I have an object graph sprinkled with DataAnnotation attributes, where some properties of objects are classes which themselves have validation attributes, and so on.
In the following scenario:
public class Employee
{
[Required]
public string Name { get; set; }
[Required]
public Address Address { get; set; }
}
public class Address
{
[Required]
public string Line1 { get; set; }
public string Line2 { get; set; }
[Required]
public string Town { get; set; }
[Required]
public string PostalCode { get; set; }
}
If I try to validate an Employee
's Address
with no value for PostalCode
, then I would like (and expect) an exception, but I get none. Here's how I'm doing it:
var employee = new Employee
{
Name = "Neil Barnwell",
Address = new Address
{
Line1 = "My Road",
Town = "My Town",
PostalCode = "" // <- INVALID!
}
};
Validator.ValidateObject(employee, new ValidationContext(employee, null, null));
What other options do I have with Validator
that would ensure all properties are validated recursively?
Many thanks in advance.
My answer got too long to put here, so I turned it into a blog post :)
Recursive Validation Using DataAnnotations
The solution gives you a way to achieve recursive validation using the same basic method you are using now.
Here's an alternative to the opt-in attribute approach. I believe this will traverse the object-graph properly and validate everything.
public bool TryValidateObjectRecursive<T>(T obj, List<ValidationResult> results) {
bool result = TryValidateObject(obj, results);
var properties = obj.GetType().GetProperties().Where(prop => prop.CanRead
&& !prop.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(SkipRecursiveValidation), false).Any()
&& prop.GetIndexParameters().Length == 0).ToList();
foreach (var property in properties)
{
if (property.PropertyType == typeof(string) || property.PropertyType.IsValueType) continue;
var value = obj.GetPropertyValue(property.Name);
if (value == null) continue;
var asEnumerable = value as IEnumerable;
if (asEnumerable != null)
{
foreach (var enumObj in asEnumerable)
{
var nestedResults = new List<ValidationResult>();
if (!TryValidateObjectRecursive(enumObj, nestedResults))
{
result = false;
foreach (var validationResult in nestedResults)
{
PropertyInfo property1 = property;
results.Add(new ValidationResult(validationResult.ErrorMessage, validationResult.MemberNames.Select(x => property1.Name + '.' + x)));
}
};
}
}
else
{
var nestedResults = new List<ValidationResult>();
if (!TryValidateObjectRecursive(value, nestedResults))
{
result = false;
foreach (var validationResult in nestedResults)
{
PropertyInfo property1 = property;
results.Add(new ValidationResult(validationResult.ErrorMessage, validationResult.MemberNames.Select(x => property1.Name + '.' + x)));
}
}
}
}
return result;
}
Most up-to-date code:
https://github.com/reustmd/DataAnnotationsValidatorRecursive
Package:
https://www.nuget.org/packages/DataAnnotationsValidator/
Also, I have updated this solution to handle cyclical object graphs. Thanks for the feedback.
Code:
public class DataAnnotationsValidator : IDataAnnotationsValidator
{
public bool TryValidateObject(object obj, ICollection<ValidationResult> results, IDictionary<object, object> validationContextItems = null)
{
return Validator.TryValidateObject(obj, new ValidationContext(obj, null, validationContextItems), results, true);
}
public bool TryValidateObjectRecursive<T>(T obj, List<ValidationResult> results, IDictionary<object, object> validationContextItems = null)
{
return TryValidateObjectRecursive(obj, results, new HashSet<object>(), validationContextItems);
}
private bool TryValidateObjectRecursive<T>(T obj, List<ValidationResult> results, ISet<object> validatedObjects, IDictionary<object, object> validationContextItems = null)
{
//short-circuit to avoid infinite loops on cyclic object graphs
if (validatedObjects.Contains(obj))
{
return true;
}
validatedObjects.Add(obj);
bool result = TryValidateObject(obj, results, validationContextItems);
var properties = obj.GetType().GetProperties().Where(prop => prop.CanRead
&& !prop.GetCustomAttributes(typeof(SkipRecursiveValidation), false).Any()
&& prop.GetIndexParameters().Length == 0).ToList();
foreach (var property in properties)
{
if (property.PropertyType == typeof(string) || property.PropertyType.IsValueType) continue;
var value = obj.GetPropertyValue(property.Name);
if (value == null) continue;
var asEnumerable = value as IEnumerable;
if (asEnumerable != null)
