Phone Number Editing/Validation

[Richard Kelly]

I'm not a big fan of sticking an mask representation in front of the user. I prefer they just type and I'll work on interpreting what they are giving me. I adapted the phone number edit mask function from Martin Francom and built one the way I wanted things to work. It probably could use some more fiddling around with. There is a small adaptation that tries to detect the DELETE key in the area code area. I haven't done anything like that with the body of the number and the delimiter "-".

The functions:

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Function EditMaskPhoneAreaCode (ByVal hWndControl As Long) As String

' Formats phone number as (222) 333-4444
 
Static fProcessing  As Long
Static fTest         As Long           
Local sInput        As String
Local nStartPos     As Long
Local nEndPos       As Long
Local sEditedInput  As String
Local nPos          As Long
   
' Prevent re-entry until after process finishes
 
    If fProcessing = %TRUE Then Exit Function
     
    SendMessage hWndControl, %EM_GETSEL, VarPtr(nStartPos), VarPtr(nEndPos)
     
    If fTest <> 0 Then Exit Function
     
    fTest = 1

    sInput = FF_TextBox_GetText (hWndControl)
    sEditedInput = sInput
   
    AreaCodePhoneNumbers (sEditedInput)
   
    If sEditedInput <> sInput Then
   
        nPos = Len(sEditedInput)
   
        FF_TextBox_SetText (hWndControl, sEditedInput)
        FF_TextBox_SetSel (hWndControl, nPos, nPos )
   
    End If
   
    fTest = 0
    Function = sEditedInput
    fProcessing = %False
   
End Function
Sub AreaCodePhoneNumbers (ByRef sInput As String)

' Phone numbers in the format (999) 999-9999 where the area code is optional

Local sRaw      As String
Local sOutput   As String

' If input is empty exit

    If Len(sInput) < 1 Then

        Exit Sub

    End If

    sOutput = ""

' Remove non-valid characters and truncate to maximum raw phone number length

    sRaw = Retain$ (sInput, Any "0123456789")

    If Len(sRaw) > 10 Then

        sRaw = Left$(sRaw,10)

    End If

' If we have no numbers check if first character of input is a "(" and exit

    If Len(sRaw) < 1 Then

        If Left$(sInput,1) = "(" Then

            sInput = "("

        Else

            sInput = ""

        End If

        Exit Sub

    End If
   
' If first character of input is a "(" and the closing ")" is also found with fewer than 3 characters between the two
' then assume the DELETE key was used and do nothing.

    If Left$(sInput,1) = "(" And Instr(sInput,")") < 5 Then

        Exit Sub

    End If

' If first character of input is a "(" then format for the optional area code

    If Left$(sInput,1) = "("  Or Len(sRaw) > 7 Then

' Check if we have enough numbers to insert the ")"

        If Len(sRaw) > 2 Then

            sInput = "(" + Left$(sRaw,3) + ") "

' Check for enough numbers to insert the "-"

            If Len(sRaw) = 3 Then

                Exit Sub

            End If

            If Len(sRaw) < 6 Then

                sInput = sInput + Mid$(sRaw,4,Len(sRaw) - 3)

                Exit Sub

            End If

' Insert the "-"

            sInput = sInput + Mid$(sRaw,4,3) + "-"

            If Len(sRaw) > 6 Then

                sInput = sInput + Mid$(sRaw,7,Len(sRaw) - 6)

            End If

            Exit Sub

        Else

            sInput = "(" + sRaw

            Exit Sub

        End If

    End If

' Phone number without the optional area code

    If Len(sRaw) > 2 Then

        sInput = Left$(sRaw,3) + "-" + IIF$(Len(sRaw) > 3,Right$(sRaw,Len(sRaw) - 3),"")

    Else

        sInput = sRaw

    End If


End Sub


Then in the edit control just put this in the EN_CHANGE function

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EditMaskPhoneAreaCode (hWndControl)


To validate the results before updating a database, just check for 7 or 10 digits using:

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sRawPhoneNumber = RETAIN$ (sYourEnteredPhoneNumber, ANY "0123456789")
If LEN(sRawPhoneNumber) = 7 or LEN(sRawPhoneNumber) = 10 Then
' Phone number is ok
Else
' Phone number is incomplete
End If


Rick Kelly

[Martin Francom]

Rick,
   I have had a running debate with myself as to which is the best way to implement structure to a text field.  Using a edit mask that formats the field as the user types or to format what has been typed after they leave the field.  There are advantages and problems with both.  With an edit mask I have had problems with keeping tack of the carrot when the user moves around in the field using the mouse.  But I like that the edit mask shows the user what is expected in the field.

   I would love to see Paul add a Field in the Properties box of a Text Box where the mask could be described and FF would add the appropriate code at compile time. That way any type of mask could be described and appropriate code added. These are some of the masks that I use frequently:
Phone:    (###) ###-####
SSN:     ###-##-####
DEA:     AA#######
Metric Decimal Quantity:    #######.###
Money:  #######.##
ProperCase:   Ucccccc