mvn archetype:generate -DarchetypeGroupId=org.hibernate                        -DarchetypeArtifactId=hibernate-validator-quickstart-archetype                        -DarchetypeVersion=4.2.0.Final                        -DarchetypeRepository=http://repository.jboss.org/nexus/content/groups/public-jboss/                        -DgroupId=com.mycompany                        -DartifactId=hv-quickstart

package com.mycompany;

import javax.validation.constraints.Min;
import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
import javax.validation.constraints.Size;

public class Car {

    @NotNull
    private String manufacturer;

    @NotNull
    @Size(min = 2, max = 14)
    private String licensePlate;

    @Min(2)
    private int seatCount;
    
    public Car(String manufacturer, String licencePlate, int seatCount) {
        this.manufacturer = manufacturer;
        this.licensePlate = licencePlate;
        this.seatCount = seatCount;
    }

    //getters and setters ...
}

package com.mycompany;

import static org.junit.Assert.*;

import java.util.Set;

import javax.validation.ConstraintViolation;
import javax.validation.Validation;
import javax.validation.Validator;
import javax.validation.ValidatorFactory;

import org.junit.BeforeClass;
import org.junit.Test;

public class CarTest {

    private static Validator validator;

    @BeforeClass
    public static void setUp() {
        ValidatorFactory factory = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory();
        validator = factory.getValidator();
    }

    @Test
    public void manufacturerIsNull() {
        Car car = new Car(null, "DD-AB-123", 4);

        Set<ConstraintViolation<Car>> constraintViolations =
            validator.validate(car);

        assertEquals(1, constraintViolations.size());
        assertEquals("may not be null", constraintViolations.iterator().next().getMessage());
    }

    @Test
    public void licensePlateTooShort() {
        Car car = new Car("Morris", "D", 4);

        Set<ConstraintViolation<Car>> constraintViolations = 
            validator.validate(car);

        assertEquals(1, constraintViolations.size());
        assertEquals("size must be between 2 and 14", constraintViolations.iterator().next().getMessage());
    }
    
    @Test
    public void seatCountTooLow() {
        Car car = new Car("Morris", "DD-AB-123", 1);

        Set<ConstraintViolation<Car>> constraintViolations =
            validator.validate(car);

        assertEquals(1, constraintViolations.size());
        assertEquals("must be greater than or equal to 2", constraintViolations.iterator().next().getMessage());
    }

    @Test
    public void carIsValid() {
        Car car = new Car("Morris", "DD-AB-123", 2);

        Set<ConstraintViolation<Car>> constraintViolations =
            validator.validate(car);

        assertEquals(0, constraintViolations.size());
    }
}

public class Person {
    @NotNull
    private String name;

    public Person(String name) {
        this.name = name;
    }
    // getters and setters ...
}

public class Driver extends Person {
    @Min(value = 18, message = "You have to be 18 to drive a car", groups = DriverChecks.class)
    public int age;

    @AssertTrue(message = "You first have to pass the driving test", groups = DriverChecks.class)
    public boolean hasDrivingLicense;

    public Driver(String name) {
        super( name );
    }

    public void passedDrivingTest(boolean b) {
        hasDrivingLicense = b;
    }

    public int getAge() {
        return age;
    }

    public void setAge(int age) {
        this.age = age;
    }
}

public interface DriverChecks {
}

public interface CarChecks {
}

public class Car {
    @NotNull
    private String manufacturer;

    @NotNull
    @Size(min = 2, max = 14)
    private String licensePlate;

    @Min(2)
    private int seatCount;

    @AssertTrue(message = "The car has to pass the vehicle inspection first", groups = CarChecks.class)
    private boolean passedVehicleInspection;

    @Valid
    private Driver driver;

    public Car(String manufacturer, String licencePlate, int seatCount) {
        this.manufacturer = manufacturer;
        this.licensePlate = licencePlate;
        this.seatCount = seatCount;
    }
}

public class GroupTest {

    private static Validator validator;

    @BeforeClass
    public static void setUp() {
        ValidatorFactory factory = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory();
        validator = factory.getValidator();
    }

    @Test
    public void driveAway() {
        // create a car and check that everything is ok with it.
        Car car = new Car( "Morris", "DD-AB-123", 2 );
        Set<ConstraintViolation<Car>> constraintViolations = validator.validate( car );
        assertEquals( 0, constraintViolations.size() );

