Validation for textbox with two sets of phone numbers - validation

Question

I am trying to do a validation on a textbox that can allow the input of one or more phone number in a single textbox. What I am trying to do is to send an message to the phone numbers included in the textbox.
I have no problem when I enter just one set of number into the textbox and the message can be sent.
However, whenever I type two sets of digit into the same textbox, my validation error will appear.
I am using user controls and putting the user control in a listview.
Here are my codes:
private ObservableCollection<IFormControl> formFields;
internal ObservableCollection<IFormControl> FormFields
{
get
{
if (formFields == null)
{
formFields = new ObservableCollection<IFormControl>(new List<IFormControl>()
{
new TextFieldInputControlViewModel(){ColumnWidth = new GridLength(350) ,HeaderName = "Recipient's mobile number *" , IsMandatory = true, MatchingPattern = #"^[\+]?[1-9]{1,3}\s?[0-9]{6,11}$", Tag="phone", ContentHeight = 45, ErrorMessage = "Please enter recipient mobile number. "},
});
}
return formFields;
}
}
And here is the codes for the button click event:
private void OkButton_Click(object sender, RoutedEventArgs e)
{
MessageDialog clickMessage;
UICommand YesBtn;
int result = 0;
//Fetch Phone number
var phoneno = FormFields.FirstOrDefault(x => x.Tag?.ToLower() == "phone").ContentToStore;
string s = phoneno;
string[] numbers = s.Split(';');
foreach (string number in numbers)
{
int parsedValue;
if (int.TryParse(number, out parsedValue) && number.Length.Equals(8))
{
result++;
}
else
{ }
}
if (result.Equals(numbers.Count()))
{
try
{
for (int i = 0; i < numbers.Count(); i++)
{
Class.SMS sms = new Class.SMS();
sms.sendSMS(numbers[i], #"Hi, this is a message from Nanyang Polytechnic School of IT. The meeting venue is located at Block L." + Environment.NewLine + "Click below to view the map " + Environment.NewLine + location);
clickMessage = new MessageDialog("The SMS has been sent to the recipient.");
timer = new DispatcherTimer();
timer.Interval = TimeSpan.FromSeconds(1);
timer.Tick += timer_Tick;
timer.Start();
YesBtn = new UICommand("Ok", delegate (IUICommand command)
{
timer.Stop();
idleTimer.Stop();
var rootFrame = (Window.Current.Content as Frame);
rootFrame.Navigate(typeof(HomePage));
rootFrame.BackStack.Clear();
});
clickMessage.Commands.Add(YesBtn);
clickMessage.ShowAsync();
}
}
catch (Exception ex)
{ }
}
}
I am trying to separate the two numbers with ";" sign.... and I am wondering if that is the problem. Or maybe it is the matchingpattern that I have placed in.

Answer 1

The answer is quite simple, create a bool property in your TextFieldInputControlViewModel something like
public bool AcceptMultiple {get;set;}
and to keep things dynamic, create a char property as a separator like below:
public char Separator {get;set;}
Now, modify your new TextFieldInputControlViewModel() code statement by adding values to your new fields like below:
new TextFieldInputControlViewModel(){Separator = ';', AcceptMultiple = true, ColumnWidth = new GridLength(350) ,HeaderName = "Recipient's mobile number *" , IsMandatory = true, MatchingPattern = #"^[\+]?[1-9]{1,3}\s?[0-9]{6,11}$", Tag="phone", ContentHeight = 45, ErrorMessage = "Please enter recipient mobile number. "},
Once it's done, now in your checkValidation() function (or where you check the validation or pattern match) can be replaced with something like below:
if(AcceptMultiple)
{
if(Separator == null)
throw new ArgumentNullException("You have to provide a separator to accept multiple entries.");
string[] textItems = textField.Split(Separator);
if(textItems?.Length < 1)
{
ErrorMessage = "Please enter recipient mobile number." //assuming that this is your field for what message has to be shown.
IsError = true; //assuming this is your bool field that shows all the errors
return;
}
//do a quick check if the pattern matching is mandatory. if it's not, just return.
if(!IsMandatory)
return;
//your Matching Regex Pattern
Regex rgx = new Regex(MatchingPattern);
//loop through every item in the array to find the first entry that's invalid
foreach(var item in textItems)
{
//only check for an invalid input as the valid one's won't trigger any thing.
if(!rgx.IsMatch(item))
{
ErrorMessage = $"{item} is an invalid input";
IsError = true;
break; //this statement will prevent the loop from continuing.
}
}
}
And that'll do it.
I've taken a few variable names as an assumption as the information was missing in the question. I've mentioned it in the comments about them. Make sure you replace them.