validatesFormatOf()

Signature

validatesFormatOf() — returns void

Available in: model Category: Validation Functions

Description

Validates that the value of the specified property is formatted correctly by matching it against a regular expression using the regEx argument and / or against a built-in CFML validation type using the type argument (creditcard, date, email, etc.).

Parameters

Name	Type	Required	Default	Description
properties	string	no	—	Name of property or list of property names to validate against (can also be called with the property argument).
regEx	string	no	—	Regular expression to verify against.
type	string	no	—	One of the following types to verify against: creditcard, date, email, eurodate, guid, social_security_number, ssn, telephone, time, URL, USdate, UUID, variableName, zipcode (will be passed through to your CFML engine’s IsValid() function).
message	string	no	[property] is invalid	Supply a custom error message here to override the built-in one.
when	string	no	onSave	Pass in onCreate or onUpdate to limit when this validation occurs (by default validation will occur on both create and update, i.e. onSave).
allowBlank	boolean	no	false	If set to true, validation will be skipped if the property value is an empty string or doesn’t exist at all. This is useful if you only want to run this validation after it passes the validatesPresenceOf test, thus avoiding duplicate error messages if it doesn’t.
condition	string	no	—	String expression to be evaluated that decides if validation will be run (if the expression returns true validation will run).
unless	string	no	—	String expression to be evaluated that decides if validation will be run (if the expression returns false validation will run).

Examples

1. Validate that a credit card number is correct
validatesFormatOf(property="cc", type="creditcard");

2. Validate that a US zipcode matches 5 or 9 digit format
validatesFormatOf(property="zipcode", type="zipcode");

3. Ensure that an email ends with `.se` when IP check returns true and today is not Sunday
validatesFormatOf(
    property="email",
    regEx="^.*@.*\.se$",
    condition="ipCheck()",
    unless="DayOfWeek() eq 1",
    message="Sorry, you must have a Swedish email address to use this website."
);

4. Validate that a username contains only letters, numbers, or underscores
validatesFormatOf(
    property="username",
    regEx="^[a-zA-Z0-9_]+$",
    message="Username can only contain letters, numbers, and underscores."
);

5. Validate multiple properties at once using built-in CFML types
validatesFormatOf(
    properties="phone,email",
    type="telephone,email",
    allowBlank=true
);

6. Validate only when updating an existing object
validatesFormatOf(
    property="ssn",
    type="social_security_number",
    when="onUpdate",
    message="Invalid SSN format for updating records."
);