Valix - Go package for validating requests
- Overview
- Installation
- Features
- Concepts
- Examples
- Constraints
- Polymorphic Validation
- Validation Tags
- I18n Support
Validate JSON requests in the form of *http.Request
, map[string]interface{}
or []interface{}
To install Valix, use go get:
go get github.com/marrow16/valix
To update Valix to the latest version, run:
go get -u github.com/marrow16/valix
- Deep validation (define validation for properties where those properties are objects or arrays of objects that also need validating)
- Create validators from structs or define them as code (see Creating Validators)
- Validate
http.Request
(into struct ormap[string]interface{}
) - Finds all validation violations - not just the first one! (see Using Validators) and provides information for each violation (property name, path and message)
- Rich set of pre-defined common constraints (see Common Constraints)
- Customisable constraints (see Custom Constraints)
- Conditional constraints to support partial polymorphic request models (see Conditional Constraints)
- Full Polymorphic Validation
- Support for i18n - enabling translation of validation messages (inc.
http.Request
language and region detection) - Validators fully marshalable and unmarshalable (save/share validators as JSON)
- Highly extensible (add your own constraints, messages, presets etc. without a PR to this repository)
- 100% tested (see Codecov.io)
- Coming soon - generate validators from OpenApi/Swagger JSON
Valix is based on the concept that incoming API requests (such as POST
, PUT
etc.) should be
validated early - against a definition of what the request body should look like.
At validation (of a JSON object as example) the following steps are performed:
- Optionally check any constraints on the overall object (specified in
Validator.Constraints
) - Check if there are any unknown properties (unless
Validator.IgnoreUnknownProperties
is set to true) - For each defined property in
Validator.Properties
:- Check the property is present (if
PropertyValidator.Mandatory
is set to true) - Check the property value is non-null (if
PropertyValidator.NotNull
is set to true) - Check the property value is of the correct type (if
PropertyValidator.Type
is set) - Check the property value against constraints (specified in
PropertyValidator.Constraints
) - If the property value is an object or array (and
PropertyValidator.ObjectValidator
is specified) - check the value using the validator (see top of this process)
- Check the property is present (if
The validator does not stop on the first problem it finds - it finds all problems and returns them as a list (slice) of 'violations'. Each violation has a message along with the name and path of the property that failed. However, custom constraints can be defined that will either stop the entire validation or cease further validation constraints on the current property
Validators can be created from existing structs - adding v8n
tags (in conjunction with existing json
tags), for example:
package main
import (
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
type AddPersonRequest struct {
Name string `json:"name" v8n:"notNull,mandatory,constraints:[StringNoControlCharacters{},StringLength{Minimum: 1, Maximum: 255}]"`
Age int `json:"age" v8n:"type:Integer,notNull,mandatory,constraint:PositiveOrZero{}"`
}
var AddPersonRequestValidator = valix.MustCompileValidatorFor(AddPersonRequest{}, nil)
(see Validation Tags for documentation on v8n
tags)
Or in slightly more abbreviated form (using &
to denote constraint tokens):
package main
import (
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
type AddPersonRequest struct {
Name string `json:"name" v8n:"notNull,mandatory,&StringNoControlCharacters{},&StringLength{Minimum: 1, Maximum: 255}"`
Age int `json:"age" v8n:"type:Integer,notNull,mandatory,&PositiveOrZero{}"`
}
var AddPersonRequestValidator = valix.MustCompileValidatorFor(AddPersonRequest{}, nil)
The valix.MustCompileValidatorFor()
function panics if the validator cannot be compiled. If you do not want a panic but would rather see the compilation error instead then use the valix.ValidatorFor()
function instead.
