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This project provides advanced validation support.

There is a newer version: 8.7.0

/* Copyright (c) The m-m-m Team, Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0
 * http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0 */
package net.sf.mmm.util.validation.api;

import java.util.Locale;

import net.sf.mmm.util.lang.api.Message;

/**
 * This is the interface for a failure of a {@link ValueValidator#validate(Object) validation}.
 *
 * @author Joerg Hohwiller (hohwille at users.sourceforge.net)
 * @since 3.0.0
 */
public interface ValidationFailure extends Message {

  /**
   * This method gets the (optional) {@link ValueValidator#validate(Object, Object) source} of the validation. It
   * describes the origin of the given {@code value}. This may be the filename where the value was read from, an XPath
   * where the value was located in an XML document, etc. It can be used to enrich {@link #getMessage() messages}
   * displayed to end-users. This will help to find the problem easier.
   *
   * @return the source or {@code null} if NOT available.
   */
  @Override
  String getSource();

  /**
   * This method gets the message of the validation failure. This is a localized text displayed to end-users. It should
   * explain the reason of the failure in a understandable but short form. 

   * Some examples are "This field may not be blank." or "This value has to be in the range from 5 to 9.". Depending on
   * the {@link ValueValidator#validate(Object, Object) usage} the message may also contain the name of the field or
   * other context information in order to determine the source of the problem.
   *
   * @return the message.
   */
  @Override
  String getMessage();

  /**
   * This method gets the {@link #getMessage() message} localized for the given {@link Locale}. 

   * ATTENTION:

   * This method is designed for server applications with NLS. On client side (e.g. for GWT clients) only a single
   * locale may be supported at a time and this method will behave like {@link #getMessage()} ignoring the lcoale.
   *
   * @param locale is the {@link Locale}.
   * @return the message.
   */
  @Override
  String getMessage(Locale locale);

  /**
   * This method gets the code of this {@link ValidationFailure}. The code is a stable identifier that
   * indicates the type of the failure. It can be used for automated testing in order to make the test-cases independent
   * from the actual message texts so they are maintainable and will not break e.g. if typos are fixed in the messages.
   *
   * @return the failure code.
   */
  @Override
  String getCode();

}