Macromedia® Flash® 8 ActionScript: Training from the Source

Chapter 12. Data Validation

Many applications collect information from users—phone numbers, email addresses, and so on—for later use, or to send to a database where the data can be stored and retrieved as needed. However, if an application trusted users to enter properly formatted, error-free information, the application probably wouldn’t function properly—or your database would quickly fill with useless data. The fact is that users often enter data incorrectly, which is why it’s a good idea to validate data before it’s used or processed. Validating data usually entails writing a script to check the way data was entered against a set of guidelines or rules. If data-entry errors are found, the user can be prompted to reenter the data; or in some ...