Alternatively, Validators can be expressed effectively without a struct, for example:
package main
import (
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
var CreatePersonRequestValidator = &valix.Validator{
IgnoreUnknownProperties: false,
Properties: valix.Properties{
"name": {
Type: valix.JsonString,
NotNull: true,
Mandatory: true,
Constraints: valix.Constraints{
&valix.StringNoControlCharacters{},
&valix.StringLength{Minimum: 1, Maximum: 255},
},
},
"age": {
Type: valix.JsonInteger,
NotNull: true,
Mandatory: true,
Constraints: valix.Constraints{
&valix.PositiveOrZero{},
},
},
},
}
Validators can have additional properties that control the overall validation behaviour. These properties are described as follows:
Property | Description |
---|---|
AllowArray |
(default false ) Allows the validator to accept JSON arrays - and validate each item in the arraySetting this option to true whilst leaving the DisallowObject option as false means that the validator will accept either a JSON array or object |
AllowNullJson |
Normally, a validator sees Null JSON (i.e. JSON string just containing the word null ) as a violation - as it represents neither an object nor an array.Setting this option to true disables this behaviour (and results of successful validation may return a nil map/slice)NB. This option is only used by top-level validators |
DisallowObject |
(default false ) Prevents the validator from accepting JSON objectsShould only be set to true when AllowArray is also set to true |
IgnoreUnknownProperties |
Normally, a validator will report as a violation any properties not defined within the validator Setting this option to true means the validator will not check for unknown properties |
OrderedPropertyChecks |
Normally, a validator checks specified properties in an unpredictable order (as they are stored in a map). Setting this option to true means that the validator will check properties in order - by their Order field (or order tag) and then by name |
StopOnFirst |
Normally, a validator will find all constraint violations Setting this option to true causes the validator to stop when it finds the first violationNB. This option is only used by top-level validators |
UseNumber |
Validators use json.NewDecoder() to decode JSONSetting this option to true instructs the validator to call Decoder.UseNumber() prior to decodingNB. This option is only used by top-level validators |
Once a validator has been created (using previous examples in Creating Validators), they can be used in several ways:
A request *http.Request
can be validated into a struct:
package main
import (
"encoding/json"
"net/http"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
func AddPersonHandler(w http.ResponseWriter, r *http.Request) {
addPersonReq := &AddPersonRequest{}
ok, violations, _ := CreatePersonRequestValidator.RequestValidateInto(r, addPersonReq)
if !ok {
// write an error response with full info - using violations information
valix.SortViolationsByPathAndProperty(violations)
errResponse := map[string]interface{}{
"$error": "Request invalid",
"$details": violations,
}
w.WriteHeader(http.StatusUnprocessableEntity)
w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(errResponse)
return
}
// the addPersonReq will now be a validated struct
w.Header().Set("Content-Type", "application/json")
_ = json.NewEncoder(w).Encode(addPersonReq)
}
A string, representing JSON, can be validated into a struct:
package main
import (
"testing"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
)
func TestValidateStringIntoStruct(t *testing.T) {
str := `{
"name": "",
"age": -1
}`
req := &AddPersonRequest{}
ok, violations, _ := AddPersonRequestValidator.ValidateStringInto(str, req)
require.False(t, ok)
require.Equal(t, 2, len(violations))
valix.SortViolationsByPathAndProperty(violations)
require.Equal(t, "Value must be positive or zero", violations[0].Message)
require.Equal(t, "age", violations[0].Property)
require.Equal(t, "", violations[0].Path)
require.Equal(t, "String value length must be between 1 and 255 (inclusive)", violations[1].Message)
require.Equal(t, "name", violations[1].Property)
require.Equal(t, "", violations[1].Path)
str = `{
"name": "Bilbo Baggins",
"age": 25
}`
