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;
    }
}

I suggest you another possible solution. Perhaps less elegant, but easier!

public class MyBean {
  @Size(min=6, max=50)
  private String pass;

  private String passVerify;

  @NotNull
  private LocalDate passExpiry;
  @NotNull
  private LocalDate dateOfJoining;

  @AssertTrue(message = "Fields `pass` and `passVerify` should be equal")
  // Any method name is ok als long it begins with `is`
  private boolean isValidPass() {
    //return pass == null && passVerify == null || pass.equals(passVerify);
    // Since Java 7:
    return Objects.equals(pass, passVerify);
  }

  @AssertTrue(message = "Field `passExpiry` should be later than `dateOfJoining`")
  // Other rules can also be validated in other methods
  private boolean isPassExpiryAfterDateOfJoining() {
    return dateOfJoining.isBefore(passExpiry);
  }
}

The isValid() and isPassExpiryAfterDateOfJoining() methods are invoked automatically by the validator. The property paths reported in the ConstraintViolations will be extracted from the method names: valid and passExpiryAfterDateOfJoining.

I'm surprised this isn't available out of the box. Anyway, here is a possible solution.

I've created a class level validator, not the field level as described in the original question.

Here is the annotation code:

package com.moa.podium.util.constraints;

import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.*;
import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.*;

import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;

import javax.validation.Constraint;
import javax.validation.Payload;

@Target({TYPE, ANNOTATION_TYPE})
@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Constraint(validatedBy = MatchesValidator.class)
@Documented
public @interface Matches {

  String message() default "{com.moa.podium.util.constraints.matches}";

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

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

  String field();

  String verifyField();
}

And the validator itself:

package com.moa.podium.util.constraints;

import org.mvel2.MVEL;

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

public class MatchesValidator implements ConstraintValidator<Matches, Object> {

  private String field;
  private String verifyField;


  public void initialize(Matches constraintAnnotation) {
    this.field = constraintAnnotation.field();
    this.verifyField = constraintAnnotation.verifyField();
  }

  public boolean isValid(Object value, ConstraintValidatorContext context) {
    Object fieldObj = MVEL.getProperty(field, value);
    Object verifyFieldObj = MVEL.getProperty(verifyField, value);

    boolean neitherSet = (fieldObj == null) && (verifyFieldObj == null);

    if (neitherSet) {
      return true;
    }

    boolean matches = (fieldObj != null) && fieldObj.equals(verifyFieldObj);

    if (!matches) {
      context.disableDefaultConstraintViolation();
      context.buildConstraintViolationWithTemplate("message")
          .addNode(verifyField)
          .addConstraintViolation();
    }

    return matches;
  }
}

Note that I've used MVEL to inspect the properties of the object being validated. This could be replaced with the standard reflection APIs or if it is a specific class you are validating, the accessor methods themselves.

The @Matches annotation can then be used used on a bean as follows:

@Matches(field="pass", verifyField="passRepeat")
public class AccountCreateForm {

  @Size(min=6, max=50)
  private String pass;
  private String passRepeat;

  ...
}

As a disclaimer, I wrote this in the last 5 minutes, so I probably haven't ironed out all the bugs yet. I'll update the answer if anything goes wrong.

I have tried Alberthoven's example (hibernate-validator 4.0.2.GA) and i get an ValidationException: „Annotated methods must follow the JavaBeans naming convention. match() does not.“ too. After I renamed the method from „match“ to "isValid" it works.

public class Password {

    private String password;

    private String retypedPassword;

    public Password(String password, String retypedPassword) {
        super();
        this.password = password;
        this.retypedPassword = retypedPassword;
    }

    @AssertTrue(message="password should match retyped password")
    private boolean isValid(){
        if (password == null) {
            return retypedPassword == null;
        } else {
            return password.equals(retypedPassword);
        }
    }

    public String getPassword() {
        return password;
    }

    public String getRetypedPassword() {
        return retypedPassword;
    }

}

I made a small adaptation in Nicko's solution so that it is not necessary to use the Apache Commons BeanUtils library and replace it with the solution already available in spring, for those using it as I can be simpler:

import org.springframework.beans.BeanWrapper;
import org.springframework.beans.PropertyAccessorFactory;

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 object, final ConstraintValidatorContext context) {

        BeanWrapper beanWrapper = PropertyAccessorFactory.forBeanPropertyAccess(object);
        final Object firstObj = beanWrapper.getPropertyValue(firstFieldName);
        final Object secondObj = beanWrapper.getPropertyValue(secondFieldName);

        boolean isValid = firstObj == null && secondObj == null || firstObj != null && firstObj.equals(secondObj);

        if (!isValid) {
            context.disableDefaultConstraintViolation();
            context.buildConstraintViolationWithTemplate(context.getDefaultConstraintMessageTemplate())
                .addPropertyNode(firstFieldName)
                .addConstraintViolation();
        }

        return isValid;

    }
}

Very nice solution bradhouse. Is there any way to apply the @Matches annotation to more than one field?

EDIT: Here's the solution I came up with to answer this question, I modified the Constraint to accept an array instead of a single value:

@Matches(fields={"password", "email"}, verifyFields={"confirmPassword", "confirmEmail"})
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 code for the annotation:

package springapp.util.constraints;

import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.*;
import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.*;

import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;

import javax.validation.Constraint;
import javax.validation.Payload;

@Target({TYPE, ANNOTATION_TYPE})
@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Constraint(validatedBy = MatchesValidator.class)
@Documented
public @interface Matches {

  String message() default "{springapp.util.constraints.matches}";

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

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

  String[] fields();

  String[] verifyFields();
}

And the implementation:

package springapp.util.constraints;

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

import org.apache.commons.beanutils.BeanUtils;

public class MatchesValidator implements ConstraintValidator<Matches, Object> {

    private String[] fields;
    private String[] verifyFields;

    public void initialize(Matches constraintAnnotation) {
        fields = constraintAnnotation.fields();
        verifyFields = constraintAnnotation.verifyFields();
    }

    public boolean isValid(Object value, ConstraintValidatorContext context) {

        boolean matches = true;

        for (int i=0; i<fields.length; i++) {
            Object fieldObj, verifyFieldObj;
            try {
                fieldObj = BeanUtils.getProperty(value, fields[i]);
                verifyFieldObj = BeanUtils.getProperty(value, verifyFields[i]);
            } catch (Exception e) {
                //ignore
                continue;
            }
            boolean neitherSet = (fieldObj == null) && (verifyFieldObj == null);
            if (neitherSet) {
                continue;
            }

            boolean tempMatches = (fieldObj != null) && fieldObj.equals(verifyFieldObj);

            if (!tempMatches) {
                addConstraintViolation(context, fields[i]+ " fields do not match", verifyFields[i]);
            }

            matches = matches?tempMatches:matches;
        }
        return matches;
    }

    private void addConstraintViolation(ConstraintValidatorContext context, String message, String field) {
        context.disableDefaultConstraintViolation();
        context.buildConstraintViolationWithTemplate(message).addNode(field).addConstraintViolation();
    }
}

You need to call it explicitly. In the example above, bradhouse has given you all the steps to write a custom constraint.

Add this code in your caller class.

ValidatorFactory factory = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory();
validator = factory.getValidator();

Set<ConstraintViolation<yourObjectClass>> constraintViolations = validator.validate(yourObject);

in the above case it would be

Set<ConstraintViolation<AccountCreateForm>> constraintViolations = validator.validate(objAccountCreateForm);