I have a RadMaskedTextBox, and want to verify an arbitrary string against the mask on the server side.

[Robert Columbia]

Okay, here we go.

On the *server side*, I have :

a RadMaskedTextBox, which has an arbitrary Mask that is set by someone else.
a string, which contains an arbitrary string that is set by someone else.

I want to determine whether or not this string would validate inside the RadMaskedTextBox given its Mask.

I determined experimentally that attempting to stuff a non-validating value into the Text property (e.g. by saying myBox.Text = <some string that wouldn't validate) of the box results in no change to the current value, so I could come up with a solution based on that, but that seems kind of messy and may puzzle the next developer.

I could attempt to write my own mask parser and validator, though that seems like it would be risky.

Any ideas?

[Robert Columbia]

And, how does MaskParts fit into this?  I could clarify my question by asking whether or not there is a predicate method that I can call that will tell me whether or not a given string would validate against the box.

[Veli]

Hello Robert,

The easiest way for you is to create a Regex object with the Mask of the RadMaskedTextBox and check your string:

//RadMaskedTextBox1 is the RadMaskedTextBox instance
//myString is the custom string you need to validate

Regex regex = new Regex(RadMaskedTextBox1.Mask);
if(regex.IsMatch(myString))
{
    //string validates
}
else
{
    //string does not validate
}

Best wishes,
Veli
the Telerik team

Do you want to have your say when we set our development plans? Do you want to know when a feature you care about is added or when a bug fixed? Explore the Telerik Public Issue Tracking system and vote to affect the priority of the items.

[Surath]

Hi,
The code does not work for me. I use the RadMaskedText box with a mask like "999-99-9999" and when I enter a value such as "111-11-1111" or any other valid SSN format strings the regexobject.IsMatch() method returns false always.

 

 

Regex regex = new Regex(mask);

 

 

 

 

if (regex.IsMatch(mytext))

 

{

 

 

    return true;

 

}

 

 

return false;

Any suggestions?

Surath.

 

[Veli]

Hello Surath,

A mask of "999-99-9999" is not valid for RadMaskedTextBox. Check this help topic on what special characters are supported in the mask. The mask that would accept a value of "111-11-1111" is "###-##-####".

Once you get acquainted with the rules for building masks for RadMaskedTextBox, you can use a method that will translate the mask into a regular expression:

using System;
using Telerik.Web.UI;
using System.Text.RegularExpressions;
using System.Text;

public partial class _Default : System.Web.UI.Page
{
    protected void Page_Load(object sender, EventArgs e)
    {
        RadMaskedTextBox box = new RadMaskedTextBox();
        box.ID = "RadMaskedTextBox1";
        Page.Form.Controls.Add(box);

        box.Mask = "###-##-####";
        string text = "111-11-1111";

        //box.Mask = "aAL.l#<2..8><nick|mike|john>";
        //string text = "+ADv43mike";
        box.Text = text;

        ResponseWrite(box.Mask, text, GetRegexFromMaskParts(box.MaskParts));
    }

    private void ResponseWrite(string mask, string value, Regex regex)
    {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();

        sb.AppendLine("<table class='t'>");
        sb.AppendLine(String.Format("<tr><td>Mask</td><td>{0}</td></tr>", mask));
        sb.AppendLine(String.Format("<tr><td>Regex</td><td>{0}</td></tr>", regex.ToString()));
        sb.AppendLine(String.Format("<tr><td>Value</td><td>{0}</td></tr>", value));
        sb.AppendLine(String.Format("<tr><td>Match</td><td>{0}</td></tr>", regex.IsMatch(value)));
        sb.AppendLine("</table>");

        Response.Write(sb.ToString());
    }

    private Regex GetRegexFromMaskParts(MaskPartCollection maskParts)
    {
        StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
        foreach (MaskPart part in maskParts)
        {
            if (part is DigitMaskPart)
            {
                sb.Append(@"\d");
            }

            if (part is FreeMaskPart)
            {
                sb.Append(".");
            }

            if (part is LiteralMaskPart)
            {
                sb.Append(((LiteralMaskPart)part).Text);
            }

            if (part is LowerMaskPart)
            {
                sb.Append("[a-z]");
            }

            if (part is UpperMaskPart)
            {
                sb.Append("[A-Z]");
            }

            if (part is NumericRangeMaskPart)
            {
                NumericRangeMaskPart numRange = (NumericRangeMaskPart)part;
                sb.Append(String.Format("[{0}-{1}]", numRange.LowerLimit, numRange.UpperLimit));
            }

            if (part is EnumerationMaskPart)
            {
                EnumerationMaskPart enumPart = (EnumerationMaskPart)part;
                sb.Append(String.Format("("));
                for(var i =0; i < enumPart.Items.Count; i++)
                {
                    sb.Append(enumPart.Items[i]);
                    if (i < enumPart.Items.Count - 1)
                    {
                        sb.Append("|");
                    }
                }
                sb.Append(String.Format(")"));
            }
        }

        return new Regex(sb.ToString());
    }
}

The above shown GetRegexFromMaskParts() method translates a MaskPartsCollection into a Regex. RadMaskedTextBox builds a collection of mask parts both for its Mask and DisplayMask. These mask parts represent the parsed masked in a convenient usable form. You can use the MaskPartCollection you need to build a regular expression out of its mask parts. You can then use the Regex to match a specific value.

Attached is the test page demonstrating this method.

Regards,
Veli
the Telerik team

[Silvio Silva Junior]

Thanks Veli!

Works like a charm!

Best regards.