ok, violations, _ = AddPersonRequestValidator.ValidateStringInto(str, req)
require.True(t, ok)
require.Equal(t, 0, len(violations))
require.Equal(t, "Bilbo Baggins", req.Name)
require.Equal(t, 25, req.Age)
}
Also, a reader io.Reader
can be validated into a struct using the .ValidateReaderIntoStruct()
method of the validator:
package main
import (
"strings"
"testing"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
)
func TestValidateReaderIntoStruct(t *testing.T) {
reader := strings.NewReader(`{
"name": "",
"age": -1
}`)
req := &AddPersonRequest{}
ok, violations, _ := AddPersonRequestValidator.ValidateReaderInto(reader, req)
require.False(t, ok)
require.Equal(t, 2, len(violations))
valix.SortViolationsByPathAndProperty(violations)
require.Equal(t, "Value must be positive or zero", violations[0].Message)
require.Equal(t, "age", violations[0].Property)
require.Equal(t, "", violations[0].Path)
require.Equal(t, "String value length must be between 1 and 255 (inclusive)", violations[1].Message)
require.Equal(t, "name", violations[1].Property)
require.Equal(t, "", violations[1].Path)
reader = strings.NewReader(`{
"name": "Bilbo Baggins",
"age": 25
}`)
ok, violations, _ = AddPersonRequestValidator.ValidateReaderInto(reader, req)
require.True(t, ok)
require.Equal(t, 0, len(violations))
require.Equal(t, "Bilbo Baggins", req.Name)
require.Equal(t, 25, req.Age)
}
Validators can also validate a map[string]interface{}
representation of a JSON object:
package main
import (
"testing"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
)
func TestValidateMap(t *testing.T) {
req := map[string]interface{}{
"name": "",
"age": -1,
}
ok, violations := AddPersonRequestValidator.Validate(req)
require.False(t, ok)
require.Equal(t, 2, len(violations))
valix.SortViolationsByPathAndProperty(violations)
require.Equal(t, "Value must be positive or zero", violations[0].Message)
require.Equal(t, "age", violations[0].Property)
require.Equal(t, "", violations[0].Path)
require.Equal(t, "String value length must be between 1 and 255 (inclusive)", violations[1].Message)
require.Equal(t, "name", violations[1].Property)
require.Equal(t, "", violations[1].Path)
req = map[string]interface{}{
"name": "Bilbo Baggins",
"age": 25,
}
ok, _ = AddPersonRequestValidator.Validate(req)
require.True(t, ok)
}
Validators can also validate a slice []interface{}
representation of a JSON object, where each object element in the slice is validated:
package main
import (
"testing"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
"github.com/stretchr/testify/require"
)
func TestValidateSlice(t *testing.T) {
req := []interface{}{
map[string]interface{}{
"name": "",
"age": -1,
},
map[string]interface{}{
"name": "Bilbo Baggins",
"age": 25,
},
}
ok, violations := AddPersonRequestValidator.ValidateArrayOf(req)
require.False(t, ok)
require.Equal(t, 2, len(violations))
valix.SortViolationsByPathAndProperty(violations)
require.Equal(t, "Value must be positive or zero", violations[0].Message)
require.Equal(t, "age", violations[0].Property)
require.Equal(t, "[0]", violations[0].Path)
require.Equal(t, "String value length must be between 1 and 255 (inclusive)", violations[1].Message)
require.Equal(t, "name", violations[1].Property)
require.Equal(t, "[0]", violations[1].Path)
req = []interface{}{
map[string]interface{}{
"name": "Frodo Baggins",
"age": 20,
},
map[string]interface{}{
"name": "Bilbo Baggins",
"age": 25,
},
}
ok, _ = AddPersonRequestValidator.ValidateArrayOf(req)
require.True(t, ok)
}
In Valix, a constraint is a particular validation rule that must be satisfied. For a constraint to be used
by the validator it must implement the valix.Constraint
interface.
Valix provides a rich set of over 100 pre-defined common constraints (plus many common regex patterns) - see Constraints Reference wiki documentation for full reference with examples.
It is not uncommon in APIs for many properties in different requests to share a common set of constraints.
For this reason, Valix provides a ConstraintSet
- which is itself a Constraint
but contains a list of sub-constraints.
type ConstraintSet struct {
Constraints Constraints
Message string
}
When checking a ConstraintSet
, the contained constraints are checked sequentially but the overall
set stops on the first failing constraint.
