Re: Variable-length Types

> KuroiNeko,
> 
> >  I remember from  the old days of Delphi/InterBase, and  even older days of
> > Paradox, there were so called input masks, US phone code mask would be like
> 
> Input masks still exist for some languages (VB, Paradox) but I've found
> that even in those platforms that support them I tend to replace them
> with custom functions, because actually using them is too buggy.

You can use CHECK column constraints to enforce this using regular
expressions in the CHECK.

> 
> >  I'm just not sure what to do if 8 or 9 digits are supplied? Maybe, reject,
> > assuming that  such things should  be caught  by UI, and  if we get  such a
> > weird thing, there's something really really wrong?
> 
> Or, if you're using an interface that doesn't readily support entry
> validation (e.g. PHP) then you can nest functions and have the "Save"
> button test for a reply indicating that something's wrong.
> 
> To wit:
> 
> Create Function save_candidate (Lots of candidate data variables) 
>     RETURNS VARCHAR (100)
> AS
>     Declare output_string VARCHAR(100)
>     Do a whole bunch of stuff
>     SELECT first_phone = phoneformat(first_phone)
>     IF first_phone = 'fail' (
>         SELECT output_string = 'Bad phone number for Primary Phone'
>         RETURN output_string
>         )
>     More code
> 
> -Josh
> 
> -- 
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