mx.validators.DateValidator - Adobe® Flex® 4 Language Reference (Flex 4)

Package	mx.validators
Class	public class DateValidator
Inheritance	DateValidator Validator EventDispatcher Object

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The DateValidator class validates that a String, Date, or Object contains a proper date and matches a specified format. Users can enter a single digit or two digits for month, day, and year. By default, the validator ensures the following formats:

The month is between 1 and 12 (or 0-11 for Date objects)
The day is between 1 and 31
The year is a number

You can specify the date in the DateValidator class in two ways:

Single String containing the date - Use the source and property properties to specify the String. The String can contain digits and the formatting characters specified by the allowedFormatChars property, which include the "/\-. " characters. By default, the input format of the date in a String field is "MM/DD/YYYY" where "MM" is the month, "DD" is the day, and "YYYY" is the year. You can use the inputFormat property to specify a different format.
Date object.
Object or multiple fields containing the day, month, and year. Use all of the following properties to specify the day, month, and year inputs: daySource, dayProperty, monthSource, monthProperty, yearSource, and yearProperty.

MXML Syntax expanded

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The <mx:DateValidator> tag inherits all of the tag attributes of its superclass, and adds the following tag attributes:

  <mx:DateValidator 
    allowedFormatChars="/\-. " 
    dayListener="Object specified by daySource"
    dayProperty="No default"
    daySource="No default"
    formatError= "Configuration error: Incorrect formatting string." 
    inputFormat="MM/DD/YYYY" 
    invalidCharError="The date contains invalid characters."
    monthListener="Object specified by monthSource"
    monthProperty="No default"
    monthSource="No default"
    validateAsString="true|false"
    wrongDayError="Enter a valid day for the month."
    wrongLengthError="Type the date in the format inputFormat." 
    wrongMonthError="Enter a month between 1 and 12."
    wrongYearError="Enter a year between 0 and 9999."
    yearListener="Object specified by yearSource"
    yearProperty="No default"
    yearSource="No default"
  />

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Public Properties

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	Property		Defined By
		allowedFormatChars : String The set of formatting characters allowed for separating the month, day, and year values.	DateValidator
		constructor : Object A reference to the class object or constructor function for a given object instance.	Object
		dayListener : IValidatorListener The component that listens for the validation result for the day subfield.	DateValidator
		dayProperty : String Name of the day property to validate.	DateValidator
		daySource : Object Object that contains the value of the day field.	DateValidator
		enabled : Boolean Setting this value to false will stop the validator from performing validation.	Validator
		formatError : String Error message when the inputFormat property is not in the correct format.	DateValidator
		inputFormat : String The date format to validate the value against.	DateValidator
		invalidCharError : String Error message when there are invalid characters in the date.	DateValidator
		listener : Object Specifies the validation listener.	Validator
		monthListener : IValidatorListener The component that listens for the validation result for the month subfield.	DateValidator
		monthProperty : String Name of the month property to validate.	DateValidator
		monthSource : Object Object that contains the value of the month field.	DateValidator
		property : String A String specifying the name of the property of the source object that contains the value to validate.	Validator
		prototype : Object [static] A reference to the prototype object of a class or function object.	Object
		required : Boolean = true If true, specifies that a missing or empty value causes a validation error.	Validator
		requiredFieldError : String Error message when a value is missing and the required property is true.	Validator
		source : Object Specifies the object containing the property to validate.	Validator
		trigger : IEventDispatcher Specifies the component generating the event that triggers the validator.	Validator
		triggerEvent : String Specifies the event that triggers the validation.	Validator
		validateAsString : Object Determines how to validate the value.	DateValidator
		wrongDayError : String Error message when the day is invalid.	DateValidator
		wrongLengthError : String Error message when the length of the date doesn't match that of the inputFormat property.	DateValidator
		wrongMonthError : String Error message when the month is invalid.	DateValidator
		wrongYearError : String Error message when the year is invalid.	DateValidator
		yearListener : IValidatorListener The component that listens for the validation result for the year subfield.	DateValidator
		yearProperty : String Name of the year property to validate.	DateValidator
		yearSource : Object Object that contains the value of the year field.	DateValidator

Protected Properties

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	Property		Defined By
		actualListeners : Array [read-only] Contains an Array of listener objects, if any, or the source object.	Validator
		actualTrigger : IEventDispatcher [read-only] Contains the trigger object, if any, or the source object.	Validator
		resourceManager : IResourceManager [read-only] A reference to the object which manages all of the application's localized resources.	Validator
		subFields : Array An Array of Strings containing the names for the properties contained in the value Object passed to the validate() method.	Validator

