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With the OVal validation framework (http://oval.sourceforge.net/) it is possible to create custom annotation or XML based constraints (http://oval.sourceforge.net/userguide.html#d4e493).

My intention is to generate an OVal XML configuration file out of some constraint definitions, that's why I would like to do the complete OVal constraint definition with the XML configuration (http://oval.sourceforge.net/userguide.html#d4e551).

I would like to validate the return value of a certain method (getDomain) of a class (Attend) and I have to add additional values (six strings) for the isSatisfied method of my custom check class.

My XML configuration so far looks like this:

<class type="my.package.Attend"
    overwrite="false" applyFieldConstraintsToSetter="true">

    <field name="NAME">
        <notNull />
        <maxLength max="4" />
    </field>

    <method name="getDomain">
        <returnValue>
            <my.package.DomainCheck />
        </returnValue>
    </method>

</class>

I have a checker class DomainCheck which should receive the return value from the getDomain method. In the isSatisfied method of the DomainCheck I have to validate the return value with some additional parameters that I have to configure somehow in the XML.

My first problem is, that the isSatisfied method of the DomainCheck is not invoked. If I delete the method constraint, the validation result is invalid as I expect it from the field constraint. But if I add the method constraint, the DomainCheck is not invoked and the validation result is valid (should still be invalid). I can not see why the custom check is not invoked. Something must be wrong with my method constraint definition. Here are my custom check class and the appropriate interface:

package my.package;

import ...

public class DomainCheck extends AbstractAnnotationCheck<Domain> {


    public boolean isSatisfied(Object validatedObject, Object valueToValidate, OValContext context, Validator validator) {
        if (valueToValidate == null) {
            return true;
        }

        List<?> domainMembers = (ArrayList<?>) valueToValidate;
        for (Object domainMember : domainMembers) {
            // do validation
        }

        return false
    }

}

package my.package;

import ...

@Retention(RetentionPolicy.RUNTIME)
@Target({ ElementType.FIELD, ElementType.PARAMETER, ElementType.METHOD })
@net.sf.oval.configuration.annotation.Constraint(checkWith = DomainCheck.class)
public @interface Domain {

    String message() default "must be conform to ...";
}

If this would work, my second problem would be to configure the additional parameters. I thought of something like:

    <method name="getDomain">
        <returnValue>
            <my.package.DomainCheck />
        </returnValue>
        <parameter type="java.lang.String">OneName</parameter>
        <parameter type="java.lang.String">AnotherName</parameter>
        <parameter type="java.lang.String">0</parameter>
        <parameter type="java.lang.String">*</parameter>
        <parameter type="java.lang.String">5</parameter>
        <parameter type="java.lang.String">100</parameter>
    </method>

The syntax above is for defining constraints for a method signature, so this obviously does not work. But I can not find any possible definition for my purpose.

So, why is my custom check not invoked and if there is a solution for that, how can I define additional parameters for the isSatisfied method in the XML configuration and how do I access them in the isSatisfied method?

Thank you in advance for any advice! Cheers David

David Weber
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1 Answers1

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You are trying to use a programming by contract feature here. For this to work you need to perform some additonal preparations: http://oval.sourceforge.net/userguide.html#project-preparation

Georg
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