--- /dev/null
+<?php
+
+/*
+ * This file is part of the Symfony package.
+ *
+ * (c) Fabien Potencier <fabien@symfony.com>
+ *
+ * For the full copyright and license information, please view the LICENSE
+ * file that was distributed with this source code.
+ */
+
+namespace Symfony\Component\Validator\Validator;
+
+use Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraint;
+use Symfony\Component\Validator\ConstraintViolationListInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Validator\Context\ExecutionContextInterface;
+use Symfony\Component\Validator\Mapping\Factory\MetadataFactoryInterface;
+
+/**
+ * Validates PHP values against constraints.
+ *
+ * @author Bernhard Schussek <bschussek@gmail.com>
+ */
+interface ValidatorInterface extends MetadataFactoryInterface
+{
+ /**
+ * Validates a value against a constraint or a list of constraints.
+ *
+ * If no constraint is passed, the constraint
+ * {@link \Symfony\Component\Validator\Constraints\Valid} is assumed.
+ *
+ * @param mixed $value The value to validate
+ * @param Constraint|Constraint[] $constraints The constraint(s) to validate
+ * against
+ * @param array|null $groups The validation groups to
+ * validate. If none is given,
+ * "Default" is assumed
+ *
+ * @return ConstraintViolationListInterface A list of constraint violations
+ * If the list is empty, validation
+ * succeeded
+ */
+ public function validate($value, $constraints = null, $groups = null);
+
+ /**
+ * Validates a property of an object against the constraints specified
+ * for this property.
+ *
+ * @param object $object The object
+ * @param string $propertyName The name of the validated property
+ * @param array|null $groups The validation groups to validate. If
+ * none is given, "Default" is assumed
+ *
+ * @return ConstraintViolationListInterface A list of constraint violations
+ * If the list is empty, validation
+ * succeeded
+ */
+ public function validateProperty($object, $propertyName, $groups = null);
+
+ /**
+ * Validates a value against the constraints specified for an object's
+ * property.
+ *
+ * @param object|string $objectOrClass The object or its class name
+ * @param string $propertyName The name of the property
+ * @param mixed $value The value to validate against the
+ * property's constraints
+ * @param array|null $groups The validation groups to validate. If
+ * none is given, "Default" is assumed
+ *
+ * @return ConstraintViolationListInterface A list of constraint violations
+ * If the list is empty, validation
+ * succeeded
+ */
+ public function validatePropertyValue($objectOrClass, $propertyName, $value, $groups = null);
+
+ /**
+ * Starts a new validation context and returns a validator for that context.
+ *
+ * The returned validator collects all violations generated within its
+ * context. You can access these violations with the
+ * {@link ContextualValidatorInterface::getViolations()} method.
+ *
+ * @return ContextualValidatorInterface The validator for the new context
+ */
+ public function startContext();
+
+ /**
+ * Returns a validator in the given execution context.
+ *
+ * The returned validator adds all generated violations to the given
+ * context.
+ *
+ * @param ExecutionContextInterface $context The execution context
+ *
+ * @return ContextualValidatorInterface The validator for that context
+ */
+ public function inContext(ExecutionContextInterface $context);
+}