form validation using php

[sudhakararaog]

hi

 

i need to validate a field in a form where a user enters their lodgement number as part of a registration form. this lodgement number can have letters, numbers, spaces and special characters. i do not know exactly what those special characters are, so do i have to define the type of special characters and validate accordingly.

 

presently my php code for validating the lodgement number is

 

$lodgementtf  = $_POST["lodgementtf"]; 

 

if($lodgementtf == "" || !preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z0-9_ <]+$/", $lodgementtf) )

{

echo "display error message":

}

 

 

i also have another way of validating

 

if($lodgementnumber == "" || !preg_match("/^[a-zA-Z0-9_ !-@£$%^&*()]+$/", $lodgementnumber) )

 

does this mean that the special characters can only be = a space AND _!-@£$%^&*() and no other special characters.

 

please advice.

 

thanks.

[haku]

I'm an amateur when it comes to regex, but I have a basic understanding of it. And I believe that yes, only those characters are permitted.

 

I think you don't need the leading or trailing forward slashes ('/') in your expressions.