validName() Function Misbehaving

Monkey Forums/Monkey Programming/validName() Function Misbehaving

c.k. (Posted 2012) [#1]

Trying to validate user input, but it doesn't seem to want to work. Can somebody look at this and tell me what I've done wrong? Thanks! [monkeycode] Function validName:Bool( name:String ) Local validChars:String = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890.-" Local good:Bool = True ' make sure all characters are found in validChars String For Local t:Int = 0 to name.Length() - 1 good = good And validChars.Contains(name[t]) Next Return good End ' this should validate: ' vName = validName( "c.k.lester" ) ' but it doesn't [/monkeycode]

jpoag (Posted 2012) [#2]

String(name[t]) is your problem: [monkeycode] String(name[t]) ' Original String( Int ) ' name[t] resolves to Integer "Int" ' String(Int) prints the number, not the character[/monkeycode] What you want is 'FromChar()' [monkeycode] good = good And validChars.Contains(String.FromChar(name[t]))[/monkeycode] BTW, if you run into an invalid character, you can return false immediately: [monkeycode] Function validName:Bool( name:String ) Local validChars:String = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890.-" ' make sure all characters are found in validChars String For Local t:Int = 0 to name.Length() - 1 If Not validChars.Contains(String.FromChar(name[t])) Then Return False Next Return True End[/monkeycode] You won't see any performance gains from such a small section of code, but it's a good habit to learn.

c.k. (Posted 2012) [#3]

James, thank you for the help! Workin' good now. :-)

Goodlookinguy (Posted 2012) [#4]

You should use a For-Until loop if you ever find yourself in a case where you need to write "something - 1". [monkeycode]Function validName:Bool( name:String ) Local validChars:String = "abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ1234567890.-" ' make sure all characters are found in validChars String For Local t:Int = 0 Until name.Length() If Not validChars.Contains(String.FromChar(name[t])) Return False Next Return True End[/monkeycode]To is inclusive (>= or <=) whereas Until is exclusive (> or <).