How Can I Use Custom Validation Attributes on Child Models of a DB Entity?

Question

Summary:

I want a data annotation validator to reference another property in the same class (TitleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration).

However, DB.SaveChanges() is not being called on this class directly. Rather it is being called on the parent of this class (WebsiteConfiguration).

Therefore validationContext.ObjectType is returning WebsiteConfiguration and I am unable to refer to properties of TitleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration within the data annotation validator.

---

WebsiteConfiguration.cs

public class WebsiteConfiguration
{
    [Key]
    [DatabaseGenerated(DatabaseGeneratedOption.Identity)]
    public int ID { get; set; }

    public TitleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration TitleAuthorAndPublishing { get; set; }

    public BookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration BookChaptersAndSections { get; set; }

    public SocialMediaLoginsConfiguration SocialMediaLogins { get; set; }

    public TagGroupsConfiguration TagGroups { get; set; }
}

public class TitleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration 
{
    public string BookTitle { get; set; }

    public bool IsPublished { get; set; }

    // how do I access a property of current model when calling DB.SaveChanges() on parent?
    [RequiredIfOtherFieldIsEnabled("IsPublished")]
    public string Publisher { get; set; }
}

// ... and other sub models...

ApplicationDbContext.cs

DbSet<WebsiteConfiguration> WebsiteConfiguration {get;set;}

Example Update Code

    public void SeedWebsiteConfiguration()
    {
        var titleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration = new TitleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration()
        {
            // seed values
        };
        var bookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration = new BookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration()
        {
            // seed values
        };
        var socialMediaLoginConfiguration = new SocialMediaLoginsConfiguration()
        {
            // seed values
        };
        var tagGroupsConfiguration = new TagGroupsConfiguration()
        {
            // seed values
        };
        var websiteConfiguration = new WebsiteConfiguration()
        {
            TitleAuthorAndPublishing = titleAuthorAndPublishingConfiguration,
            BookChaptersAndSections = bookChaptersAndSectionsConfiguration,
            SocialMediaLogins = socialMediaLoginConfiguration,
            TagGroups = tagGroupsConfiguration
        };
        DB.WebsiteConfiguration.Add(websiteConfiguration);
        DB.SaveChanges();
    }

---

Validator Code

public class RequiredIfOtherFieldIsEnabledAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
    private string _ifWhatIsEnabled { get; set; }


    public RequiredIfOtherFieldIsEnabledAttribute(string IfWhatIsEnabled)
    {
        _ifWhatIsEnabled = IfWhatIsEnabled;
    }

    protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object currentPropertyValue, ValidationContext validationContext)
    {
        var isEnabledProperty = validationContext.ObjectType.GetProperty(_ifWhatIsEnabled);
        if (isEnabledProperty == null)
        {
            return new ValidationResult(
                string.Format("Unknown property: {0}", _ifWhatIsEnabled)
            );
        }
        var isEnabledPropertyValue = (bool)isEnabledProperty.GetValue(validationContext.ObjectInstance, null);

        if (isEnabledPropertyValue == true)
        {
            if (String.IsNullOrEmpty(currentPropertyValue.ToString()))
            {
                return new ValidationResult(String.Format("This field is required if {0} is enabled", isEnabledProperty));
            }
        }
        return ValidationResult.Success;
    }
}

---

Questions

1. Is there a way for me to access child model properties from validationContext?

2. Am I misguided in my approach? Is there a better way to store multiple models as part of a larger model in a single DB table?

I was hoping not to have multiple config tables and calls to the DB. (There are 4 child models in this example, but there may be 10+ in the next app.)

The setup above meets my needs in so many ways. But I don't want to give up the functionality of DataAnnotations on the sub models!

---

Bonus Question

I have come across a few posts like this one: How can I tell the Data Annotations validator to also validate complex child properties?

But that is 4 years old, and I'm wondering if anything has changed since then.

Am I trying to do something that is basically impossible (or at least very difficult)?

Answer 1

Am I trying to do something that is basically impossible (or at least very difficult)?

No, there is a very simple solution that integrates perfectly with the framework and technologies using DataAnnotations.

You can create a custom ValidationAttribute that is called by EF Validation and call Validator.TryValidateObject inside. This way, when CustomValidation.IsValid is called by EF you launch child complex object validation by hand and so on for the whole object graph. As a bonus, you can gather all errors thanks to CompositeValidationResult.

i.e.

using System;
using System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations;
using System.Collections.Generic;

public class Program
{
    public static void Main() {
   var person = new Person {
      Address = new Address {
         City = "SmallVille",
         State = "TX",
         Zip = new ZipCode()
      },
      Name = "Kent"
   };

   var context = new ValidationContext(person, null, null);
   var results = new List<ValidationResult>();

   Validator.TryValidateObject(person, context, results, true);

   PrintResults(results, 0);

   Console.ReadKey();
}

private static void PrintResults(IEnumerable<ValidationResult> results, Int32 indentationLevel) {
   foreach (var validationResult in results) {
      Console.WriteLine(validationResult.ErrorMessage);
      Console.WriteLine();

      if (validationResult is CompositeValidationResult) {
         PrintResults(((CompositeValidationResult)validationResult).Results, indentationLevel + 1);
      }
   }
}

}

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 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 class Person {
  [Required]
  public String Name { get; set; }

  [Required, ValidateObject]
  public Address Address { get; set; }
}

public class Address {
  [Required]
  public String Street1 { get; set; }

  public String Street2 { get; set; }

  [Required]
  public String City { get; set; }

  [Required]
  public String State { get; set; }

  [Required, ValidateObject]
  public ZipCode Zip { get; set; }
}

public class ZipCode {
  [Required]
  public String PrimaryCode { get; set; }

  public String SubCode { get; set; }
}