If a Message
is provided (non-empty string) then that message is used for any of the failing constraints -
otherwise the individual constraint fail messages are used.
The following is an example of a constraint set which imposes a complex constraint
(although one that could probably be more easily achieved using valix.StringPattern
)
package main
import (
"unicode"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
var MySet = &valix.ConstraintSet{
Constraints: valix.Constraints{
&valix.StringTrim{},
&valix.StringNotEmpty{},
&valix.StringLength{Minimum: 16, Maximum: 64},
valix.NewCustomConstraint(func(value interface{}, vcx *valix.ValidatorContext, this *valix.CustomConstraint) (bool, string) {
if str, ok := value.(string); ok {
if len(str) == 0 || str[0] < 'A' || str[0] > 'Z' {
return false, this.GetMessage(vcx)
}
}
return true, ""
}, ""),
&valix.StringCharacters{
AllowRanges: []unicode.RangeTable{
{R16: []unicode.Range16{{'0', 'z', 1}}},
},
DisallowRanges: []unicode.RangeTable{
{R16: []unicode.Range16{{0x003a, 0x0040, 1}}},
{R16: []unicode.Range16{{0x005b, 0x005e, 1}}},
{R16: []unicode.Range16{{0x0060, 0x0060, 1}}},
},
},
},
Message: "String value length must be between 16 and 64 chars; must be letters (upper or lower), digits or underscores; must start with an uppercase letter",
}
Constraint sets can also be registered, making them available in v8n
struct tags.
If you need a constraint for a specific domain validation, there are two ways to do this...
Create a re-usable constraint (which implements the valix.Constraint
interface), example:
package main
import (
"strings"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
type NoFoo struct {
}
func (c *NoFoo) Check(value interface{}, vcx *valix.ValidatorContext) (bool, string) {
if str, ok := value.(string); ok {
return !strings.Contains(str, "foo"), c.GetMessage(vcx)
}
return true, ""
}
func (c *NoFoo) GetMessage(tcx I18nContext) string {
return "Value must not contain \"foo\""
}
Or create a custom constraint on the fly with check function, example:
Note: Custom constraints using functions means that the validator cannot be marshalled/unmarshalled
package main
import (
"strings"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
var myValidator = &valix.Validator{
IgnoreUnknownProperties: false,
Properties: valix.Properties{
"foo": {
Type: valix.JsonString,
NotNull: true,
Mandatory: true,
Constraints: valix.Constraints{
valix.NewCustomConstraint(func(value interface{}, vcx *valix.ValidatorContext, cc *valix.CustomConstraint) (bool, string) {
if str, ok := value.(string); ok {
return !strings.Contains(str, "foo"), cc.GetMessage(vcx)
}
return true, ""
}, "Value must not contain \"foo\""),
},
},
},
}
All of the Valix common constraints are loaded into a registry - the registry enables the v8n
tags to reference these.
If you want to make your own custom constraint available for use in v8n
tags, it must also be registered. For example:
package main
import (
"strings"
"github.com/marrow16/valix"
)
func init() {
valix.RegisterConstraint(&NoFoo{})
}
// and the constraint can now be used in `v8n` tag...
type MyRequest struct {
Name string `json:"name" v8n:"&NoFoo{}"`
}
When properties are required, or unwanted, according to the presence of other properties - use the v8n
tag tokens required_with:<expr>
or unwanted_with:<expr>
(abbreviated forms +:
and -:
respectively).
