The new modular approach of ColdBox 4.0 means much of its built-in functionality has been moved to separate, installable modules. One of the many new modules introduced with ColdBox 4.0 is the Validation Module. To install, simply fire up CommandBox:

box install cbvalidation

This module replaces the previously-inbuilt validation functionality of ColdBox and the validator Plugin. The ValidationManager is still available under this WireBox mapping: ValidationManager@cbvalidation. It gives you the following methods in every handler, view, layout, etc:

• validateModel()
• getValidationManager()

If you aren't familiar, ColdBox's Validation Module provides you with a unified approach to object validation. It is based it on several interfaces, so you can also use any validation framework in your ColdBox applications as long as they implement the required interfaces. Hyrule by Dan Vega is the easiest to port as it was the framework that inspired us. ColdBox validation allows you to declaratively specify validation rules for properties or fields in an object. The constraints can exist inside of the target object or you can define constraints in your ColdBox configuration file so you can reuse validation constraints or as we call them: shared constraints.

component persistent="true"{
	 
	...

	// Validation
	this.constraints = {
		fname = { required = true },
		lname = { required = true},
		username = {required=true, size=6-10},
		password = {required=true, size=6-8},
		email = {required=true, type="email"},
		age = {required=true, type="numeric", min=18}
	};
}

Below are all the currently supported constraints:

propertyName = {
	// required field or not, includes null values
	required : boolean [false],
	
	// specific type constraint, one in the list.
	type  : (ssn,email,url,alpha,boolean,date,usdate,eurodate,numeric,GUID,UUID,integer,string,telephone,
                zipcode,ipaddress,creditcard,binary,component,query,struct,json,xml)

	// size or length of the value which can be a (struct,string,array,query)
	size  : numeric or range, eg: 10 or 6..8
	
	// range is a range of values the property value should exist in
	range : eg: 1..10 or 5..-5
	
	// regex validation
	regex : valid no case regex
	
	// same as another property
	sameAs : propertyName
	
	// same as but with no case
	sameAsNoCase : propertyName
	
	// value in list
	inList : list
	
	// discrete math modifiers
	discrete : (gt,gte,lt,lte,eq,neq):value
	
	// UDF to use for validation, must return boolean accept the incoming value and target object, validate(value,target):boolean
	udf = variables.UDF or this.UDF or a closure.
	
	// Validation method to use in the target object must return boolean accept the incoming value and target object 
	method : methodName
	
	// Custom validator, must implement coldbox.system.validation.validators.IValidator
	validator : path or wirebox id, example: 'mypath.MyValidator' or 'id:MyValidator'
	
	// min value
	min : value
	
	// max value
	max : value
}