        // but has it passed the vehicle inspection?
        constraintViolations = validator.validate( car, CarChecks.class );
        assertEquals( 1, constraintViolations.size() );
        assertEquals("The car has to pass the vehicle inspection first", constraintViolations.iterator().next().getMessage());

        // let‘s go to the vehicle inspection
        car.setPassedVehicleInspection( true );
        assertEquals( 0, validator.validate( car ).size() );

        // now let‘s add a driver. He is 18, but has not passed the driving test yet
        Driver john = new Driver( "John Doe" );
        john.setAge( 18 );
        car.setDriver( john );
        constraintViolations = validator.validate( car, DriverChecks.class );
        assertEquals( 1, constraintViolations.size() );
        assertEquals( "You first have to pass the driving test", constraintViolations.iterator().next().getMessage() );

        // ok, John passes the test
        john.passedDrivingTest( true );
        assertEquals( 0, validator.validate( car, DriverChecks.class ).size() );

        // just checking that everything is in order now
        assertEquals( 0, validator.validate( car, Default.class, CarChecks.class, DriverChecks.class ).size() );
    }
}

package com.mycompany;

import static java.lang.annotation.ElementType.*;
import static java.lang.annotation.RetentionPolicy.*;

import java.lang.annotation.Documented;
import java.lang.annotation.Retention;
import java.lang.annotation.Target;

import javax.validation.Constraint;
import javax.validation.Payload;
import javax.validation.constraints.NotNull;
import javax.validation.constraints.Size;

@NotNull
@Size(min = 2, max = 14)
@CheckCase(CaseMode.UPPER)
@Target( { METHOD, FIELD, ANNOTATION_TYPE })
@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Constraint(validatedBy = {})
@Documented
public @interface ValidLicensePlate {

    String message() default "{com.mycompany.constraints.validlicenseplate}";

    Class<?>[] groups() default {};

    Class<? extends Payload>[] payload() default {};

}

package com.mycompany;

public class Car {

    @ValidLicensePlate
    private String licensePlate;

    //...

}

//...
@ReportAsSingleViolation
public @interface ValidLicensePlate {

    String message() default "{com.mycompany.constraints.validlicenseplate}";

    Class<?>[] groups() default {};

    Class<? extends Payload>[] payload() default {};

}

<validation-config xmlns="http://jboss.org/xml/ns/javax/validation/configuration"
 xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
 xsi:schemaLocation="http://jboss.org/xml/ns/javax/validation/configuration">
    <default-provider>org.hibernate.validator.HibernateValidator</default-provider>
    <message-interpolator>org.hibernate.validator.messageinterpolation.ResourceBundleMessageInterpolator</message-interpolator>
    <traversable-resolver>org.hibernate.validator.engine.resolver.DefaultTraversableResolver</traversable-resolver>
    <constraint-validator-factory>org.hibernate.validator.engine.ConstraintValidatorFactoryImpl</constraint-validator-factory>
    <constraint-mapping>/constraints-car.xml</constraint-mapping>
    <property name="prop1">value1</property>
    <property name="prop2">value2</property>
</validation-config>

<constraint-mappings xmlns:xsi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema-instance"
                     xsi:schemaLocation="http://jboss.org/xml/ns/javax/validation/mapping validation-mapping-1.0.xsd"
                     xmlns="http://jboss.org/xml/ns/javax/validation/mapping">
    <default-package>org.hibernate.validator.quickstart</default-package>
    <bean class="Car" ignore-annotations="true">
        <field name="manufacturer">
            <constraint annotation="javax.validation.constraints.NotNull"/>
        </field>
        <field name="licensePlate">
            <constraint annotation="javax.validation.constraints.NotNull"/>
        </field>
        <field name="seatCount">
            <constraint annotation="javax.validation.constraints.Min">
                <element name="value">2</element>
            </constraint>
        </field>
        <field name="driver">
            <valid/>
        </field>
        <getter name="passedVehicleInspection" ignore-annotations="true">
            <constraint annotation="javax.validation.constraints.AssertTrue">
                <message>The car has to pass the vehicle inspection first</message>
                <groups>
                    <value>CarChecks</value>
                </groups>
                <element name="max">10</element>
            </constraint>
        </getter>
    </bean>
    <bean class="RentalCar" ignore-annotations="true">
        <class ignore-annotations="true">
            <group-sequence>
                <value>RentalCar</value>
                <value>CarChecks</value>
            </group-sequence>
        </class>
    </bean>
    <constraint-definition annotation="org.mycompany.CheckCase" include-existing-validator="false">
        <validated-by include-existing-validators="false">
            <value>org.mycompany.CheckCaseValidator</value>
        </validated-by>
    </constraint-definition>
</constraint-mappings>

