how to write expressions

10/08/2010 10:37 am | #1 sam308940

anyone have any quickie cheat cheats and examples to writing the validation expressions?

im particularly needing to write validations with conditionals. IE if SELECT1 = SOMEOPTION then require SPECIALFIELD.

thanks
sam

10/08/2010 1:14 pm | #2 Jason ByrnesWebAssist

this is done using Client Side Conditional Validation.

for details on conditional validation, see the help document:
index.htm

Applying Manual Validations -> Client Validation -> Validation Response behaviors -> Conditional validation.

10/08/2010 1:24 pm | #3 sam308940

thansk for that.
but im looking at the info.

i see how to set 1 field as a trigger for another.
but i dont see how to set the trigger IF AND ONLY IF the item selected is a particular selection.

ie
SELECT LIST
option1
option2
option3

TEXT ENTRY FIELD

if option3 is selected from the SELECT LIST then require the text entry field.

can you lead me a little further here?
then require

10/08/2010 1:40 pm | #4 Jason ByrnesWebAssist

normally, you would do this using an other field where the value is set to blank:
<option value="">other</option>

then use required not blank validation on the select list.

The order of the validation should be:
1) Required / Not Blank / Selection made - select list
2) conditional validation - Trigger = select list, Tagert = text box, if trigger os valid = Stop validation on tager
3) Required / not Blank Selection made - Text box
4) Show validation errors

i am including a small sample to demonstrate.

<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
<title>Untitled Document</title>
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--
function WAtrimIt(theString,leaveLeft,leaveRight)  {
  if (!leaveLeft)  {
    while (theString.charAt(0) == " ")
      theString = theString.substring(1);
  }
  if (!leaveRight)  {
    while (theString.charAt(theString.length-1) == " ")
      theString = theString.substring(0,theString.length-1);
  }
  return theString;
}

function WAFV_GetValueFromInputType(formElement,inputType,trimWhite) {
  var value="";
  if (inputType == "select")  {
    if (formElement.selectedIndex != -1 && formElement.options[formElement.selectedIndex].value && formElement.options[formElement.selectedIndex].value != "") {
      value = formElement.options[formElement.selectedIndex].value;
    }
  }
  else if (inputType == "checkbox")  {
    if (formElement.length)  {
      for (var x=0; x<formElement.length ; x++)  {
        if (formElement[x].checked && formElement[x].value!="")  {
          value = formElement[x].value;
          break;
        }
      }
    }
    else if (formElement.checked)
      value = formElement.value;
  }
  else if (inputType == "radio")  {
    if (formElement.length)  {
      for (var x=0; x<formElement.length; x++)  {
        if (formElement[x].checked && formElement[x].value!="")  {
          value = formElement[x].value;
          break;
        }
      }
    }
    else if (formElement.checked)
      value = formElement.value;
  }
  else if (inputType == "radiogroup")  {
    for (var x=0; x<formElement.length; x++)  {
      if (formElement[x].checked && formElement[x].value!="")  {
        value = formElement[x].value;
        break;
      }
    }
  }
  else if (inputType == "iRite")  {
     var theEditor = FCKeditorAPI.GetInstance(formElement.name) ;
     value = theEditor.GetXHTML(true);
  }
  else  {
    var value = formElement.value;
	value=value.replace(/<p>(\&\#160\;)*<\/p>/,"");
  }
  if (trimWhite)  {
    value = WAtrimIt(value);
  }
  return value;
}

function WAAddError(formElement,errorMsg,focusIt,stopIt)  {
  if (document.WAFV_Error)  {
	  document.WAFV_Error += "\n" + errorMsg;
  }
  else  {
    document.WAFV_Error = errorMsg;
  }
  if (!document.WAFV_InvalidArray)  {
    document.WAFV_InvalidArray = new Array();
  }
  document.WAFV_InvalidArray[document.WAFV_InvalidArray.length] = formElement;
  if (focusIt && !document.WAFV_Focus)  {
	document.WAFV_Focus = focusIt;
  }

  if (stopIt == 1)  {
	document.WAFV_Stop = true;
  }
  else if (stopIt == 2)  {
	formElement.WAFV_Continue = true;
  }
  else if (stopIt == 3)  {
	formElement.WAFV_Stop = true;
	formElement.WAFV_Continue = false;
  }
}

