In this article, we will show you how to validate the submitted form values with Spring validator and Hibernate Validator (bean validation).

Technologies used :

1. Spring 4.1.6.RELEASE
2. Hibernate Validator 5.1.3.Final

1. Hibernate Validator

The Hibernate validator will be fired if @Valid is provided.

import org.hibernate.validator.constraints.NotEmpty;
public class User {
	@NotEmpty
	String name;
	//...

	@RequestMapping(value = "/users", method = RequestMethod.POST)
	public String saveOrUpdateUser(
		@ModelAttribute("userForm") @Valid User user,
		BindingResult result, Model model) {
		if (result.hasErrors()) {
			//...
		} else {
			//...

2. Spring Validator

If you enabled the Spring validator via @InitBinder, the Hibernate bean validation will be ignore.

public class UserFormValidator implements Validator {
	@Override
	public boolean supports(Class<?> clazz) {
		return User.class.equals(clazz);
	@Override
	public void validate(Object target, Errors errors) {
		User user = (User) target;
		//validate something else

@Controller
public class UserController {
	 @InitBinder
	 protected void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) {
	 	binder.setValidator(new UserFormValidator());

3. Hibernate Validator + Spring Validator

To have both Hibernate and Spring validator. Remove the @InitBinder and fire the Spring validator manually.

@Controller
public class UserController {
	 /*@InitBinder
	 protected void initBinder(WebDataBinder binder) {
	 	binder.setValidator(new UserFormValidator());
	 }*/
	@RequestMapping(value = "/users", method = RequestMethod.POST)
	public String saveOrUpdateUser(
		@ModelAttribute("userForm") @Valid User user,
		BindingResult result, Model model) {
		//run Spring validator manually
		new UserFormValidator().validate(user, result);
		if (result.hasErrors()) {
			//...
		} else {
			//...

In the above example, the submitted “userForm” model will first validate by Hibernate validator, then follow by Spring validator.

References

1. Validation, Data Binding, and Type Conversion
2. Validating Form Input