ValidatorFactory factory = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory();
Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

Configuration<?> config = Validation.byDefaultProvider().configure();
config.messageInterpolator(new MyMessageInterpolator())
    .traversableResolver( new MyTraversableResolver())
    .constraintValidatorFactory(new MyConstraintValidatorFactory());

ValidatorFactory factory = config.buildValidatorFactory();
Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

HibernateValidatorConfiguration config = Validation.byProvider( HibernateValidator.class ).configure();
config.messageInterpolator(new MyMessageInterpolator())
    .traversableResolver( new MyTraversableResolver())
    .constraintValidatorFactory(new MyConstraintValidatorFactory());

ValidatorFactory factory = config.buildValidatorFactory();
Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

Configuration<?> config = Validation.byDefaultProvider()
    .providerResolver( new OSGiServiceDiscoverer() )
    .configure();

ValidatorFactory factory = config.buildValidatorFactory();
Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

public interface ValidationProviderResolver {
    /**
     * Returns a list of ValidationProviders available in the runtime environment.
     *
     * @return list of validation providers.  
     */
    List<ValidationProvider<?>> getValidationProviders();
}

Configuration<?> configuration = Validation.byDefaultProvider().configure();
ValidatorFactory factory = configuration
    .messageInterpolator(new ValueFormatterMessageInterpolator(configuration.getDefaultMessageInterpolator()))
    .buildValidatorFactory();

Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

/**
 * Contract determining if a property can be accessed by the Bean Validation provider
 * This contract is called for each property that is being either validated or cascaded.
 *
 * A traversable resolver implementation must be thread-safe.
 *
 */
public interface TraversableResolver {
    /**
     * Determine if the Bean Validation provider is allowed to reach the property state
     *
     * @param traversableObject object hosting <code>traversableProperty</code> or null  
     *                          if validateValue is called
     * @param traversableProperty the traversable property.
     * @param rootBeanType type of the root object passed to the Validator.
     * @param pathToTraversableObject path from the root object to
     *        <code>traversableObject</code>
     *        (using the path specification defined by Bean Validator).
     * @param elementType either <code>FIELD</code> or <code>METHOD</code>.
     *
     * @return <code>true</code> if the Bean Validation provider is allowed to
     *         reach the property state, <code>false</code> otherwise.
     */
     boolean isReachable(Object traversableObject,
                         Path.Node traversableProperty,
                         Class<?> rootBeanType,
                         Path pathToTraversableObject,
                         ElementType elementType);

    /**
     * Determine if the Bean Validation provider is allowed to cascade validation on
     * the bean instance returned by the property value
     * marked as <code>@Valid</code>.
     * Note that this method is called only if isReachable returns true for the same set of
     * arguments and if the property is marked as <code>@Valid</code>
     *
     * @param traversableObject object hosting <code>traversableProperty</code> or null
     *                          if validateValue is called
     * @param traversableProperty the traversable property.
     * @param rootBeanType type of the root object passed to the Validator.
     * @param pathToTraversableObject path from the root object to
     *        <code>traversableObject</code>
     *        (using the path specification defined by Bean Validator).
     * @param elementType either <code>FIELD</code> or <code>METHOD</code>.
     *
     * @return <code>true</code> if the Bean Validation provider is allowed to
     *         cascade validation, <code>false</code> otherwise.
     */
     boolean isCascadable(Object traversableObject,
                          Path.Node traversableProperty,
                          Class<?> rootBeanType,
                          Path pathToTraversableObject,
                          ElementType elementType);
}

Configuration<?> configuration = Validation.byDefaultProvider().configure();
ValidatorFactory factory = configuration
    .traversableResolver(new MyTraversableResolver())
    .buildValidatorFactory();

Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

Configuration<?> configuration = Validation.byDefaultProvider().configure();
ValidatorFactory factory = configuration
    .constraintValidatorFactory(new IOCConstraintValidatorFactory())
    .buildValidatorFactory();

Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

public interface ConstraintValidatorFactory {
    /**
     * @param key The class of the constraint validator to instantiate.
     *
     * @return A constraint validator instance of the specified class.
     */
     <T extends ConstraintValidator<?,?>> T getInstance(Class<T> key);
}