The simplest expression is just the name of another property - the following example shows making two properties foo
and bar
mutually inclusive (i.e. if one is present then the other is required):
type ExampleMutuallyInclusive struct {
Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"+:bar, +msg:'foo required when bar present'"`
Bar string `json:"bar" v8n:"+:foo, +msg:'bar required when foo present'"`
}
Or another example, using the unwanted_with:
token, to make two properties mutually exclusive (i.e. if one is present then the other must not):
type ExampleMutuallyExclusive struct {
Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"-:bar, -msg:'foo and bar are mutually exclusive'"`
Bar string `json:"bar" v8n:"-:foo, -msg:'foo and bar are mutually exclusive'"`
}
The required_with:
and unwanted_with
can also use more complex boolean expressions - the following example demonstrates making two out of three properties mutually inclusive but not all three:
type ExampleTwoOfThreeMutuallyInclusive struct {
Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"+:(bar || baz) && !(bar && baz), -:bar && baz"`
Bar string `json:"bar" v8n:"+:(foo || baz) && !(foo && baz), -:foo && baz"`
Baz string `json:"baz" v8n:"+:(foo || bar) && !(foo && bar), -:foo && bar"`
}
The boolean property expressions can also traverse up and down the object tree (using JSON .
path style notation). The following demonstrates:
type ExampleUpAndDownRequired struct {
Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"+:sub.foo"`
Bar string `json:"bar" v8n:"+:sub.bar"`
Sub struct {
SubFoo string `json:"foo" v8n:"+:..foo"`
SubBar string `json:"bar" v8n:"+:..bar"`
} `json:"sub"`
}
Additional expression functionality notes:
- Boolean operator
^^
(XOr) is also supported - Path traversal also supports going up to the root object - e.g.
/.foo.bar
will go up to the root object and then descend down pathfoo.bar
- Prefixing property name with
~
(tilde) means check a context condition rather than property existence - e.g.~METHOD_POST
checks whether theMETHOD_POST
condition token has been set in the context - The
+:
and-:
validation tag tokens correspond to thevalix.PropertyValidator.RequiredWith
andvalix.PropertyValidator.UnwantedWith
fields respectively - Use the
valix.ParseExpression
orvalix.MustParseExpression
functions to programmatically parse boolean property expressions - Unfortunately, array index notation (e.g.
sub[0]
) is not currently supported (and neither is traversing array values)
Sometimes, the model of JSON requests needs to vary according to some property condition. For example, the following is a beverage order for a tea and coffee shop:
type BeverageOrder struct {
Type string `json:"type" v8n:"notNull,required,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['tea','coffee']}"`
Quantity int `json:"quantity" v8n:"notNull,required,&Positive{}"`
// only relevant to type="tea"...
Blend string `json:"blend" v8n:"notNull,required,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['Earl Grey','English Breakfast','Masala Chai']}"`
// only relevant to type="coffee"...
Roast string `json:"roast" v8n:"notNull,required,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['light','medium','dark']}"`
}
The above validation will always expect the blend
and roast
properties to be present and their value to be valid. However, this is not the requirement of the model - we only want:
- the
blend
property to be present and valid whentype="tea"
- the 'roast' property to be present and valid when
type="coffee"
These validation requirements can be incorporated by using the 'when conditions':
type BeverageOrder struct {
Type string `json:"type" v8n:"notNull,required,order:-1,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['tea','coffee']},&SetConditionFrom{Parent:true}"`
Quantity int `json:"quantity" v8n:"notNull,required,&Positive{}"`
// only relevant to type="tea"...
Blend string `json:"blend" v8n:"when:tea,notNull,required,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['Earl Grey','English Breakfast','Masala Chai']}"`
// only relevant to type="coffee"...
Roast string `json:"roast" v8n:"when:coffee,notNull,required,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['light','medium','dark']}"`
}
Note in the above:
- on the
Type
field:order:-1
means that this property is checked&SetConditionFrom{}
sets a validator context condition token from the incoming value of propertytype
therefore, either a validator condition token oftea
orcoffee
will be set
Note: theParent:true
means properties at the same level as this will see the condition token
- on the
Blend
field thewhen:tea
tag has been added - which means theblend
property is only checked when there is a validator condition token oftea
set - on the
Roast
field thewhen:coffee
tag has been added - which means theroast
property is only checked when there is a validator condition token ofcoffee
set
However, this second example may still not be strict enough - because it allows the blend
property to be present when the type is "coffee"
and the roast
property to be present when the type is "tea"
This can be overcome by using the 'unwanted conditions':
type BeverageOrderStrict struct {
Type string `json:"type" v8n:"notNull,required,order:-1,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['tea','coffee']},&SetConditionFrom{Parent:true}"`
Quantity int `json:"quantity" v8n:"notNull,required,&Positive{}"`
// Blend is only relevant when type="tea"...
