topic Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex in Application Development and Automation Discussions

how to validate a numeric field using regex

Former Member — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 01:03:35 GMT

hello,

My requirement is to validate a field for alphabets and special characters.So the field should allow only numerics and spaces.I am using

FIND FIRST OCCURRENCE OF REGEX `[[:punct:]]` IN lv_1.

IF sy-subrc = 0. "Special character is found

MESSAGE 'You can only enter numeric characters ' TYPE 'E'.

ENDIF.

FIND FIRST OCCURRENCE OF REGEX '[ [:alpha:] ]' IN lv_1.

IF sy-subrc = 0. "Special character is found

MESSAGE 'You can only enter numeric characters ' TYPE 'E'.

ENDIF.

It is working fine when special characters or alphabets are entered but it is throwing error for even spaces at second find statement. I know there is an explicit way to validate spaces by using [[:space:]].But why is it throwing error at second statement.Any replies are appreciated thanks.

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

SuhaSaha — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 06:46:34 GMT

What is the data type of the variable LV_1?

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

Former Member — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 08:14:47 GMT

Hi Maverik,

I would suggest that you rather use the RegEx matcher class:

DATA:

go_matcher TYPE REF TO cl_abap_matcher.

go_matcher = cl_abap_matcher=>create( pattern = '^[0-9 ]+$'

ignore_case = abap_true

text = 'Text to be checked' ).

IF go_matcher->matches( ) = abap_true.

" ... do something ...

ENDIF.

This is far more flexible since you can use RegEx groups to isolate certain elements of the original text and other advanced regular expression features.

If you want to try out various regular expressions beforehand you can use the program DEMO_REGEX_TOY (launched via transaction SE38) which is particularly useful since ABAP RegEx support only a subset of the PCRE RegEx syntax.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Chris

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

RaymondGiuseppi — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 08:43:50 GMT

I usually use part of this generic expression : ^[-+]?[0-9]*\.?[0-9]*([eE][-+]?[0-9]+)?$ to check validity of numeric values.

Regards,

Raymond

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

SuhaSaha — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 08:48:45 GMT

Isn't it too complicated to check if a value is numeric? K.I.S.S, eh?

- Suhas

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

RaymondGiuseppi — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:05:07 GMT

Oh, and I did not even post the multiple-country version...

(Usually a simple TRY/MOVE/CATCH/ENDTRY do the job too)

Regards,

Raymond

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

Former Member — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:13:35 GMT

Hi Raymond,

I think Maverick's question is rather directed towards a general solution on how to validate standard numeric input (including spaces!).

To do it the SAP-way you could also simply resort to the function module CATS_NUMERIC_INPUT_CHECK which basicaly does the trick (except for the spaces)

BTW:

The best term (that I know of) to discern all possible numerical formats is the PCRE expression:

[-+]?(?:\b[0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]*)?|\.[0-9]+\b)(?:[eE][-+]?[0-9]+\b)?

(this is definitely not KISS - and does neither catch spaces nor works here since ABAP RegEx engine does not support grouping without backreferences)

Regards,

Chris

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

SuhaSaha — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:30:58 GMT

To do it the SAP-way you could also simply resort to the function module CATS_NUMERIC_INPUT_CHECK which basicaly does the trick (except for the spaces)

Or may be define the variable as numeric/integer Of course this won't cater to the spaces problem.

[-+]?(?:\b[0-9]+(?:\.[0-9]*)?|\.[0-9]+\b)(?:[eE][-+]?[0-9]+\b)?

In addition to matching numeric input, does this code send the Starship Enterprise on a Warp drive

BR,

Suhas

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

Former Member — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 09:43:41 GMT

No, unfortunately this only activates Impulse Drive - in order to activate Warp Drive you have to set the RegEx option 'dot matches newlines' to capture all numerics in the Universe ...

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

prkash_s — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 11:28:50 GMT

Hi ,

Please Refer this Document

http://www.patelashish.com/wordpress/PDFDocs/Regular%20Expression%20Processing%20in%20ABAP.pdf

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

Former Member — Wed, 17 Jul 2013 11:53:03 GMT

Hi Maverick,

Use this regular expression.

FIND REGEX '[^[:digit:]|^[:space:]] IN lv_1.

IF sy-subrc = 0.

** Invalid

ELSE.

** Valid.

Regards,

Satish D R

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

Former Member — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 14:56:18 GMT

string suhas.

Re: how to validate a numeric field using regex

Former Member — Fri, 19 Jul 2013 18:49:54 GMT

Thanks ppl for your prompt replies, i got this solved.Space validation wasnt needed, but [:alpha:]expression is considering space as a char.So used find regex digit space and it solved the issue.Thanks again.