Validator validator = Validation.buildDefaultValidatorFactory().getValidator();
BeanDescriptor beanDescriptor = validator.getConstraintsForClass(Person.class);
PropertyDescriptor propertyDescriptor = beanDescriptor.getConstraintsForProperty("name");
Set<ConstraintDescriptor<?>> constraints = propertyDescriptor.findConstraints()
                                           .declaredOn(ElementType.METHOD)
                                           .unorderedAndMatchingGroups(Default.class)
                                           .lookingAt(Scope.LOCAL_ELEMENT)
                                           .getConstraintDescriptors();

<h:form>
  <f:validateBean>
    <h:inputText value=”#{model.property}” />
    <h:selectOneRadio value=”#{model.radioProperty}” > ... </h:selectOneRadio>
    <!-- other input components here -->
  </f:validateBean>
</h:form>

HibernateValidatorConfiguration configuration = Validation.byProvider( HibernateValidator.class ).configure();
ValidatorFactory factory = configuration.addProperty( "hibernate.validator.fail_fast", "true" ).buildValidatorFactory();
Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

// do some actual fail fast validation
...

HibernateValidatorConfiguration configuration = Validation.byProvider( HibernateValidator.class ).configure();
ValidatorFactory factory = configuration.failFast( true ).buildValidatorFactory();
Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

// do some actual fail fast validation
...

HibernateValidatorConfiguration configuration = Validation.byProvider( HibernateValidator.class ).configure();
ValidatorFactory factory = configuration.buildValidatorFactory();

Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

// do some non fail fast validation
...

validator = factory.unwrap( HibernateValidatorFactory.class )
            .usingContext()
            .failFast( true )
            .getValidator();

// do fail fast validation
...

ConstraintMapping mapping = new ConstraintMapping();
mapping.type( Car.class )
    .property( "manufacturer", FIELD )
        .constraint( new NotNullDef() )
    .property( "licensePlate", FIELD )
        .constraint( new NotNullDef() )
        .constraint( new SizeDef().min( 2 ).max( 14 ) )
    .property( "seatCount", FIELD )
        .constraint( new MinDef()value ( 2 ) )
.type( RentalCar.class )
    .property( "rentalStation", METHOD )
        .constraint( new NotNullDef() );      

ConstraintMapping mapping = new ConstraintMapping();
mapping.type( Car.class )
    .property( "licensePlate", FIELD )
        .constraint( new GenericConstraintDef<CheckCase.class>( CheckCase.class ).param( "value", CaseMode.UPPER ) );   

ConstraintMapping mapping = new ConstraintMapping();
mapping.type( Car.class )
    .method( "drive", String.class, Integer.class )
        .parameter( 0 )
            .constraint( new NotNullDef() )
            .constraint( new MinDef().value ( 1 ) )
        .parameter( 1 )
            .constraint( new NotNullDef() )
        .returnValue()
            .constraint( new NotNullDef() )
    .method( "check" )
        .returnValue()
            .constraint( new NotNullDef() );      

ConstraintMapping mapping = new ConstraintMapping();
mapping.type( Car.class )
    .property( "manufacturer", FIELD )
        .valid()
    .property( "licensePlate", METHOD )
        .valid()
    .method( "drive", String.class, Integer.class )
        .parameter( 0 )
            .valid()
        .parameter( 1 )
            .valid()
        .returnValue()
            .valid()
.type( RentalCar.class )
    .property( "rentalStation", METHOD )
        .valid();

ConstraintMapping mapping = new ConstraintMapping();
mapping.type( Car.class )
    .defaultGroupSequence( Car.class, CarChecks.class )
.type( RentalCar.class )
    .defaultGroupSequenceProvider( RentalCarGroupSequenceProvider.class ); 

ConstraintMapping mapping = new ConstraintMapping();
// configure mapping instance

HibernateValidatorConfiguration config = Validation.byProvider( HibernateValidator.class ).configure();
config.addMapping( mapping );
ValidatorFactory factory = config.buildValidatorFactory();
Validator validator = factory.getValidator();

@ConstraintComposition(OR)
@Pattern(regexp = "[a-z]")
@Size(min = 2, max = 3)
@ReportAsSingleViolation
@Target({ METHOD, FIELD })
@Retention(RUNTIME)
@Constraint(validatedBy = { })
public @interface PatternOrSize {
   public abstract String message() default "{PatternOrSize.message}";
   public abstract Class<?>[] groups() default { };
   public abstract Class<? extends Payload>[] payload() default { };
}