Blend string `json:"blend" v8n:"when:tea,unwanted:!tea,notNull,required,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['Earl Grey','English Breakfast','Masala Chai']}"`
// Roast is only relevant when type="coffee"...
Roast string `json:"roast" v8n:"when:coffee,unwanted:!coffee,notNull,required,&StringValidToken{Tokens:['light','medium','dark']}"`
}
Note in the above:
- the
unwanted:!tea
tag has been added to theBlend
field - which means... "if condition token oftea
has not been set then we do not want theblend
property to be present" - the
unwanted:!coffee
tag has been added to theRoast
field - which means... "if condition token ofcoffee
has not been set then we do not want theroast
property to be present"
Sometimes, the model of JSON requests needs to vary completely according to some condition. The previous conditional constraints example can solve some of the conditional variance - but when different properties are required/not-required or same properties have different constraints under different conditions then polymorphic validation becomes necessary.
As an example, if the following requests all need to be validated using a single validator:
{
"type": "tea",
"quantity": 1,
"blend": "Earl Grey|English Breakfast|Masala Chai"
}
{
"type": "coffee",
"quantity": 1,
"roast": "light|medium|dark"
}
{
"type": "soft",
"quantity": 1,
"brand": "Coca Cola",
"flavor": "Regular|Diet|Zero|Cherry"
}
{
"type": "soft",
"quantity": 1,
"brand": "Tango",
"flavor": "Orange|Apple|Strawberry|Watermelon|Tropical"
}
A demonstrated solution to this can be see in the Polymorphic example code
Note: Polymorphic validators cannot be derived from struct tags (see Validation Tags) - because structs themselves cannot be polymorphic!
Valix can read tags from struct fields when building validators. These are the v8n
tags, in the format:
type example struct {
Field string `v8n:"token[,token, ...]"`
}
Where the tokens correspond to various property validation options - as listed here:
Token | Purpose & Example |
---|---|
constraint:constraint-name{fields...} |
Adds a constraint to the property (this token can be specified multiple times within the v8n tag.
The constraint-name must be a Valix common constraint or a previously registered constraint.
The constraint `fields` can optionally be set.
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"constraint:StringMaxLength{Value:255}"` } |
constraints:[constraint-name{},...] |
Adds multiple constraints to the property
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"constraints:[StringNotEmpty{},StringNoControlCharacters{}]"` } |
&constraint-name{fields...} |
Adds a constraint to the property (shorthand way of specifying constraint without constraint: or constraints:[] prefix)
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"&StringMaxLength{Value:255}"` } |
&[condition,...]constraint-name{fields...} |
Adds a conditional constraint to the property - the constraint is only checked when the condition(s) are met
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"&[METHOD_POST]StringNotEmpty{}"` }The StringNotEmpty constraint is only checked when the METHOD_POST condition token has been set
|
&<expr>constraint-name{fields...} |
Adds a conditional constraint to the property - the constraint is only checked when the expr evaluates to true
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"&<(bar && !baz) || (!bar && baz)>StringNotEmpty{}"` Bar string `json:"bar" v8n:"optional"` Baz string `json:"baz" v8n:"optional"` }The StringNotEmpty constraint is only checked when only one of the bar or baz properties are present
|
mandatory |
Specifies the JSON property must be present
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"mandatory"` } |
mandatory:condition       or mandatory:[condition,...]
