[hibernate-issues] [Hibernate-JIRA] Updated: (HV-18) Request for Expression Language (EL) for Validator annotations

Request for Expression Language (EL) for Validator annotations -------------------------------------------------------------- Key: HV-18 URL: http://opensource.atlassian.com/projects/hibernate/browse/HV-18 Project: Hibernate Validator Issue Type: New Feature Components: validators Environment: All Reporter: Chris Hansen Original Estimate: 8 weeks Remaining Estimate: 8 weeks Since annotations are limited to primitive types, I would like to see a type of EL for the Validator annotations (similar to the JSF/JSP EL). This would effectively overcome this limitation of annotations and allow for very powerful functionality, such as utilizing the natural ordering of classes. For example: @Range(min="#{MyClass.MIN_OBJECT}", max="#{MyClass.MAX_OBJECT}") public MyClass getCurrent() Assuming MIN_OBJECT and MAX_OBJECT are (static, final) instances of MyClass and MyClass implements Comparable<myClass>, the validator could compare the return value of the method with both MIN_OBJECT and MAX_OBJECT and validate that it is within the desired range. This is just an example. I'm sure there are many more interesting uses possible because this is a powerful concept. The regular functionality of the annotatinos could be preserved by treating static (non-EL) values, such as the string "0", as old-style primitives, e.g. @Min(value="0").