fc.web.forms

Class FormValidator

java.lang.Object

fc.web.forms.FormValidator

Direct Known Subclasses:

VConditional, VFilledGroup, VPasswordGroup, VSameText

public abstract class FormValidator
extends java.lang.Object

Represents a form level validator that may examine more than one form field for a grouped/form level validation. Form level validators differ from FieldValidator because one may need to validate a group of fields together.

Examples include address validation where street, city and zip might need to be verified together (for a valid address) or password validation where two separate password boxes might need to be validated (to be identical). Various subclasses implement concrete code (via validate(fc.web.forms.FormData, javax.servlet.http.HttpServletRequest)) for various validation strategies.

Note 1: Validator objects have state and a particular instance of a validator should only be assigned to one form field.

Thread safety: None of the validation classes (like all other form-related classes) are thread safe. Synchronization must be done at a higher level, typically the session level.

Constructor Summary

Constructors

Constructor and Description
FormValidator(Form f, java.lang.String name, java.lang.String errorMessage) Creates a new validator and adds it to the specified form.

Method Summary

Modifier and Type	Method and Description
java.lang.String	getErrorMessage()
java.lang.String	getName()
void	setErrorMessage(java.lang.String message) Sets the error message for this validator -- useful when the error message need to be changed dynamically.
java.lang.String	toString()
abstract boolean	validate(FormData fd, HttpServletRequest req) Validates multiple fields together.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object

equals, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, wait, wait, wait

Constructor Detail

FormValidator

public FormValidator(Form f,
                     java.lang.String name,
                     java.lang.String errorMessage)

Creates a new validator and adds it to the specified form.

Parameters:

errorMessage - the error message associated with invalid data See getErrorMessage()

Method Detail

validate

public abstract boolean validate(FormData fd,
                                 HttpServletRequest req)

Validates multiple fields together. Note, implementations need not call the validator for each field if that field also has a field level validator (since each field is individually validated by the form). Implementations should validate multiple fields to see if they make sense when analysed as a whole.

Important notes: Typically, validation should be skipped in the following circumstances:

• The field is disabled.
• The field is an instance of DependentField and the DependentField#shouldValidate method returns false.

Returns:

true is validation succeeded, false otherwise

getErrorMessage

public java.lang.String getErrorMessage()

setErrorMessage

public void setErrorMessage(java.lang.String message)

Sets the error message for this validator -- useful when the error message need to be changed dynamically.

getName

public java.lang.String getName()

toString

public java.lang.String toString()

Overrides:

toString in class java.lang.Object