How to ensure certain format on property - validation

I'm wondering if it's possible to describe a format, that an interface property should have. For example:
interface User {
age?: number,
name: string,
birthdate: string // should have format 'YYYY-MM-DD'
}
I read about decorators but it seems to only apply to classes, not interfaces.
I'm building an API with node/express and want to have input validation. So I'm considering Celebrate which can take joi type Schema to validate input. But I would like to use TypeScript instead to define my Schema / view model... As you see I try to use an Interface to define how the input of a given end point should look like:
age: number, optional
name: string
birthdate: string in format "YYYY-MM-DD"
Any hints and help much appreciated :)

Any hints and help much appreciated :)
First and foremost : you will have to write code for the validation. It will not happen magically.
Two approaches:
Out of band validation
You use validate(obj) => {errors?}. You create a validate function that takes and object and tells you any errors if any. You can write such a function yourself quite easily.
In band validation
Instead of {birthdate:string} you have something like {birthdate:FieldState<string>} where FieldState maintains validations and errors for a particular field. This is approach taken by https://formstate.github.io/#/ but you can easily create something similar yourself.
A note on validators
I like validators as simple (value) => error? (value to optional error) as they can be framework agnostic and used / reused to death. This is the validator used by formstate as well. Of course this is just my opinion and you can experiment with what suits your needs 🌹

Related

graphql- same query with different arguments

Can the below be achieved with graph ql:
we have getusers() / getusers(id=3) / getusers(name='John). Can we use same query to accept different parameters (arguments)?
I assume you mean something like:
type Query {
getusers: [User]!
getusers(id: ID!): User
getusers(name: String!): User
}
IMHO the first thing to do is try. You should get an error saying that Query.getusers can only be defined once, which would answer your question right away.
Here's the actual spec saying that such a thing is not valid: http://facebook.github.io/graphql/June2018/#example-5e409
Quote:
Each named operation definition must be unique within a document when
referred to by its name.
Solution
From what I've seen, the most GraphQL'y way to create such an API is to define a filter input type, something like this:
input UserFilter {
ids: [ID]
names: [String]
}
and then:
type Query {
users(filter: UserFilter)
}
The resolver would check what filters were passed (if any) and query the data accordingly.
This is very simple and yet really powerful as it allows the client to query for an arbitrary number of users using an arbitrary filter. As a back-end developer you may add more options to UserFilter later on, including some pagination options and other cool things, while keeping the old API intact. And, of course, it is up to you how flexible you want this API to be.
But why is it like that?
Warning! I am assuming some things here and there, and might be wrong.
GraphQL is only a logical API layer, which is supposed to be server-agnostic. However, I believe that the original implementation was in JavaScript (citation needed). If you then consider the technical aspects of implementing a GraphQL API in JS, you might get an idea about why it is the way it is.
Each query points to a resolver function. In JS resolvers are simple functions stored inside plain objects at paths specified by the query/mutation/subscription name. As you may know, JS objects can't have more than one path with the same name. This means that you could only define a single resolver for a given query name, thus all three getusers would map to the same function Query.getusers(obj, args, ctx, info) anyway.
So even if GraphQL allowed for fields with the same name, the resolver would have to explicitly check for whatever arguments were passed, i.e. if (args.id) { ... } else if (args.name) { ... }, etc., thus partially defeating the point of having separate endpoints. On the other hand, there is an overall better (particularly from the client's perspective) way to define such an API, as demonstrated above.
Final note
GraphQL is conceptually different from REST, so it doesn't make sense to think in terms of three endpoints (/users, /users/:id and /users/:name), which is what I guess you were doing. A paradigm shift is required in order to unveil the full potential of the language.
a request of the type works:
Query {
first:getusers(),
second:getusers(id=3)
third:getusers(name='John)
}

1C Bitrix: property custom type

We have "Date/Time" property type in Bitrix. But there is no "Time" type.
I tried to google it but I get a bunch of code without comments and there is no explanations where I need to put it.
I also tried to search in Bitrix Market place but without success too.
Please help me to understand how to implement "Time" type for infoblock properties.
If you need just time - fastest workaround is to save time as usual string property.
In Bitrix best solution for this is not making custom property types and use types, that you alredy have.
If you need store "timestamp" (1472356615 - like this), make property with type "integer" and CODE like "TIME_OF_EVENT" (letters in code field must be capitalised).
If you need save string like this "23:45:59", better use "string" type.
If you want automated data validation, you can use Bitrix Event Handlers to check specific fields before updating elements in Infoblock.