Public Methods

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	Method		Defined By
		DateValidator() Constructor.	DateValidator
		addEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false, priority:int = 0, useWeakReference:Boolean = false):void Registers an event listener object with an EventDispatcher object so that the listener receives notification of an event.	EventDispatcher
		dispatchEvent(event:Event):Boolean Dispatches an event into the event flow.	EventDispatcher
		hasEventListener(type:String):Boolean Checks whether the EventDispatcher object has any listeners registered for a specific type of event.	EventDispatcher
		hasOwnProperty(name:String):Boolean Indicates whether an object has a specified property defined.	Object
		initialized(document:Object, id:String):void Called automatically by the MXML compiler when the Validator is created using an MXML tag.	Validator
		isPrototypeOf(theClass:Object):Boolean Indicates whether an instance of the Object class is in the prototype chain of the object specified as the parameter.	Object
		propertyIsEnumerable(name:String):Boolean Indicates whether the specified property exists and is enumerable.	Object
		removeEventListener(type:String, listener:Function, useCapture:Boolean = false):void Removes a listener from the EventDispatcher object.	EventDispatcher
		setPropertyIsEnumerable(name:String, isEnum:Boolean = true):void Sets the availability of a dynamic property for loop operations.	Object
		toLocaleString():String Returns the string representation of this object, formatted according to locale-specific conventions.	Object
		toString():String Returns the string representation of the specified object.	Object
		validate(value:Object = null, suppressEvents:Boolean = false):ValidationResultEvent Performs validation and optionally notifies the listeners of the result.	Validator
		validateAll(validators:Array):Array [static] Invokes all the validators in the validators Array.	Validator
		validateDate(validator:DateValidator, value:Object, baseField:String):Array [static] Convenience method for calling a validator from within a custom validation function.	DateValidator
		valueOf():Object Returns the primitive value of the specified object.	Object
		willTrigger(type:String):Boolean Checks whether an event listener is registered with this EventDispatcher object or any of its ancestors for the specified event type.	EventDispatcher

Protected Methods

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	Method		Defined By
		addListenerHandler():void Sets up all of the listeners for the valid and invalid events dispatched from the validator.	Validator
		doValidation(value:Object):Array [override] Override of the base class doValidation() method to validate a date.	DateValidator
		getValueFromSource():Object Returns the Object to validate.	Validator
		handleResults(errorResults:Array):ValidationResultEvent Returns a ValidationResultEvent from the Array of error results.	Validator
		isRealValue(value:Object):Boolean Returns true if value is not null.	Validator
		removeListenerHandler():void Disconnects all of the listeners for the valid and invalid events dispatched from the validator.	Validator
		resourcesChanged():void This method is called when a Validator is constructed, and again whenever the ResourceManager dispatches a "change" Event to indicate that the localized resources have changed in some way.	Validator

Events

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	Summary	Defined By
activate	[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application gains operating system focus and becomes active.	EventDispatcher
deactivate	[broadcast event] Dispatched when the Flash Player or AIR application operating loses system focus and is becoming inactive.	EventDispatcher
invalid	Dispatched when validation fails.	Validator
valid	Dispatched when validation succeeds.	Validator

Protected Constants

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	Constant		Defined By
		DECIMAL_DIGITS : String = "0123456789" [static] A String containing the decimal digits 0 through 9.	Validator
		ROMAN_LETTERS : String = "ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZabcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz" [static] A string containing the upper- and lower-case letters of the Roman alphabet ("A" through "Z" and "a" through "z").	Validator

Property Detail

allowedFormatChars

property

allowedFormatChars:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The set of formatting characters allowed for separating the month, day, and year values.

The default value is "/\-. ".

Implementation
public function get allowedFormatChars():String
public function set allowedFormatChars(value:String):void

dayListener

property

dayListener:IValidatorListener

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The component that listens for the validation result for the day subfield. If none is specified, use the value specified for the daySource property.

Implementation
public function get dayListener():IValidatorListener
public function set dayListener(value:IValidatorListener):void

dayProperty

property

public var dayProperty:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Name of the day property to validate. This property is optional, but if you specify the daySource property, you should also set this property.

daySource

property

daySource:Object

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Object that contains the value of the day field. If you specify a value for this property, you must also specify a value for the dayProperty property. Do not use this property if you set the source and property properties.

