Graph validation

The bean validation API also supports graph validation, which means that if some object is referencing another one, you can define a constraint that your embedded object should also be validated from the owner's one context, according to the constraints defined in the embedded object.

Let's try this with an example; we will define a Producer class with a constraint on the name attribute as follows:

public class Producer { 
 
    @NotNull 
    private String name; 
 
    // setters and getters here 
 
} 

Then, we will modify our Movie object so it references an instance of the Producer object, as follows:

public class Movie { 
 
    @NotNull 
    private String title; 
    @Valid 
    private Producer producer; 
 
    public Movie() { 
    } 
    // setters and getters here 
} 

Note the @Valid attribute; it tells the bean validator that when validating the Movie object, the Producer object should also be validated.

Now, let's try to create a movie and producer objects with null...