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Hibernate Validator 6.0.0.Beta1 is out with improved Bean Validation 2.0 support

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Hibernate Validator 6 is going to be the Reference Implementation of Bean Validation 2.0. This Beta1 release is coordinated with the 2.0.0.Beta1 release (Public Review Draft) of the Bean Validation specification.

It is also a playground used to validate future enhancements of the Bean Validation specification so feedback on the subjects presented here is very welcome!

Note that Hibernate Validator 6 requires JDK 8 or above.

What’s new since Alpha2

Bean Validation 2.0.0.Beta1 support

The main goal of this version is to upgrade to Bean Validation 2.0.0.Beta1.

This was mainly small adjustments to be on par with the latest changes in the specification but we also added a couple of features related to the validation of container elements (think List<@NotBlank String>).

Metadata API support for container element constraints

Until now, the container element constraints were not exposed via the metadata API. You can now obtain them via the API:

// Given a class User with a property declared as Map<@Valid AddressType, @NotNull Address> addresses

PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor = validator
        .getConstraintsForClass( User.class )
        .getConstraintsForProperty( "addresses" );

List<ContainerElementTypeDescriptor> containerElementTypeDescriptors =
        propertyDescriptor.getContainerElementTypes();

ContainerElementTypeDescriptor mapKeyDescriptor = containerElementTypeDescriptors.get( 0 );
ContainerElementTypeDescriptor mapValueDescriptor = containerElementTypeDescriptors.get( 1 );

// get the type argument index corresponding to this container element
assert mapKeyDescriptor.getTypeArgumentIndex() == 0;
assert mapValueDescriptor.getTypeArgumentIndex() == 1;

// get the constraint descriptors for this container element
assert mapKeyDescriptor.getConstraintDescriptors().size() == 0;
assert mapValueDescriptor.getConstraintDescriptors().size() == 1;

// indicates if the validation is cascaded
assert mapKeyDescriptor.isCascaded() == true;
assert mapValueDescriptor.isCascaded() == false;

// get the potential nested container elements
assert mapKeyDescriptor.getContainerElementTypes().size() == 0;
assert mapValueDescriptor.getContainerElementTypes().size() == 0;

Support for group conversions in container elements

We added support for cascaded validation of container elements a while ago but we did not support group conversions. They are now supported.

public class User {

    private Map<@Valid AddressType, @Valid @ConvertGroup(from = Default.class, to = BasicChecks.class) Address> addresses;
}

Polished support for the new built-in annotations

The error messages were missing for the new built-in annotations, we fixed it. Note that several translations need an update so if you speak a language other than English, German, French or Ukrainian, don’t hesitate to step up to the plate and send a pull request.

We also added support for @Positive and @Negative to the JavaMoney types.

And, finally, we added support for these new constraints to the annotation processor.

And a few other things

  • @SafeHtml now supports relative URLs thanks to the new baseURI attribute.

  • We fixed a few things to support the latest JDK 9 early access releases.

The complete list of 23 fixed issues can be found in the release notes.

Getting 6.0.0.Beta1

To get the release with Maven, Gradle etc. use the GAV coordinates org.hibernate.validator:{hibernate-validator|hibernate-validator-cdi|hibernate-validator-annotation-processor}:6.0.0.Beta1. Note that the group id has changed from org.hibernate (Hibernate Validator 5 and earlier) to org.hibernate.validator (from Hibernate Validator 6 onwards).

Alternatively, a distribution bundle containing all the bits is provided on SourceForge (TAR.GZ, ZIP).

Feedback, issues, ideas?

To get in touch, use the usual channels:

What’s next?

Bean Validation 2.0 is currently in the Public Review phase, the Public Review Ballot will take place at the beginning of June. The Proposed Final Draft is planned to be released shortly thereafter, so if you spot any remaining issues or shortcomings in the spec draft, please let us know as soon as possible.

Hibernate Validator 6 is still under active development. We’ll keep you posted with our progress.

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