Derrick Rapley Maryland CFUG October 8, 2002

Agenda What is cf_datavalidate? Why use server-side validation? How to use cf_datavalidate Syntax Displaying Error Messages Using Custom Validation

What is cf_datavalidate? cf_datavalidate is a custom tag that performs server-side data validation Requires use of child tag cf_dataValidateItem Easy to use Minimizes the amount of code needed to perform validation Keeps track of error messages Handle custom validation

Why use server-side validation? To prevent potential malicious attacks To prevent bad data from being entered into the database Client side validation is useless when JavaScript is turned off. (including CFFORM)

cf_datavalidate cf_datavalidate is the parent tag Must have end tag Requires two parameters 1. OUTPUT (required) – the variable you want the error messages stored in 2. TYPE (optional) – the type of variable for OUTPUT, QUERY or STRUCTURE (default is QUERY)

cf_dataValidateItem Must be encapsulated by cf_datavalidate Parameters vary upon the TYPE of validation TYPE and MESSAGE are required for all Types

cf_dataValidateItem - Types Required Numeric SimpleValue LenLT LenGT Range Compare Space Repex 3of4 Date DateCompare DateRange DateGT DateLT

Displaying Errors Depends on the specified TYPE in the parent tag cf_datavalidate 2 ways to display the error messages 1. Query – loop through the query of messages 2. Structure – Re-display the form and show the error message associated with each field (a little more advanced and requires some form manipulation)

Displaying Errors - Query The error messages are placed in a query that you can loop through #qryErrors.message# <cfabort

Displaying Errors - Structure Requires form manipulation Form needs to be included in the template that does the validation The parameter FORMFIELD is required in the child tag

Including Custom Validation Include the custom scenario inside cf_datavalidate