|
Specifies the JSON property must be present under specified conditions
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"mandatory:[METHOD_POST,METHOD_PATCH]"` } |
required_with:expr       or +:expr
|
Specifies the JSON property is required according to the presence/non-presence of other properties (as determined by the expr )You can also control the violation message used when the property is required but missing using a required_with_msg: or +msg: tag token
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"required_with:bar && baz,+msg:'Sometimes foo is required'"` Bar string `json:"bar"` Baz string `json:"baz"` }Means the property foo is required when both bar and baz properties are presentUse +msg or required_with_msg to alter the message used when this constraint fails
(see also Required/Unwanted Properties for further notes and examples on expressions) |
unwanted_with:expr       or -:expr
|
Specifies the JSON property is unwanted according to the presence/non-presence of other properties (as determined by the expr )You can also control the violation message used when the property is present but unwanted using a unwanted_with_msg: or -msg: tag token
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"unwanted_with:bar || baz,-msg:'Sometimes foo is unwanted'"` Bar string `json:"bar"` Baz string `json:"baz"` }Means the property foo is unwanted when either the bar or baz properties are presentUse -msg or unwanted_with_msg to alter the message used when this constraint fails
(see also Required/Unwanted Properties for further notes and examples on expressions) |
notNull |
Specifies the JSON value for the property cannot be null
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"notNull"` } |
nullable |
Specifies the JSON value for the property can be null (opposite of notNull )
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"nullable"` } |
optional |
Specifies the JSON property does not have to be present (opposite of mandatory )
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"optional"` } |
order:n |
Specifies the order in which the property should be validated (only respected if parent object is tagged as obj.ordered or parent validator is set to OrderedPropertyChecks )
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"order:0"` Bar string `v8n:"order:1"` } |
only       or only:condition       or only:[condition,...]
|
Specifies that the property must not be present with other properties
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"only,mandatory"` Bar string `v8n:"only,mandatory"` Baz string `v8n:"only,mandatory"` }In the above example, a request with only one of the Foo , Bar or Baz will be valid - specifying more than one of those properties would cause a violation.Note that even though all three properties are mandatory - if only one of the properties is present, then the other mandatories are ignored. Use only_msg to alter the message used when this constraint fails
|
required |
same as mandatory
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"required"` } |
required:condition       or required:[condition,...]
|
same as mandatory:condition
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"required:[METHOD_POST,METHOD_PATCH]"` } |
stop_on_first       or stop1st
|
Specifies that property validation to stop at the first constraint violation found Note: This would be the equivalent of setting Stop on each constraint
Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"stop_on_first,&StringNotBlank{},&StringNotEmpty{}"` }In the above example, only one of the specified constraints would fail |
type:type
|
Specifies (overrides) the type expected for the JSON property value Where type must be one of (case-insensitive):Â Â Â string , number , integer , boolean , object , array or any
Exampletype Example struct { Foo json.Number `v8n:"type:integer"` } |
when:condition       or when:[condition,...]
|
Adds when condition(s) for the property - where condition is a condition token (that may have been set during validation)The property is only validated when these conditions are met (see Conditional Constraints) Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"when:YES_FOO"` } |
unwanted:condition       or unwanted:[condition,...]
|
Adds unwanted condition(s) for the property - where condition is a condition token (that may have been set during validation)If the unwanted condition(s) is met but the property is present then this is a validation violation (see Conditional Constraints) Exampletype Example struct { Foo string `v8n:"unwanted:NO_FOO"` } |
obj.ignoreUnknownProperties |
Sets an object (or array of objects) to ignore unknown properties (ignoring unknown properties means that the validator will not fail if an unknown property is found)
Exampletype Example struct { SubObj struct{ Foo string } `json:"subObj" v8n:"obj.ignoreUnknownProperties"` } |
obj.unknownProperties:true|false |
Sets whether an object is to allow/ignore (true ) or disallow (false ) unknown properties
Exampletype Example struct { SubObj struct{ Foo string } `json:"subObj" v8n:"obj.unknownProperties:false"` } |
obj.constraint:constraint-name{} |
Sets a constraint on an entire object or array
Exampletype Example struct { SubObj struct{ Foo string } `json:"subObj" v8n:"obj.constraint:Length{Minimum:1,Maximum:16}"` } |
obj.ordered |
Sets the object validator to check properties in order (same as Validator.OrderedPropertyChecks in Additional validator options)
Exampletype Example struct { SubObj struct{ Foo string `v8n:"order:0"` Bar string `v8n:"order:1"` } `v8n:"obj.ordered"` }the above will check the properties in order specified by their order: - whereas the following will check the properties in alphabetical order of name...
