User Console Design Guide › Validation Rules › How to Implement Custom Validation Rules › Regular Expression Implementation

Regular Expression Implementation

A validation rule can be based on regular expression pattern matching. For example, you can do the following:

• Specify a list of invalid characters or values for an attribute
• Restrict the user from typing invalid constructs, such as an improperly formed DN or telephone number

The following JavaScript example enforces telephone number format as +nn nnn-nnn-nnnn:

phone=/\+\d{1,3} \d{3}-\d{3}-\d{4}/;

Wrap regular expressions defined in XML in CDATA, as in the following example:

<ValidationRule name="Phone pattern" description="+nn nnn-nnn-nnnn"
 messageid="4001">
   <RegularExpression>
      <![CDATA[ ((\+|\d)*+(\s*|\x2D))?\d\d\d-\d\d\d-\d\d\d\d]]> 
   </RegularExpression>
</ValidationRule>

Validation rules based on regular expressions must comply with the requirements defined in the java.util.regex package.