c# - Conditionally required property using data annotations

Question

I have a class like this:

public class Document
{
   public int DocumentType{get;set;}

   [Required]
   public string Name{get;set;}

   [Required]
   public string Name2{get;set;}
}

Now if I put a [Required] data annotation on the Name and Name2 properties, then everything is ok and if Name or Name2 are empty, validation will throw an error.

But I want Name field only to be required if DocumentType is equal to 1 and Name2 only required if DocumentType is equal to 2 .

public class Document
{
   public int DocumentType{get;set;}

   [Required(Expression<Func<object, bool>>)]
   public string Name{get;set;}

   [Required(Expression<Func<object, bool>>)]
   public string Name2{get;set;}
}

but I know I can't, it causes an error. What should I do for this requirement?

Answer 1

RequiredIf validation attribute

I've written a RequiredIfAttribute that requires a particular property value when a different property has a certain value (what you require) or when a different property has anything but a specific value.

This is the code that may help:

/// <summary>
/// Provides conditional validation based on related property value.
/// </summary>
[AttributeUsage(AttributeTargets.Property, AllowMultiple = false)]
public sealed class RequiredIfAttribute : ValidationAttribute
{
    #region Properties

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the other property name that will be used during validation.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>
    /// The other property name.
    /// </value>
    public string OtherProperty { get; private set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the display name of the other property.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>
    /// The display name of the other property.
    /// </value>
    public string OtherPropertyDisplayName { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets the other property value that will be relevant for validation.
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>
    /// The other property value.
    /// </value>
    public object OtherPropertyValue { get; private set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets or sets a value indicating whether other property's value should match or differ from provided other property's value (default is <c>false</c>).
    /// </summary>
    /// <value>
    ///   <c>true</c> if other property's value validation should be inverted; otherwise, <c>false</c>.
    /// </value>
    /// <remarks>
    /// How this works
    /// - true: validated property is required when other property doesn't equal provided value
    /// - false: validated property is required when other property matches provided value
    /// </remarks>
    public bool IsInverted { get; set; }

    /// <summary>
    /// Gets a value that indicates whether the attribute requires validation context.
    /// </summary>
    /// <returns><c>true</c> if the attribute requires validation context; otherwise, <c>false</c>.</returns>
    public override bool RequiresValidationContext
    {
        get { return true; }
    }

    #endregion

    #region Constructor

    /// <summary>
    /// Initializes a new instance of the <see cref="RequiredIfAttribute"/> class.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="otherProperty">The other property.</param>
    /// <param name="otherPropertyValue">The other property value.</param>
    public RequiredIfAttribute(string otherProperty, object otherPropertyValue)
        : base("'{0}' is required because '{1}' has a value {3}'{2}'.")
    {
        this.OtherProperty = otherProperty;
        this.OtherPropertyValue = otherPropertyValue;
        this.IsInverted = false;
    }

    #endregion

    /// <summary>
    /// Applies formatting to an error message, based on the data field where the error occurred.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="name">The name to include in the formatted message.</param>
    /// <returns>
    /// An instance of the formatted error message.
    /// </returns>
    public override string FormatErrorMessage(string name)
    {
        return string.Format(
            CultureInfo.CurrentCulture,
            base.ErrorMessageString,
            name,
            this.OtherPropertyDisplayName ?? this.OtherProperty,
            this.OtherPropertyValue,
            this.IsInverted ? "other than " : "of ");
    }

    /// <summary>
    /// Validates the specified value with respect to the current validation attribute.
    /// </summary>
    /// <param name="value">The value to validate.</param>
    /// <param name="validationContext">The context information about the validation operation.</param>
    /// <returns>
    /// An instance of the <see cref="T:System.ComponentModel.DataAnnotations.ValidationResult" /> class.
    /// </returns>
    protected override ValidationResult IsValid(object value, ValidationContext validationContext)
    {
        if (validationContext == null)
        {
            throw new ArgumentNullException("validationContext");
        }

        PropertyInfo otherProperty = validationContext.ObjectType.GetProperty(this.OtherProperty);
        if (otherProperty == null)
        {
            return new ValidationResult(
                string.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentCulture, "Could not find a property named '{0}'.", this.OtherProperty));
        }

        object otherValue = otherProperty.GetValue(validationContext.ObjectInstance);

        // check if this value is actually required and validate it
        if (!this.IsInverted && object.Equals(otherValue, this.OtherPropertyValue) ||
            this.IsInverted && !object.Equals(otherValue, this.OtherPropertyValue))
        {
            if (value == null)
            {
                return new ValidationResult(this.FormatErrorMessage(validationContext.DisplayName));
            }

            // additional check for strings so they're not empty
            string val = value as string;
            if (val != null && val.Trim().Length == 0)
            {
                return new ValidationResult(this.FormatErrorMessage(validationContext.DisplayName));
            }
        }

        return ValidationResult.Success;
    }
}