type Example struct { SubObj struct{ Foo string `json:"foo"` Bar string `json:"bar"` } `v8n:"obj.ordered"` } |
obj.when:condition       or obj.when:[condition,...]
|
Adds when condition(s) for the object or array - where condition is a condition token (that may have been set during validation)The object/array is only validated when these conditions are met (see Conditional Constraints) Exampletype Example struct { SubObj struct{ Foo string } `json:"subObj" v8n:"obj.when:YES_SUB"` } |
arr.allowNulls |
For array (slice) fields, specifies that array elements can be null
Exampletype Example struct { SubSlice []*struct { Foo string } `json:"subSlice" v8n:"arr.allowNulls"` } |
The v8n
tag can also support custom tokens which can be registered using valix.RegisterCustomTagToken
.
Any registered custom tag tokens can be used in the v8n
tag and will be processed when building a validator for a struct using valix.ValidatorFor
An example of how this is used can be found in examples/custom_tag_tokens_test.go
If you find that you're using the same v8n
tag tokens repeatedly - you can create aliases for these and then just reference the alias using a $
prefix.
An example of how this is used can be found in examples/tag_aliases_test.go
When specifying constraints in tags, especially with constraint args, the struct tags can become a little verbose. For example:
type MyStruct struct {
Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"&StringNoControlCharacters{},&StringUppercase{Message:'Upper only'},&StringLength{Minimum:10,Maximum:20,ExclusiveMin:true}"`
}
To overcome this, there are several things you can do:
- Where there are no args for the constraint, the
{}
at the end can be dropped - Where the constraint struct has only one field or has a default field (tagged with
`v8n:"default"`
) then the arg name can be dropped - The constraints registry has pre-defined abbreviated forms
- Constraint arg names can be abbreviated or shortened to closest matching name, e.g.
Message
can be abbreviated toMsg
ormsg
(case-insensitive, remove vowels, replace double-characters with single)Minimum
can be shortened toMin
ormin
(or any other variation that matches only one target field name)ExclusiveMin
can be shortened toexcMin
,exMin
,eMin
etc.
- Where a constraint field is a
bool
and setting it to true - the value (:true
) can be omitted
After those steps, the constraint tags would be:
type MyStruct struct {
Foo string `json:"foo" v8n:"&strnocc,&strupper{'Upper only'},&strlen{stp,min:10,max:20,excMin}"`
}
Valix has full I18n support for translating violation messages - which is both extensible and/or replaceable...
- Support for both language and region (e.g.
en
,en-GB
,en-US
,fr
andfr-CA
etc.) - Detection of request
Accept-Language
header
(when usingValidator.RequestValidate
orValidator.RequestValidateInto
) - Fallback language and region support
- e.g. if
fr-CA
was requested but no Canadian specific translation thenfr
is used - e.g. if
mt
(Maltese) is an unsupported language but you want the fallback language to beit
(Italian) then set this in thevalix.DefaultFallbackLanguages
variable, e.g.valix.DefaultFallbackLanguages["mt"] = "it"
- e.g. if
- Default runtime language and region changeable
(set varsvalix.DefaultLanguage
and/orvalix.DefaultRegion
) - Built-in
valix.DefaultTranslator
supports English, French, German, Italian and Spanish- more languages and regional variants can be added at runtime
- replace translator with your own (implementing
valix.Translator
interface)
- Completely replaceable I18n support (replace variable
valix.DefaultI18nProvider
with your own)