function WAValidateRQ(formElement,errorMsg,focusIt,stopIt,trimWhite,inputType)  {
  var isValid = true;
  if (formElement.length && inputType.toLowerCase()!="radio" && inputType.toLowerCase()!="select") formElement=formElement[0];
  if (!document.WAFV_Stop && !formElement.WAFV_Stop)  {
    var value=WAFV_GetValueFromInputType(formElement,inputType,trimWhite);
    if (value == "")  {
	    isValid = false;
    }
  }
  if (!isValid)  {
    WAAddError(formElement,errorMsg,focusIt,stopIt);
  }
}
function WAValidateCD(triggerElement,targetElement,enable)  {
  var isValid = true;
  var invalidArray = document.WAFV_InvalidArray;
  if (invalidArray)  {
    if (triggerElement == document)
	  isValid = false;
	else  {
      for (var x=0; x<invalidArray.length && isValid; x++)  {
        if (invalidArray[x]==triggerElement)  {
	      isValid = false;
	    }
	  }
    }
  }
  if (!isValid)  {
    enable = !enable;
  }
  if (targetElement.length) targetElement=targetElement[0];
  if (enable)  {
	targetElement.WAFV_Stop = false;
  }
  else  {
    targetElement.WAFV_Stop = true;
  }
  document.WAFV_Focus = false;
  document.WAFV_Error = false;
  document.WAFV_InvalidArray = false;
}
function WAAlertErrors(errorHead,errorFoot,setFocus,submitForm,allowOverride)  { 
  if (!document.WAFV_StopAlert)  { 
	  document.WAFV_StopAlert = true;
	  if (document.WAFV_InvalidArray)  {  
	    document.WAFV_Stop = true;
        var errorMsg = document.WAFV_Error;
	    if (errorHead!="")
		  errorMsg = errorHead + "\n" + errorMsg;
		if (errorFoot!="")
		  errorMsg += "\n" + errorFoot;
		document.MM_returnValue = false;
		if (document.WAFV_Error!="")  {
		  if (allowOverride) {
		    if (confirm(errorMsg.replace(/&quot;/g,'"'))) {
			  document.MM_returnValue = true;
			  return;
			}
		  }
		  else {
		    alert(errorMsg.replace(/&quot;/g,'"'));
		  }
		}
		else if (submitForm)
		  submitForm.submit();
	    if (setFocus && document.WAFV_Focus)  {
		  if (document.getElementById(document.WAFV_Focus.name+"___Config") && document.WAFV_Focus.type.toLowerCase() == "hidden")  {
	        var theEditor = FCKeditorAPI.GetInstance(document.WAFV_Focus.name);
		    theEditor.EditorWindow.focus();
			setTimeout("setTimeout('document.WAFV_Stop = false;document.WAFV_StopAlert = false;',1)",1); 
		  }
		  else  {
		    document.tempFocus = document.WAFV_Focus;
			setTimeout("document.tempFocus.focus();setTimeout('document.WAFV_Stop = false;document.WAFV_StopAlert = false;',1)",1); 
		  }
        }
        else {
          document.WAFV_Stop = false;
          document.WAFV_StopAlert = false;
        }
        for (var x=0; x<document.WAFV_InvalidArray.length; x++)  {
	      document.WAFV_InvalidArray[x].WAFV_Stop = false;
	    }
	  }
	  else  {
        document.WAFV_Stop = false;
        document.WAFV_StopAlert = false;
	    if (submitForm)  {
	      submitForm.submit();
	    }
	    document.MM_returnValue = true;
	  }
      document.WAFV_Focus = false;
	  document.WAFV_Error = false;
	  document.WAFV_InvalidArray = false;
  }
}
//-->
</script>
</head>

<body>
<form action="" method="post" name="form1" id="form1" onsubmit="WAValidateRQ(document.form1.select,'- Select Entry is required',document.form1.select,0,true,'select');WAValidateCD(document.getElementById('form1').select,document.getElementById('form1').textfield,false);WAValidateRQ(document.form1.textfield,'- textfield Entry is required',document.form1.textfield,0,false,'text');WAAlertErrors('The following errors were found','Correct invalid entries to continue',true,document.getElementById('false'),false);return document.MM_returnValue">
  <select name="select" id="select">
    <option value="">other</option>
    <option value="1">one</option>
    <option value="2">two</option>
    <option value="3">three</option>
  </select>
  <input type="text" name="textfield" id="textfield" />
  <input type="submit" name="button" id="button" value="Submit" />
</form>
</body>
</html>

10/08/2010 1:51 pm | #5 sam308940

Thanks for responding so quickly!

I still dont get it. Your example doesnt clarify for me.
i dont see where im setting the specific fields up in your example.

Ill be more specific with question.

SELECT ROCKS
gravel
pebbles
bricks

SELECT COLOR (only if pebbles is selected for rocks)
tan
pink
blue

I think i get lost on this conditional:

2) conditional validation - Trigger = select list, Tagert = text box, if trigger os valid = Stop validation on tager

THIS SAYS IF THE SELECT LIST IS NOT EMPTY, THEN THE 2nd LIST SHOUDL NOT BE EMPTY EITHER?

10/14/2010 9:04 am | #7 Jason ByrnesWebAssist

the conditional validation cannot be used from select list to select list, it can be used to have an empty selection in a select list force a text box entry.

The sample validation i sent basically said
If the select box is empty, then make sure the text box has a value.

It cant be used to make sure a selection is made in a select list if a certain item is selected in another select list, this is not posible to do with client validation or server validation.

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how to write expressions

10/08/2010 10:37 am | #1 sam308940