[bv-dev] @Valid and group translation

Hi all, I'm looking for some input on an idea I got regarding group translation. When discussing the issue [1] we agreed that the groups to be converted should be specified with a new annotation instead of directly within @Valid. So that's what we have right now: public class User { @Valid @ConvertGroup(from = Default.class, to = BasicContact.class) private final Contact contact = new Contact(); } IIRC the primary reason was that this new annotation could be re-used in other places. IMO having a separate annotation is the right way, but WDYT about specifying this annotation within instead of next to @Valid: @Valid(conversions= @ConvertGroup(from = Default.class, to = BasicContact.class ) private final Contact contact = new Contact(); This would still allow to reuse the annotation, but avoids situations where @ConvertGroup is given without @Valid. It also makes very clear what's subject of the conversion (which might not be that obvious if the given element hosts some more annotations). On the down-side the "inner" annotation syntax is not that elegant, although it's actually shorter when specifying multiple conversions: @Valid(conversions={ @ConvertGroup(from = Default.class, to = BasicContact.class), @ConvertGroup(from = Full.class, to = FullContact.class) }) private final Contact contact = new Contact(); vs. @Valid @ConvertGroup.List({ @ConvertGroup(from = Default.class, to = BasicContact.class), @ConvertGroup(from = Full.class, to = FullContact.class) }) private final Contact contact = new Contact(); This could be further mitigated by naming the attribute "value", although I'm a bit shy of allocating that default attribute. If we already discussed (and rejected) this particular approach, please ignore this mail, otherwise any feedback is appreciated :) --Gunnar [1] https://hibernate.onjira.com/browse/BVAL-208