How to create Custom Data Annotation Validators

Question

Wanting to create custom data annotation validation. Are there any useful guides / samples on how to create them?

Firstly:
StringLength with minimum and maximum length. I'm aware .NET 4 can do this, but want to do the same in .NET 3.5, if possible being able to define minimum length only (at least x chars), maximum length only (up to x chars), or both (between x and y chars).

Secondly:
Validation using modulus arithmetic - if the number is a valid length, I wish to validate using the Modulus 11 algorithm (I have already implemented it in JavaScript, so I guess it would just be a simple porting?)

Update:
Solved second problem, was just a case of copying over the JavaScript implementation and making a few tweaks, so don't need a solution for that.

Answer 1

To create a custom data annotation validator follow these gudelines:

1. Your class has to inherit from System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.ValidationAttribute class.
2. Override bool IsValid(object value) method and implement validation logic inside it.

That's it.

IMPORTANT Caution

Sometimes developers check that value is not null/empty and return false. This is usually incorrect behaviour, because that's on Required validator to check which means that your custom validators should only validate non-null data but return true otherwise (see example). This will make them usable on mandatory (required) and non-mandatory fields.

Example

public class StringLengthRangeAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
    public int Minimum { get; set; }
    public int Maximum { get; set; }

    public StringLengthRangeAttribute()
    {
        this.Minimum = 0;
        this.Maximum = int.MaxValue;
    }

    public override bool IsValid(object value)
    {
        string strValue = value as string;
        if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(strValue))
        {
            int len = strValue.Length;
            return len >= this.Minimum && len <= this.Maximum;
        }
        return true;
    }
}

All properties can be set in attribute as you wish to set them.
Some examples:

[Required]
[StringLengthRange(Minimum = 10, ErrorMessage = "Must be >10 characters.")]

[StringLengthRange(Maximum = 20)]

[Required]
[StringLengthRange(Minimum = 10, Maximum = 20)]

When a particular property isn't set, its value is set in the constructor, so it always has a value. In above usage examples I deliberately added the Required validator as well, so it's in sync with the above caution I've written.

Important

So this validator will still work on your model value that's not required, but when it's present it validates (think of a text field in a web form, that's not required, but if a user enters a value in, it has to be valid).