Validation Rules

Overview

Bloomreach Content provides built-in validation rules for form input fields. Editors can select a standard validation rule from a dropdown menu for fields that support regular expression validation. This approach eliminates the need to manually enter complex regular expressions.

The system includes out-of-the-box validation rules for numbers, percentages, alphanumeric strings, email addresses, and website URLs. When you select one of these standard rules, the editor automatically applies the corresponding regular expression. The 'Validation RegEx' property field is disabled when a standard rule is selected.

To use a custom validation pattern, select 'Custom Input' from the dropdown. This enables the 'Validation RegEx' property field, allowing you to enter a custom regular expression.

Validation rules enforce input checks at runtime. For example, if a field requires a valid email address, the form displays an error message when the input does not match the expected format.

Built-in Standard Validation Rules

Built-in validation rules are configured in the repository at /hippo:configuration/hippo:modules/eforms/hippo:moduleconfig/. The following configuration defines the default set of standard validation rules:

/hippo:configuration/hippo:modules/eforms/hippo:moduleconfig:
  /eforms:validationrules:
    jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
    /age18plus:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleclass: com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.demo.validationrules.AgeEighteenPlusRule
      eforms:validationrulelabel: Age 18+
    /email:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleclass: com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.hst.validation.rules.EmailAddressRule
      eforms:validationrulelabel: E-Mail
    /luhn:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleclass: com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.hst.validation.rules.LuhnRule
      eforms:validationrulelabel: Luhn Algorithm
    /noemptyfieldsingroup:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleclass: com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.demo.validationrules.NoEmptyFieldsInGroupRule
      eforms:validationrulelabel: No empty fields in group
    /noemptyfieldsonpage:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleclass: com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.demo.validationrules.NoEmptyFieldsOnPageRule
      eforms:validationrulelabel: No empty fields in page
    /number.general:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleexpr: ^[-+]?\d+(\.\d+)?$
      eforms:validationrulelabel: Number
      eforms:validcasesensitive: false
    /number.percent:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleexpr: ^-?[0-9]{0,2}(\.[0-9]{1,2})?$|^-?(100)(\.[0]{1,2})?$
      eforms:validationrulelabel: Percent
      eforms:validcasesensitive: false
    /string.alphanumeric:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleexpr: ^[A-Za-z\d]+$
      eforms:validationrulelabel: Alphanumeric
      eforms:validcasesensitive: false
    /website:
      jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
      eforms:validationruleexpr: (http|https):\/\/[\w\-_]+(\.[\w\-_]+)+([\w\-\.,@?^=%&:/~\+#]*[\w\-\@?^=%&/~\+#])?
      eforms:validationrulelabel: Website
      eforms:validcasesensitive: false
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You can add custom validation rules under /hippo:configuration/hippo:modules/eforms/hippo:moduleconfig/eforms:validationrules/. Each validation rule node must have a unique name, a default label (eforms:validationrulelabel), and a regular expression (eforms:validationruleexpr).

For example, to add a validation rule for Dutch postcodes:

/dutch.postcode:
  jcr:primaryType: hipposys:moduleconfig
  eforms:validationruleexpr: ^\d{4}\s[A-Z]{2}$
  eforms:validationrulelabel: Dutch Postcode
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Validation Rule Label Localization

Validation rule labels are defined in the configuration node using the eforms:validationrulelabel property. To localize these labels, provide resource strings in the appropriate properties files.

For the CMS Form Editor, add custom resource strings to classpath:com/onehippo/cms7/eforms/cms/properties/panels/AbstractPropertiesPanel*.properties. Default entries include:

# classpath:com/onehippo/cms7/eforms/cms/properties/panels
#                                 /AbstractFieldPropertiesPanel*.properties
# ...
validation.rule.no.validation.label=No
validationvalidation.rule.none.label=None
validation.rule.number.general.label=Number
validation.rule.number.percent.label=Percent
validation.rule.string.alphanumeric.label=Alphanumeric
validation.rule.email.label=E-mail Address
validation.rule.website.label=Website Address
# ...

Resource keys follow the pattern validation.rule.${validationRuleId}.label. For a custom rule with the ID dutch.postcode, add:

# ...
validation.rule.dutch.postcode.label=Dutch Postcode
# ... 

For form rendering templates on the HST side, add resource strings to classpath:com/onehippo/cms7/eforms/hst/messages/eforms*.properties:

# classpath:com/onehippo/cms7/eforms/hst/messages/eforms*.properties

# ...
validation.rule.number.general.label=Number
validation.rule.number.percent.label=Percent
validation.rule.string.alphanumeric.label=Alphanumeric
validation.rule.email.label=Email Address
validation.rule.website.label=Website Address
# ...

Specifying Different Validation Messages per Field Type

Default validation messages are defined in classpath:com/onehippo/cms7/eforms/hst/messages/eforms*.properties:

# classpath:com/onehippo/cms7/eforms/hst/messages/eforms*.properties
# ...
validation.message.required=Field {0} is required.
validation.message.maxlength=Field {0} is longer than {3} characters.
validation.message.minlength=Field {0} must be longer than {3} characters.
validation.message.dateformat=Field {0} is invalid date format, it must be in
                                                              this format: {3}.
validation.message.regexp=Field {0} is invalid, it must be in this format: {3}.
# ...

You can override these messages or specify different messages for each field type and validation rule. To do this, append the lowercase field class name to the message key. For example, to customize the regular expression validation message for a date field:

# ...
validation.message.regexp.datefield=Your custom error message for date fields
                       that use the regexp validator. Date field {0} is invalid,
                       it must be in this format: {3}.
# ...

Available field class names (from com.onehippo.cms7.eforms.cms.fields) include:

• CheckBoxesField
• DateField
• DropDownField
• FieldSetTagField
• FileUploadField
• LikertField
• RadioGroupField
• SimpleTextField
• TextAreaField
• TextField

Using Validation Rule Information in Form Rendering Templates

You can access validation rule information in form rendering templates, such as eforms-default.jsp and eformsrenderfield.tag in the Enterprise Forms Demo project. When iterating over field info beans, use ${field.validationRuleId}, ${field.validationRuleLabel}, and ${field.regExp} to access the relevant properties.

The following example demonstrates handling a specific validation rule in a JSP template:

<form class="form" action="<hst:actionURL/>"
      method="post" name="${form.name}">
  <c:forEach var="field" items="${form.fields}">
    <c:choose>
      <!-- SNIP -->
      <c:when test="${field.textField}">
        <div class="ef-field">
          <c:choose>
            <c:when test="${field.validationRuleId eq 'dutch.postcode'}">
              MAYBE YOU CAN PUT A MASK EDIT INPUT HERE.
            </c:when>
            <c:otherwise>
              YOU CAN PUT A TEXT INPUT HERE.
            </c:otherwise>
          </c:choose>
        </div>
      </c:when>
      <!-- SNIP -->
    </c:choose>
  </c:forEach>
</form>
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You can further customize the form rendering template to integrate advanced client-side validation engines, such as the jQuery validation plugin.