I know you are thinking (or maybe yelling), "not another question asking where validation belongs in a layered architecture?!?" Well, yes, but hopefully this will be a little bit of a different take on the subject.
I am a firm believer that validation takes many forms, is context-based and varies at each level of the architecture. That is the basis for the post - helping to identify what type of validation should be performed in each layer. In addition, a question that often comes up is where authorization checks belong.
The example scenario comes from an application for a catering business. Periodically during the day, a driver may turn in to the office any excess cash they've accumulated while taking the truck from site to site. The application allows a user to record the 'cash drop' by collecting the driver's ID, and the amount. Here's some skeleton code to illustrate the layers involved:
public class CashDropApi // This is in the Service Facade Layer
{
[WebInvoke(Method = "POST")]
public void AddCashDrop(NewCashDropContract contract)
{
// 1
Service.AddCashDrop(contract.Amount, contract.DriverId);
}
}
public class CashDropService // This is the Application Service in the Domain Layer
{
public void AddCashDrop(Decimal amount, Int32 driverId)
{
// 2
CommandBus.Send(new AddCashDropCommand(amount, driverId));
}
}
internal class AddCashDropCommand // This is a command object in Domain Layer
{
public AddCashDropCommand(Decimal amount, Int32 driverId)
{
// 3
Amount = amount;
DriverId = driverId;
}
public Decimal Amount { get; private set; }
public Int32 DriverId { get; private set; }
}
internal class AddCashDropCommandHandler : IHandle<AddCashDropCommand>
{
internal ICashDropFactory Factory { get; set; } // Set by IoC container
internal ICashDropRepository CashDrops { get; set; } // Set by IoC container
internal IEmployeeRepository Employees { get; set; } // Set by IoC container
public void Handle(AddCashDropCommand command)
{
// 4
var driver = Employees.GetById(command.DriverId);
// 5
var authorizedBy = CurrentUser as Employee;
// 6
var cashDrop = Factory.CreateCashDrop(command.Amount, driver, authorizedBy);
// 7
CashDrops.Add(cashDrop);
}
}
public class CashDropFactory
{
public CashDrop CreateCashDrop(Decimal amount, Employee driver, Employee authorizedBy)
{
// 8
return new CashDrop(amount, driver, authorizedBy, DateTime.Now);
}
}
public class CashDrop // The domain object (entity)
{
public CashDrop(Decimal amount, Employee driver, Employee authorizedBy, DateTime at)
{
// 9
...
}
}
public class CashDropRepository // The implementation is in the Data Access Layer
{
public void Add(CashDrop item)
{
// 10
...
}
}
I've indicated 10 locations where I've seen validation checks placed in code. My question is what checks you would, if any, be performing at each given the following business rules (along with standard checks for length, range, format, type, etc):
- The amount of the cash drop must be greater than zero.
- The cash drop must have a valid Driver.
- The current user must be authorized to add cash drops (current user is not the driver).
Please share your thoughts, how you have or would approach this scenario and the reasons for your choices.
CashDropAmountvalue object rather than using aDecimal. Checking whether the driver exists or not would be done in the command handler and the same goes for authorization rules. You could get authorization for free by doing something likeApprover approver = approverService.findById(employeeId)where it throws if the employee in not in the approver role.Approverwould just be a value object, not an entity. You could also get rid of your factory or use factory method on an AR instead:cashDrop = driver.dropCash(...).