README

PHP 8 attribute-based validator for value objects and DTOs. Annotate public properties with reusable attributes (e.g. #[Text(min: 3)], #[Number(max: 10)]) and let the Validation orchestrator return a field-to-error map with localized messages.

Installation

Requires PHP >= 8.0. Install with Composer:

composer require javeh/class-validator

Unit tests use PHPUnit 11; to run them locally the dev dependency is already declared in composer.json.

Optional Dependencies

• PCOV or Xdebug if you want code coverage (vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-text).

Getting Started

use Javeh\ClassValidator\Validation;
use Javeh\ClassValidator\Attributes as Assert;

class UserInput
{
    #[Assert\NotEmpty]
    #[Assert\Text(min: 3, max: 50)]
    public string $name;

    #[Assert\Email]
    public string $email;

    #[Assert\Number(min: 1, max: 5, integer: true)]
    public int $priority;
}

$input = new UserInput();
$input->name = '';
$input->email = 'nope';
$input->priority = 10;

$validation = new Validation();
$errors = $validation->validate($input);

$errors returns an array like:

[
    'name' => ['The value may not be empty.'],
    'email' => ['The value must be a valid email address.'],
    'priority' => ['The number must be less than or equal to 5.'],
]

Attribute Catalog

Add new attributes by implementing Contracts\ValidationAttribute.

Localization

Messages are translated through the Translation contract. By default Validation bootstraps an ArrayTranslation with German output and English fallback plus 23 other European languages (resources/lang/*.php). To change the language:

use Javeh\ClassValidator\Support\ArrayTranslation;
use Javeh\ClassValidator\Validation;

$translator = ArrayTranslation::withDefaults('en');
$translator->extend('en', ['validation.email' => 'Please enter a valid email.']);

$validation = new Validation($translator); // use translator explicitly

See docs/translation.md for custom parser/locale examples.

Advanced Usage

• Custom translations: update locale files or call $translator->extend() / $translator->addLocale() to adjust copy without touching attribute constructors.
• Optional fields: validators treat null as "not set" (returns true) except NotEmpty. Combine #[NotEmpty] with other attributes for mandatory fields.
• Multiple validators per property: errors are collected in the order attributes are declared.
• Integration tests/examples: check tests/Integration/ValidationIntegrationTest.php for realistic DTO flows.

Running Tests

vendor/bin/phpunit
vendor/bin/phpunit --coverage-text # coverage (requires pcov/xdebug)

CI/deployment is not bundled, but the suite is fast (dozens of tests) and covers ~84% of the codebase.

License

MIT (see LICENSE if present). Pull requests welcome!