Implementation
public function get daySource():Object
public function set daySource(value:Object):void

formatError

property

formatError:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Error message when the inputFormat property is not in the correct format.

The default value is "Configuration error: Incorrect formatting string.".

Implementation
public function get formatError():String
public function set formatError(value:String):void

inputFormat

property

inputFormat:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The date format to validate the value against. "MM" is the month, "DD" is the day, and "YYYY" is the year. This String is case-sensitive.

The default value is "MM/DD/YYYY".

Implementation
public function get inputFormat():String
public function set inputFormat(value:String):void

invalidCharError

property

invalidCharError:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Error message when there are invalid characters in the date.

The default value is "Invalid characters in your date.".

Implementation
public function get invalidCharError():String
public function set invalidCharError(value:String):void

monthListener

property

monthListener:IValidatorListener

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The component that listens for the validation result for the month subfield. If none is specified, use the value specified for the monthSource property.

Implementation
public function get monthListener():IValidatorListener
public function set monthListener(value:IValidatorListener):void

monthProperty

property

public var monthProperty:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Name of the month property to validate. This property is optional, but if you specify the monthSource property, you should also set this property.

monthSource

property

monthSource:Object

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Object that contains the value of the month field. If you specify a value for this property, you must also specify a value for the monthProperty property. Do not use this property if you set the source and property properties.

Implementation
public function get monthSource():Object
public function set monthSource(value:Object):void

validateAsString

property

validateAsString:Object

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Determines how to validate the value. If set to true, the validator evaluates the value as a String, unless the value has a month, day, or year property. If false, the validator evaluates the value as a Date object.

The default value is true.

Implementation
public function get validateAsString():Object
public function set validateAsString(value:Object):void

wrongDayError

property

wrongDayError:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Error message when the day is invalid.

The default value is "Enter a valid day for the month.".

Implementation
public function get wrongDayError():String
public function set wrongDayError(value:String):void

wrongLengthError

property

wrongLengthError:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Error message when the length of the date doesn't match that of the inputFormat property.

The default value is "Type the date in the format inputFormat.".

Implementation
public function get wrongLengthError():String
public function set wrongLengthError(value:String):void

wrongMonthError

property

wrongMonthError:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Error message when the month is invalid.

The default value is "Enter a month between 1 and 12.".

Implementation
public function get wrongMonthError():String
public function set wrongMonthError(value:String):void

wrongYearError

property

wrongYearError:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Error message when the year is invalid.

The default value is "Enter a year between 0 and 9999.".

Implementation
public function get wrongYearError():String
public function set wrongYearError(value:String):void

yearListener

property

yearListener:IValidatorListener

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

The component that listens for the validation result for the year subfield. If none is specified, use the value specified for the yearSource property.

Implementation
public function get yearListener():IValidatorListener
public function set yearListener(value:IValidatorListener):void

yearProperty

property

public var yearProperty:String

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Name of the year property to validate. This property is optional, but if you specify the yearSource property, you should also set this property.

yearSource

property

yearSource:Object

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Object that contains the value of the year field. If you specify a value for this property, you must also specify a value for the yearProperty property. Do not use this property if you set the source and property properties.

Implementation
public function get yearSource():Object
public function set yearSource(value:Object):void

Constructor Detail

DateValidator

()

Constructor

public function DateValidator()

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Constructor.

Method Detail

doValidation

()

method

override protected function doValidation(value:Object):Array

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Override of the base class doValidation() method to validate a date.

You do not call this method directly; Flex calls it as part of performing a validation. If you create a custom validator class, you must implement this method.

Parameters

value:Object — Either a String or an Object to validate.

Returns

Array — An Array of ValidationResult objects, with one ValidationResult object for each field examined by the validator.

validateDate

()

method

public static function validateDate(validator:DateValidator, value:Object, baseField:String):Array

Language Version:

ActionScript 3.0

Product Version:

Flex 3

Runtime Versions:

Flash Player 9, AIR 1.1

Convenience method for calling a validator from within a custom validation function. Each of the standard Flex validators has a similar convenience method.

Parameters

	`validator:DateValidator` — The DateValidator instance.

	`value:Object` — A field to validate.

	`baseField:String` — Text representation of the subfield specified in the value parameter. For example, if the `value` parameter specifies value.date, the `baseField` value is "date".

Returns

Array — An Array of ValidationResult objects, with one ValidationResult object for each field examined by the validator.