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Synopsis

int isValidString(string $string, string $regularExpression)

Return true if the string is valid according to the regular expression argument. Use "[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*" as the regular expression for strings that must begin with a letter and is followed by letters, digits, or underscores (no spaces allowed). Examples of valid strings are: "Name", "New_Name", and "Name1". Use "[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_ ]*" as the regular expression for strings that must begin with a letter and is followed by letters, digits, underscores, or spaces. Examples of valid strings are: "Name", "New Name", and "Name 1". Use "[0-9][0-9][0-9]\\\.[0-9][0-9][0-9]\\\.[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]" as the regular expression for strings that are 10 digit phone numbers. Periods must follow the area code and exchange, ie. the exact format must be ddd.ddd.dddd where 'd' is a single digit. The regular expression is implicitly bound to the start and end of the string, so a pattern of "abcd" will give the same result as a pattern of "^abcd$" although the latter may execute slightly faster in some cases. Note: isValidString is not reliable on strings containing multibyte data.

Return value

None

Related

isValidObjectName, isValidUiName

Arguments

Variable Name Variable Type Description
$string string The name string to test.
$regularExpression string The regular expression.

MEL examples

      //   Regular expression does not allow spaces.
        //
        isValidString("Name1", "[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*"); // Will succeed.

        //   Regular expression does not allow spaces.
        //
        isValidString("My Name", "[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_]*"); // Will fail.

        //   Regular expression does allow spaces.
        //
        isValidString("My Name", "[a-zA-Z][a-zA-Z0-9_ ]*"); // Will succeed.

        //   Regular expression must be a 10 digit phone number.
        //
        isValidString("204.555.9663",
                "[0-9][0-9][0-9](\\\.)[0-9][0-9][0-9](\\\.)[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]"); // Will succeed.
        isValidString("(204)555-9663",
                "[0-9][0-9][0-9](\\\.)[0-9][0-9][0-9](\\\.)[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]"); // Will fail.
        isValidString("204-555-9663",
                "[0-9][0-9][0-9](\\\.)[0-9][0-9][0-9](\\\.)[0-9][0-9][0-9][0-9]"); // Will fail.