Multiple Validators in Xtext

Early validation of domain specific languages (DSLs) and suggestions on how to fix these errors ('quickfixes') are key for a good end user experience and for avoiding problems in the toolchain, for instance in generators that use DSL models: The more editor validations, the better. This description shows how to improve the maintainability and modularity of validation code for Xtext DSLs by simply splitting them. In the generated [MyDsl]JavaValidator, an annotation referring to other custom validators has to be added as shown below:

@ComposedChecks(validators =
        {MyCustomValidator.class, MyOthercustomValidator.class})
public class MyDslJavaValidator extends AbstractMyDslJavaValidator {

    // check method as usual inside the generated Java Validator
    @Check
    public void checkMyDslElement(MyEntity myEntity) { // ...

Please note that the custom validator has to override the register()-method. Apart from that, the checks look exactly as they would if they were in the generated validator.

// Example for a split custom validator written in Xtend
public class MyCustomValidator extends AbstractDeclarativeValidator {

    override register(EValidatorRegistrar registrar) {
        //not needed for classes used as ComposedCheck
    }

    // additional check method in separate validator
    @Check
    def void checkMyDslElement(MyEntity myEntity) {
       [...] // validation code