{
foreach (var enumObj in asEnumerable)
{
if ( enumObj != null) {
var nestedResults = new List<ValidationResult>();
if (!TryValidateObjectRecursive(enumObj, nestedResults, validatedObjects, validationContextItems))
{
result = false;
foreach (var validationResult in nestedResults)
{
PropertyInfo property1 = property;
results.Add(new ValidationResult(validationResult.ErrorMessage, validationResult.MemberNames.Select(x => property1.Name + '.' + x)));
}
};
}
}
}
else
{
var nestedResults = new List<ValidationResult>();
if (!TryValidateObjectRecursive(value, nestedResults, validatedObjects, validationContextItems))
{
result = false;
foreach (var validationResult in nestedResults)
{
PropertyInfo property1 = property;
results.Add(new ValidationResult(validationResult.ErrorMessage, validationResult.MemberNames.Select(x => property1.Name + '.' + x)));
}
};
}
}
return result;
}
}
public class ValidateObjectAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object value, ValidationContext validationContext)
{
var results = new List<ValidationResult>();
var context = new ValidationContext(value, null, null);
Validator.TryValidateObject(value, context, results, true);
if (results.Count != 0)
{
var compositeResults = new CompositeValidationResult(String.Format("Validation for {0} failed!", validationContext.DisplayName));
results.ForEach(compositeResults.AddResult);
return compositeResults;
}
return ValidationResult.Success;
}
}
public class ValidateCollectionAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
public Type ValidationType { get; set; }
protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object value, ValidationContext validationContext)
{
var collectionResults = new CompositeValidationResult(String.Format("Validation for {0} failed!",
validationContext.DisplayName));
var enumerable = value as IEnumerable;
var validators = GetValidators().ToList();
if (enumerable != null)
{
var index = 0;
foreach (var val in enumerable)
{
var results = new List<ValidationResult>();
var context = new ValidationContext(val, validationContext.ServiceContainer, null);
if (ValidationType != null)
{
Validator.TryValidateValue(val, context, results, validators);
}
else
{
Validator.TryValidateObject(val, context, results, true);
}
if (results.Count != 0)
{
var compositeResults =
new CompositeValidationResult(String.Format("Validation for {0}[{1}] failed!",
validationContext.DisplayName, index));
results.ForEach(compositeResults.AddResult);
collectionResults.AddResult(compositeResults);
}
index++;
}
}
if (collectionResults.Results.Any())
{
return collectionResults;
}
return ValidationResult.Success;
}
private IEnumerable<ValidationAttribute> GetValidators()
{
if (ValidationType == null) yield break;
yield return (ValidationAttribute)Activator.CreateInstance(ValidationType);
}
}
public class CompositeValidationResult : ValidationResult
{
private readonly List<ValidationResult> _results = new List<ValidationResult>();
public IEnumerable<ValidationResult> Results
{
get
{
return _results;
}
}
public CompositeValidationResult(string errorMessage) : base(errorMessage) { }
public CompositeValidationResult(string errorMessage, IEnumerable<string> memberNames) : base(errorMessage, memberNames) { }
protected CompositeValidationResult(ValidationResult validationResult) : base(validationResult) { }
public void AddResult(ValidationResult validationResult)
{
_results.Add(validationResult);
}
}
public interface IDataAnnotationsValidator
{
bool TryValidateObject(object obj, ICollection<ValidationResult> results, IDictionary<object, object> validationContextItems = null);
bool TryValidateObjectRecursive<T>(T obj, List<ValidationResult> results, IDictionary<object, object> validationContextItems = null);
}
public static class ObjectExtensions
{
public static object GetPropertyValue(this object o, string propertyName)
{
object objValue = string.Empty;
var propertyInfo = o.GetType().GetProperty(propertyName);
if (propertyInfo != null)
objValue = propertyInfo.GetValue(o, null);
return objValue;
}
}
public class SkipRecursiveValidation : Attribute
{
}
public class SaveValidationContextAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
public static IList<ValidationContext> SavedContexts = new List<ValidationContext>();
protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object value, ValidationContext validationContext)
{
SavedContexts.Add(validationContext);
return ValidationResult.Success;
}
}