[hibernate-dev] Re: Groups are represented by interfaces

Hi, another question. The spec says that groups are interfaces, but it is not specific about what happens if non interface classes are passed to validate: /** * Validates all constraints on object. * * @param object object to validate * @param groups groups targeted for validation * (default to {@link javax.validation.groups.Default}) * * @return constraint violations or an empty Set if none * * @throws IllegalArgumentException if object is null * @throws ValidationException if a non recoverable error happens * during the validation process */ <T> Set<ConstraintViolation<T>> validate(T object, Class<?>... groups); Should an IllegalArgumentException be thrown if the class is not an interface?

Related to this: "Since sequences cannot have circular dependencies, using Default in the declaration of a sequence is not an op- tion. Constraints hosted on a class A and belonging to the Default group (by default or explicitly) implicitly belong to the group A." Does this imply I should be able to call Validator.validate(aInstance, A.class)? That would violate the statement that groups are interfaces. Is group A just a "conceptual" group?

--Hardy