[RESOLVED] VB.NET regex validation differs from Javascript

[savior14]

Given the following codes and my input is new@[email protected]
this one returns false

<asp:RegularExpressionValidator
     ID="REV1"
     runat="server"
     Display="Static"
     ErrorMessage="Error." 
     ControlToValidate="txtEmailAdd"
     ValidationExpression="\w+([-+.']\w+)*@\w+([-.]\w+)*\.\w+([-.]\w+)*" />

but this one returns true

Dim myMatch As Match = System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Match(txtEmailAdd.Text, "\w+([-+.']\w+)*@\w+([-.]\w+)*\.\w+([-.]\w+)*")
If Not myMatch.Success Then
    Result.Text = "Error."
    Exit Sub
End If

can anyone tell me what's wrong? Thanks in advance.

[gep13]

Hey,

The regular expression that you are using is only matching the domain of the email. You can see this if you run a test here:

http://gskinner.com/RegExr/

The second one works because you are looking for a "match" within new@[email protected], and it is finding one. However, your RegularExpressionValidator is trying to match the entire string that you give, it, and that isn't what you are testing for.

Gary

[savior14]

Thanks for the info. Appreciated it =)

so what will I change in my RegularExpression to match the validation from what i have in my RegularExpressionValidator?

[gep13]

Hold on, hold on, hold on....

The regular expresssion that you have is valid, in a sense, what you are putting into the TextBox is wrong.

new@[email protected]

Is not a valid email address. You have two @'s, so the RegularExpressionValidator is correct to fail it.

Gary

[savior14]

let me revise my question.

what should I change on my code-behind codes to correct the validation in order for it to be the same as the validation of my RegularExpressionValidator?

[gep13]

Hey,

I would change the Regular Expression to match only if the entire regular expression matches, either using a word boundary:

http://www.regular-expressions.info/wordboundaries.html

Or anchors:

http://www.regular-expressions.info/anchors.html

In your case, I think anchors make the most sense.

Hope that helps!!

Gary

[mendhak]

The codebehind is matching on the bold part:

nav@[email protected]

Which is why you're getting bad results.

You can get a regex for email addresses here:

http://www.regular-expressions.info/email.html


So for example, try this:

^([0-9a-zA-Z]([-.\w]*[0-9a-zA-Z])*@([0-9a-zA-Z][-\w]*[0-9a-zA-Z]\.)+[a-zA-Z]{2,9})$



With the above regex you should get closer to matching properly

[savior14]

thanks gep13 and mendhak! =)
its been a great help! ive been able to validate it correctly. thanks thanks!!

[gep13]

Hey,

Out of interest, what was your final implementation?

Gary