
}

The Validator:

package constraints.impl;

import constraints.FieldMatch;
import org.apache.commons.beanutils.BeanUtils;

import javax.validation.ConstraintValidator;
import javax.validation.ConstraintValidatorContext;

public class FieldMatchValidator implements ConstraintValidator<FieldMatch, Object>
{
    private String firstFieldName;
    private String secondFieldName;

    @Override
    public void initialize(final FieldMatch constraintAnnotation)
    {
        firstFieldName = constraintAnnotation.first();
        secondFieldName = constraintAnnotation.second();
    }

    @Override
    public boolean isValid(final Object value, final ConstraintValidatorContext context)
    {
        try
        {
            final Object firstObj = BeanUtils.getProperty(value, firstFieldName);
            final Object secondObj = BeanUtils.getProperty(value, secondFieldName);

            return firstObj == null && secondObj == null || firstObj != null && firstObj.equals(secondObj);
        }
        catch (final Exception ignore)
        {
            // ignore
        }
        return true;
    }
}

Java – Hibernate @NotEmpty annotation equivalent in Javax.package or alternative

NotEmpty is just a combination of @NotNull and @Size(min=1).

Best Answer

Related Solutions

Cross field validation with Hibernate Validator (JSR 303)

Java – Hibernate @NotEmpty annotation equivalent in Javax.package or alternative

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