Symfony 2.3: Validate Entity without form

Question

I have the following Entity with Assert Validation:

/**
* Appointment
*
* @ORM\Table(name="appointment")
* @ORM\Entity(repositoryClass="AppointmentBundle\Entity\AppointmentRepository")
* @ORM\HasLifecycleCallbacks
* @Gedmo\SoftDeleteable(fieldName="deletedAt", timeAware=false)
* @Assert\Callback(methods={"customValidation"}, groups={"step2"})
*/
class Appointment {
   /**
    * @var \DateTime
    * @Assert\NotNull(message="form.appointment.requestdate", groups={"step1"})
    * @ORM\Column(name="request_date", type="date")
    * @JMS\Type("DateTime<'Y-m-d'>")
    */
   private $requestDate;

   /**
    * @var string
    *
    * @ORM\Column(name="delivery_time", type="string", length=5)
    * @Assert\Length(max=5)
    */
    private $deliveryTime;

    ...

    /**
     * @var string
     * @Assert\NotBlank(groups={"step2"})
     * @ORM\Column(name="lastname", type="string", length=64)
     * @Assert\Length(groups={"step2"}, max=64)
     */
     private $lastname;
}

I use this validation with form-binding. But now, I just want to validate this entity without a form-binding like this:

$appointment = new Appointment();

$validator = $this->get('validator');
$errors = $validator->validate($appointment);

But I always retrieve zero errors? Also when I leave lastname blank. Do I miss something?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Lastname will only be checked against the NotBlank when you use step2 validation group.

Try this:

$errors = $validator->validate($appointment, array('step2'));