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-rw-r--r--activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb23
1 files changed, 17 insertions, 6 deletions
diff --git a/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb b/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb
index 9219d87f5a..518b59e433 100644
--- a/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb
+++ b/activerecord/lib/active_record/validations.rb
@@ -259,6 +259,8 @@ module ActiveRecord
end
+ # Please do have a look at ActiveRecord::Validations::ClassMethods for a higher level of validations.
+ #
# Active Records implement validation by overwriting Base#validate (or the variations, +validate_on_create+ and
# +validate_on_update+). Each of these methods can inspect the state of the object, which usually means ensuring
# that a number of attributes have a certain value (such as not empty, within a given range, matching a certain regular expression).
@@ -297,8 +299,6 @@ module ActiveRecord
# person.save # => true (and person is now saved in the database)
#
# An Errors object is automatically created for every Active Record.
- #
- # Please do have a look at ActiveRecord::Validations::ClassMethods for a higher level of validations.
module Validations
VALIDATIONS = %w( validate validate_on_create validate_on_update )
@@ -313,15 +313,26 @@ module ActiveRecord
base.define_callbacks *VALIDATIONS
end
- # Active Record models can implement validations using three styles. The most high-level, easiest to read,
- # and recommended approach is to use the declarative <tt>validates_...</tt> class methods documented below.
- # At a lower level, a model can use the class methods +validate+, +validate_on_create+ and +validate_on_update+.
+ # Active Record classes can implement validations in several ways. The highest level, easiest to read,
+ # and recommended approach is to use the declarative <tt>validates_..._of</tt> class methods (and
+ # +validates_associated+) documented below. These are sufficient for most model validations.
+ #
+ # Slightly lower level is +validates_each+. It provides some of the same options as the purely declarative
+ # validation methods, but like all the lower-level approaches it requires manually adding to the errors collection
+ # when the record is invalid.
+ #
+ # At a yet lower level, a model can use the class methods +validate+, +validate_on_create+ and +validate_on_update+
+ # to add validation methods or blocks. These are ActiveSupport::Callbacks and follow the same rules of inheritance
+ # and chaining.
+ #
# The lowest level style is to define the instance methods +validate+, +validate_on_create+ and +validate_on_update+
# as documented in ActiveRecord::Validations.
#
# == +validate+, +validate_on_create+ and +validate_on_update+ Class Methods
#
- # Calls to these methods add a validation method or block to the class.
+ # Calls to these methods add a validation method or block to the class. Again, this approach is recommended
+ # only when the higher-level methods documented below (<tt>validates_..._of</tt> and +validates_associated+) are
+ # insufficient to handle the required validation.
#
# This can be done with a symbol pointing to a method:
#