Custom Symfony2 Validator Constraint Messages

I want to use custom error messages for validation constraints on dozens of fields in my project.
I do not want to set the message on every one of these, because that would be a blatant violation of DRY. Repeating the same string in every declaration like: #NotNull(message="custom msg") would mean that if I decide to change the message in the future I'd have to hunt them all down replace them, but even worse I might use the wrong string on some of them and be inconsistent.
How do you deal with this?
Is the best option really to extend every symfony stock constraint and set my default there, and use my own custom annotation class?
Please note that using the translator is not an option for me, so I am looking for a solution that does not include the symfony translation component.
Thanks a lot for the help in advance.
Assuming you are working with English as the app's language, and you've configured translator: { fallback: en }, you can override these constraint messages universally. Start by creating this file: app/Resources/translations/validators.en.yml
And use the following translation format:
This value should not be blank.: Your custom message here
Whatever the standard message is.: Another custom message
This also works for any other language setting, assuming you've made a validators.lang.yml for it!
You can also place this file in your bundle directory under Resources/translations, and a few other places.
You can read more about this here!

Silverlight 4: Localization of built-in data annotation validation exceptions

I would like use data annotations to handle validation in my Silverlight app. The built-in validation attributes (primarily StringLength and Required) are great, and make life very easy. However, they seem to have one critical flaw. If my locale is set to fr-CA, for example, the validation exceptions are still in English - 'The Name field is required', 'The field Name must be a string with a maximum length of 20', etc.
This is a major problem. It means that if I want localized error messages for the built-in validation attributes, I have to manually add ErrorMessage/ErrorMessageResourceType to every validation attribute on every validatable property in my business layer, and manually add translated strings for every error message.
So... am I missing something here? Is there a way to automatically have the built-in validation attributes localized? Or some other easier way of doing this? Or am I just completely out of luck, and stuck with the manual route?
Any comments or thoughts would be appreciated.
Ok, I got around this by simply subclassing the built-in validation attributes. Problem solved!
internal class LocalizedStringLengthAttribute : StringLengthAttribute
{
public LocalizedStringLengthAttribute(int maximumLength)
: base(maximumLength)
{
}
public override string FormatErrorMessage(string name)
{
return String.Format(CultureInfo.CurrentUICulture, LanguageResources.Resource.Error_StringLength, name, MaximumLength);
}
}

