javax.validation
Interface Validator

public interface Validator

Validate bean instances. Implementations of this interface must be thread-safe.

Author:

Emmanuel Bernard, Hardy Ferentschik

Method Summary

BeanDescriptor	getConstraintsForClass(java.lang.Class<?> clazz) Return the descriptor object describing bean constraints.
<T> T	unwrap(java.lang.Class<T> type) Return an instance of the specified type allowing access to provider-specific APIs.
<T> java.util.Set<ConstraintViolation<T>>	validate(T object, java.lang.Class<?>... groups) Validates all constraints on object.
<T> java.util.Set<ConstraintViolation<T>>	validateProperty(T object, java.lang.String propertyName, java.lang.Class<?>... groups) Validates all constraints placed on the property of object named propertyName.
<T> java.util.Set<ConstraintViolation<T>>	validateValue(java.lang.Class<T> beanType, java.lang.String propertyName, java.lang.Object value, java.lang.Class<?>... groups) Validates all constraints placed on the property named propertyName of the class beanType would the property value be value ConstraintViolation objects return null for ConstraintViolation#getRootBean() and ConstraintViolation#getLeafBean()

Method Detail

validate

<T> java.util.Set<ConstraintViolation<T>> validate(T object,
                                                   java.lang.Class<?>... groups)

Validates all constraints on object.

Parameters:

object - object to validate

groups - group or list of groups targeted for validation (default to Default)

Returns:

constraint violations or an empty Set if none

Throws:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if object is null or if null is passed to the varargs groups

ValidationException - if a non recoverable error happens during the validation process

validateProperty

<T> java.util.Set<ConstraintViolation<T>> validateProperty(T object,
                                                           java.lang.String propertyName,
                                                           java.lang.Class<?>... groups)

Validates all constraints placed on the property of object named propertyName.

Parameters:

object - object to validate

propertyName - property to validate (ie field and getter constraints)

groups - group or list of groups targeted for validation (default to Default)

Returns:

constraint violations or an empty Set if none

Throws:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if object is null, if propertyName null, empty or not a valid object property or if null is passed to the varargs groups

ValidationException - if a non recoverable error happens during the validation process

validateValue

<T> java.util.Set<ConstraintViolation<T>> validateValue(java.lang.Class<T> beanType,
                                                        java.lang.String propertyName,
                                                        java.lang.Object value,
                                                        java.lang.Class<?>... groups)

Validates all constraints placed on the property named propertyName of the class beanType would the property value be value

ConstraintViolation objects return null for ConstraintViolation#getRootBean() and ConstraintViolation#getLeafBean()

Parameters:

beanType - the bean type

propertyName - property to validate

value - property value to validate

groups - group or list of groups targeted for validation (default to Default)

Returns:

constraint violations or an empty Set if none

Throws:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if beanType is null, if propertyName null, empty or not a valid object property or if null is passed to the varargs groups

ValidationException - if a non recoverable error happens during the validation process

getConstraintsForClass

BeanDescriptor getConstraintsForClass(java.lang.Class<?> clazz)

Return the descriptor object describing bean constraints. The returned object (and associated objects including ConstraintDescriptors) are immutable.

Parameters:

clazz - class or interface type evaluated

Returns:

the bean descriptor for the specified class.

Throws:

java.lang.IllegalArgumentException - if clazz is null

ValidationException - if a non recoverable error happens during the metadata discovery or if some constraints are invalid.

unwrap

<T> T unwrap(java.lang.Class<T> type)

Return an instance of the specified type allowing access to provider-specific APIs. If the Bean Validation provider implementation does not support the specified class, ValidationException is thrown.

Parameters:

type - the class of the object to be returned.

Returns:

an instance of the specified class

Throws:

ValidationException - if the provider does not support the call.