NHibernate.Validator: when saving entity, my custom messages aren't available, how can I get them?

Question

I'm using NHibernate.Validator with the Loquacious ValidationDef configuration style. For all my rules I use WithMessage to set a custom message when the value is invalid. The messages are codes that I use to lookup the correct message to display, depending on context and language.

I can get these messages when calling ValidatorEngine.Validate(entity), but when saving an entity with NHibernate, I get an InvalidStateException with no details on why it's invalid.

So, how can I get to my validation messages after catching an InvalidStateException thrown during an NHibernate save?

Answer 1

The messages are in the exception, only a method call away. You need to call GetInvalidValues() on the exception.

try
{
    // Flush NHibernate to invoke event listeners
}
catch (InvalidStateException invalidStateException)
{
    InvalidValue[] invalidValues = invalidStateException.GetInvalidValues();
    Console.WriteLine(string.Join<InvalidValue>("\n", invalidValues));
}

The reason they did not put it directly into Message of the exception, is probably because there can be multiple validation results.