IValidot interface

[adambajguz]

It would be useful to have a IValidator interface with object based IsValid and Validate methods. Also the new interface can expose a SpecifiedType property to easily access the type the validator is validating. This new interface will allow a non-generic code (e.g. in ASP.NET Core) to easily validate models.

    public interface IValidator<T> : IValidator
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Quickly verifies whether the model is valid (according to the specification) or not.
        /// This is highly-optimized version of <see cref="IValidator{T}.Validate"/>, but it doesn't return any information about errors.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="model">The model to be validated.</param>
        /// <returns>True, if model is valid and there are no errors according to the specification. Otherwise - false.</returns>
        bool IsValid(T model);

        /// <summary>
        /// Validates the model against the specification. Returns <see cref="IValidationResult"/> object that contains full information about the errors found during the validation process.
        /// WARNING! The returned <see cref="IValidationResult"/> object is internally coupled with the instance of <see cref="IValidator{T}"/> that created it.
        /// It's safe to use its members to get the information you want and process them further, but don't cache the instance of <see cref="IValidationResult"/> itself or pass it around your system too much.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="model">The model to be validated.</param>
        /// <param name="failFast">If true, the validation process will stop after detecting the first error. Otherwise, full validation is performed.</param>
        /// <returns>Full information (in a form of <see cref="IValidationResult"/> about the errors found during the validation process, their location, messages and codes.</returns>
        IValidationResult Validate(T model, bool failFast = false);
    }

    public interface IValidator
    {
        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the type that is validated by the validator. It's T from IValidator{T}.
        /// </summary>
        Type SpecifiedType { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets settings of this <see cref="IValidator{T}"/> instance.
        /// </summary>
        IValidatorSettings Settings { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Gets the validation result that contains all possible paths and errors described in the specification.
        /// It's the specification in a form of <see cref="IValidationResult"/>.
        /// For collection, the path contains only '#' instead of the item's index.
        /// For reference loop's root, the error is replaced with the single message under the key 'Global.ReferenceLoop'.
        /// </summary>
        IValidationResult Template { get; }

        /// <summary>
        /// Quickly verifies whether the model is valid (according to the specification) or not.
        /// This is highly-optimized version of <see cref="IValidator{T}.Validate"/>, but it doesn't return any information about errors.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="model">The model to be validated.</param>
        /// <returns>True, if model is valid and there are no errors according to the specification. Otherwise - false.</returns>
        bool IsValid(object model);

        /// <summary>
        /// Validates the model against the specification. Returns <see cref="IValidationResult"/> object that contains full information about the errors found during the validation process.
        /// WARNING! The returned <see cref="IValidationResult"/> object is internally coupled with the instance of <see cref="IValidator{T}"/> that created it.
        /// It's safe to use its members to get the information you want and process them further, but don't cache the instance of <see cref="IValidationResult"/> itself or pass it around your system too much.
        /// </summary>
        /// <param name="model">The model to be validated.</param>
        /// <param name="failFast">If true, the validation process will stop after detecting the first error. Otherwise, full validation is performed.</param>
        /// <returns>Full information (in a form of <see cref="IValidationResult"/> about the errors found during the validation process, their location, messages and codes.</returns>
        IValidationResult Validate(object model, bool failFast = false);
    }

[bartoszlenar]

Hi @adambajguz , thank you for contribution.

Since it's a breaking change, I need to spend more time considering all aspects of it. Could you be more specific and provide an example where such generic-less IValidator interface would benefit the most? A situation where IValidator<T> is a pain and there is explicit need for just IValidator?

[adambajguz]

Hi @bartoszlenar, IValidator is useful when writing an integration with ASP.NET Core because model validation in ASP.NET Core doesn't use generics (more on that in #29). Also there is a HolderInfo class in Validot with CreateValidator() method that returns an object