blacklisting vs whitelisting in form's input filtering and validation

which is the preferred approach in sanitizing inputs coming from the user?
thank you!
I think whitelisting is the desired approach, however I never met a real whitelist HTML form validation. For example here is a symfony 1.x form with validation from the documentation:
class ContactForm extends sfForm
{
protected static $subjects = array('Subject A', 'Subject B', 'Subject C');
public function configure()
{
$this->setWidgets(array(
'name' => new sfWidgetFormInput(),
'email' => new sfWidgetFormInput(),
'subject' => new sfWidgetFormSelect(array('choices' => self::$subjects)),
'message' => new sfWidgetFormTextarea(),
));
$this->widgetSchema->setNameFormat('contact[%s]');
$this->setValidators(array(
'name' => new sfValidatorString(array('required' => false)),
'email' => new sfValidatorEmail(),
'subject' => new sfValidatorChoice(array('choices' => array_keys(self::$subjects))),
'message' => new sfValidatorString(array('min_length' => 4)),
));
}
}
What you cannot see, that it accepts new inputs without validation settings and it does not check the presence of inputs which are not registered in the form. So this is a blacklist input validation. By whitelist you would define an input validator first, and only after that bind an input field to that validator. By a blacklist approach like this, it is easy to forget to add a validator to an input, and it works perfectly without that, so you would not notice the vulnerability, only when it is too late...
A hypothetical whitelist approach would look like something like this:
class ContactController {
/**
* #input("name", type = "string", singleLine = true, required = false)
* #input("email", type = "email")
* #input("subject", type = "string", alternatives = ['Subject A', 'Subject B', 'Subject C'])
* #input("message", type = "string", range = [4,])
*/
public function post(Inputs $inputs){
//automatically validates inputs
//throws error when an input is not on the list
//throws error when an input has invalid value
}
}
/**
* #controller(ContactController)
* #method(post)
*/
class ContactForm extends sfFormX {
public function configure(InputsMeta $inputs)
{
//automatically binds the form to the input list of the #controller.#method
//throws error when the #controller.#method.#input is not defined for a widget
$this->addWidgets(
new sfWidgetFormInput($inputs->name),
new sfWidgetFormInput($inputs->email),
new sfWidgetFormSelect($inputs->subject),
new sfWidgetFormTextarea($inputs->message)
);
$this->widgetSchema->setNameFormat('contact[%s]');
}
}
The best approach is to either use stored procedures or parameterized queries. White listing is an additional technique that is ok to prevent any injections before they reach the server, but should not be used as your primary defense. Black listing is usually a bad idea because it's usually impossible to filter out all malicious inputs.
BTW, this answer is considering you mean sanitizing as in preventing sql injection.
WL is a best practice against BL whenever it is practicable.
The reason is simple: you can't be reasonably safe enumerating what it is not permitted, an attacker could always find a way you did not think about. If you can, say what is allowed for sure, it is simpler and much much safer !
Let me explain your question with few more question and answer.
Blacklist VS Whitelist restriction
i. A Blacklist XSS and SQL Injection handling verifies a desired input against a list of negative input's. Basically one would compile a list of all the negative or bad conditions, and verifies that the input received is not one among the bad or negative conditions.
ii. A Whitelist XSS and SQL Injection handling verifies a desired input against a list of possible correct input's. To do this one would compile a list of all the good/positive input values/conditions, and verifies that the input received is one among the correct conditions.
Which one is better to have?
i. An attacker will use any possible means to gain access to your application. This includes trying all sort of negative or bad conditions, various encoding methods, and appending malicious input data to valid data. Do you think you can think of every possible bad permutation that could occur?
ii. A Whitelist is the best way to validate input. You will know exacty what is desired and that there is not any bad types accepted. Typically the best way to create a whitelist is with the use of regular expression's. Using regular expressions is a great way to abstract the whitelisting, instead of manually listing every possible correct value.
Build a good regular expression. Just because you are using a regular expression does not mean bad input will not be accepted. Make sure you test your regular expression and that invalid input cannot be accepted by your regular expression.
Personally, I gauge the number of allowed or disallowed characters and go from there. If there are more allowed chars than disallowed, then blacklist. Else whitelist. I don't believe that there is any 'standard' that says you should do it one way or the other.
BTW, this answer is assuming you want to limit inputs into form fields such as phone numbers or names :) #posterBelow
As a general rule it's best to use whitelist validation since it's easier to accept only characters you know should go there, for example if you have a field where the user inputs his/her phone number you could just do a regex and check that the values received are only numbers, drop everything else and just store the numbers. Note that you should proceed to validate the resulting numbers as well. Blacklist validation is weaker because a skilled attacker could evade your validation functions or send values that your function did not expect, from OWASP "Sanitize with Blacklist":
Eliminate or translate characters (such as to HTML entities or to remove quotes) in an effort to make the input "safe". Like blacklists, this approach requires maintenance and is usually incomplete. As most fields have a particular grammar, it is simpler, faster, and more secure to simply validate a single correct positive test than to try to include complex and slow sanitization routines for all current and future attacks.
Realize that this validation is just a first front defense against attacks. For XSS you should always "Escape" your output so you can print any character's needed but they are escaped meaning that they are changed to their HTML entity and thus the browser knows it's data and not something that the parser should interpret thus effectively shutting down all XSS attacks. For SQL injections escape all data before storing it, try to never use dynamic queries as they are the easiest type of query to exploit. Try to use parameterized store procedures. Also remember to use connections relevant to what the connection has to do. If the connection only needs to read data, create a db account with only "Read" privileges this depends mostly on the roles of the users. For more information please check the links from where this information was extracted from:
Data Validation OWASP
Guide to SQL Injection OWASP
The answer generally is, it depends.
For inputs with clearly defined parameters (say the equivalent of a dropdown menu), I would whitelist the options and ignore anything that wasn't one of those.
For free-text inputs, it's significantly more difficult. I subscribe to the school of thought that you should just filter it as best you can so it's as safe as possible (escape HTML, etc). Some other suggestions would be to specifically disallow any invalid input - however, while this might protect against attacks, it might also affect usability for genuine users.
I think it's just a case of finding the blend that works for you. I can't think of any one solution that would work for all possibilities. Mostly it depends on your userbase.

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