Cross fields validations can be done by creating custom constraints.
Example:- Compare password and confirmPassword fields of User instance.
CompareStrings
@Target({TYPE})
@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Constraint(validatedBy=CompareStringsValidator.class)
@Documented
public @interface CompareStrings {
String[] propertyNames();
StringComparisonMode matchMode() default EQUAL;
boolean allowNull() default false;
String message() default "";
Class<?>[] groups() default {};
Class<? extends Payload>[] payload() default {};
}
StringComparisonMode
public enum StringComparisonMode {
EQUAL, EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE, NOT_EQUAL, NOT_EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE
}
CompareStringsValidator
public class CompareStringsValidator implements ConstraintValidator<CompareStrings, Object> {
private String[] propertyNames;
private StringComparisonMode comparisonMode;
private boolean allowNull;
@Override
public void initialize(CompareStrings constraintAnnotation) {
this.propertyNames = constraintAnnotation.propertyNames();
this.comparisonMode = constraintAnnotation.matchMode();
this.allowNull = constraintAnnotation.allowNull();
}
@Override
public boolean isValid(Object target, ConstraintValidatorContext context) {
boolean isValid = true;
List<String> propertyValues = new ArrayList<String> (propertyNames.length);
for(int i=0; i<propertyNames.length; i++) {
String propertyValue = ConstraintValidatorHelper.getPropertyValue(String.class, propertyNames[i], target);
if(propertyValue == null) {
if(!allowNull) {
isValid = false;
break;
}
} else {
propertyValues.add(propertyValue);
}
}
if(isValid) {
isValid = ConstraintValidatorHelper.isValid(propertyValues, comparisonMode);
}
if (!isValid) {
/*
* if custom message was provided, don't touch it, otherwise build the
* default message
*/
String message = context.getDefaultConstraintMessageTemplate();
message = (message.isEmpty()) ? ConstraintValidatorHelper.resolveMessage(propertyNames, comparisonMode) : message;
context.disableDefaultConstraintViolation();
ConstraintViolationBuilder violationBuilder = context.buildConstraintViolationWithTemplate(message);
for (String propertyName : propertyNames) {
NodeBuilderDefinedContext nbdc = violationBuilder.addNode(propertyName);
nbdc.addConstraintViolation();
}
}
return isValid;
}
}
ConstraintValidatorHelper
public abstract class ConstraintValidatorHelper {
public static <T> T getPropertyValue(Class<T> requiredType, String propertyName, Object instance) {
if(requiredType == null) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid argument. requiredType must NOT be null!");
}
if(propertyName == null) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid argument. PropertyName must NOT be null!");
}
if(instance == null) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Invalid argument. Object instance must NOT be null!");
}
T returnValue = null;
try {
PropertyDescriptor descriptor = new PropertyDescriptor(propertyName, instance.getClass());
Method readMethod = descriptor.getReadMethod();
if(readMethod == null) {
throw new IllegalStateException("Property '" + propertyName + "' of " + instance.getClass().getName() + " is NOT readable!");
}
if(requiredType.isAssignableFrom(readMethod.getReturnType())) {
try {
Object propertyValue = readMethod.invoke(instance);
returnValue = requiredType.cast(propertyValue);
} catch (Exception e) {
e.printStackTrace(); // unable to invoke readMethod
}
}
} catch (IntrospectionException e) {
throw new IllegalArgumentException("Property '" + propertyName + "' is NOT defined in " + instance.getClass().getName() + "!", e);
}
return returnValue;
}
public static boolean isValid(Collection<String> propertyValues, StringComparisonMode comparisonMode) {
boolean ignoreCase = false;
switch (comparisonMode) {
case EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE:
case NOT_EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE:
ignoreCase = true;
}
List<String> values = new ArrayList<String> (propertyValues.size());
for(String propertyValue : propertyValues) {
if(ignoreCase) {
values.add(propertyValue.toLowerCase());
} else {
values.add(propertyValue);
}
}
switch (comparisonMode) {
case EQUAL:
case EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE:
Set<String> uniqueValues = new HashSet<String> (values);
return uniqueValues.size() == 1 ? true : false;
case NOT_EQUAL:
case NOT_EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE:
Set<String> allValues = new HashSet<String> (values);
return allValues.size() == values.size() ? true : false;
}
return true;
}
public static String resolveMessage(String[] propertyNames, StringComparisonMode comparisonMode) {
StringBuffer buffer = concatPropertyNames(propertyNames);
buffer.append(" must");
switch(comparisonMode) {
case EQUAL:
case EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE:
buffer.append(" be equal");
break;
case NOT_EQUAL:
case NOT_EQUAL_IGNORE_CASE:
buffer.append(" not be equal");
break;
}
buffer.append('.');
return buffer.toString();
}
private static StringBuffer concatPropertyNames(String[] propertyNames) {
//TODO improve concating algorithm
StringBuffer buffer = new StringBuffer();
buffer.append('[');
for(String propertyName : propertyNames) {
char firstChar = Character.toUpperCase(propertyName.charAt(0));
buffer.append(firstChar);
buffer.append(propertyName.substring(1));
buffer.append(", ");
}
buffer.delete(buffer.length()-2, buffer.length());
buffer.append("]");
return buffer;
}
}
User
@CompareStrings(propertyNames={"password", "confirmPassword"})
public class User {
private String password;
private String confirmPassword;
public String getPassword() { return password; }
public void setPassword(String password) { this.password = password; }
public String getConfirmPassword() { return confirmPassword; }
public void setConfirmPassword(String confirmPassword) { this.confirmPassword = confirmPassword; }
}
Test
public void test() {
User user = new User();
user.setPassword("password");
user.setConfirmPassword("paSSword");
Set<ConstraintViolation<User>> violations = beanValidator.validate(user);
for(ConstraintViolation<User> violation : violations) {
logger.debug("Message:- " + violation.getMessage());
}
Assert.assertEquals(violations.size(), 1);
}
Output Message:- [Password, ConfirmPassword] must be equal.
By using the CompareStrings validation constraint, we can also compare more than two properties and we can mix any of four string comparison methods.
ColorChoice
@CompareStrings(propertyNames={"color1", "color2", "color3"}, matchMode=StringComparisonMode.NOT_EQUAL, message="Please choose three different colors.")
public class ColorChoice {
private String color1;
private String color2;
private String color3;
......
}
Test
ColorChoice colorChoice = new ColorChoice();
colorChoice.setColor1("black");
colorChoice.setColor2("white");
colorChoice.setColor3("white");
Set<ConstraintViolation<ColorChoice>> colorChoiceviolations = beanValidator.validate(colorChoice);
for(ConstraintViolation<ColorChoice> violation : colorChoiceviolations) {
logger.debug("Message:- " + violation.getMessage());
}
Output Message:- Please choose three different colors.
Similarly, we can have CompareNumbers, CompareDates, etc cross-fields validation constraints.
P.S. I have not tested this code under production environment (though I tested it under dev environment), so consider this code as Milestone Release. If you find a bug, please write a nice comment. :)
