Validation

You can set a validator to already existing attributes but to save it, a value of this attribute in all products MUST match the validation parameters. If they don't, an error message will be displayed.

Introduction

Validators help protect data integrity by ensuring that only data meeting specific conditions is accepted into the system. For example, when dealing with text type attributes, you can use regular expressions (regex). Imagine regex as a pattern filter that checks if the attribute value looks correct; for instance, it verifies that an email address includes an "@" symbol. This helps maintain accuracy and prevent errors.

Different attribute types require different validation rules. A number might need to be within a certain range, whereas an image might need to fall within specific boundaries. Validators thus help maintain consistency across your data fields.

In Ergonode you can set validation to the following attribute types:

Attribute type

Available validators

About regex (available in text attribute only)

In the system, you can use some predefined regex patterns, but it's possible to use your own. To use predefined ones click on the "Copy from regex templates".

Regular expressions, or regex, are like super-powered validation tools for text. They use a specific sequence of characters to form a specific pattern. You can think of it as a sophisticated “find,” but with more precision and flexibility. Here's how to use regex for validating:

Basic Validation:
- Suppose you want to validate any three-letter words. You'd use the pattern \b\w{3}\b. In this pattern, \b indicates word boundaries, and \w{3} specifies exactly three word characters.
Digits Validation:
- To validate any sequence of digits in text, use the pattern \d. Here, \d stands for any digit, so this will match any sequence of strings with a single digit in it. like 123, 4aa, or 678aaa9. If you wish to validate a string that ends with a digit use\d$, ex: something1.
Email Addresses Validation:
- If you're validated for email addresses, you might use something like \b[A-Za-z0-9._%+-]+@[A-Za-z0-9.-]+\.[A-Z|a-z]{2,}\b. This looks for common email structures, checking for alphanumeric characters before and after the "@" symbol.
Dates validation:
- To validate the dates in the format DD/MM/YYYY, you could use \b\d{2}\/\d{2}\/\d{4}\b. Here, \d{2} finds exactly two digits, / is a literal slash, and \d{4} looks for four digits.
Flexible Validation:
- Sometimes, you might want to validate words that start with a certain letter. For example, to find words starting with “a” use \ba\w*\b. This looks for word boundaries (\b), the letter "a," and any number of word characters (\w*).

Regex provides a way to quickly find patterns and extract relevant information from text without manual searching. They might seem complex at first, but with practice, they become incredibly useful for tasks like data validation and text processing. Dive in and explore the endless possibilities they offer!