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This rule lets you validate whether the values entered in a question meet the requirements set in conditions. If the conditions are met, a validation message appears at the bottom of the form and you can’t submit it until the information entered is valid. Data validation rule configuration

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Title

The first part of the business rule lets you define a title for your rule and select the event on which it operates. The default title is the standard FlowForma rule name; change it by deleting the text and entering your own. In the event field you determine when the rule is executed. You can only add a data validation rule to a question, and only “completed” is available, since the rule runs on step completion.

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Rule actions

  • Enter the error message that will be displayed if the conditions above are met: enter the message you want displayed when the rule conditions are met.
  • Stop execution: if stop execution is enabled and this rule is executed, no other rules are executed.
  • Enabled: rules aren’t saved to a list like questions and steps are, so if you want to stop a rule executing without deleting it, toggle this option to enable or disable the rule.
  • Enable audit: if checked, a record is added to the audit trail when this rule is executed. This option is available when the Compliance feature pack is activated.

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Examples

Data validation works by using conditions to specify answers that are not allowable (invalid) when entered in the question being validated.
  • Equals: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column equals the value in the right column, display a validation message.
  • Not equals: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column does not equal the value in the right column, display a validation message.
  • Is blank: if the user leaves the question selected in the left column blank, display a validation message. (The right column is disabled for is blank.)
  • Not blank: if the user does not leave the question selected in the left column blank, display a validation message. (The right column is disabled for not blank.)
  • Contains: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column contains the value specified in the right column, display a validation message.
  • Not contains: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column does not contain the value specified in the right column, display a validation message.
  • Greater than: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column is greater than the value specified in the right column, display a validation message. (Numeric values only.)
  • Less than: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column is less than the value specified in the right column, display a validation message. (Numeric values only.)
  • Matches pattern: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column matches the pattern specified in the right column, display a validation message.
  • Does not match pattern: if the value entered in the question selected in the left column does not match the pattern specified in the right column, display a validation message.

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RegEx

Pattern matching is especially useful when combined with a regular expression (RegEx). A RegEx lets you add very complex requirements for the values entered in a question. For example, a regular expression that validates a correctly formatted email address looks like: 
^([a-zA-Z0-9_\-\.]+)@([a-zA-Z0-9_\-\.]+)\.([a-zA-Z]{2,5})$
While RegEx is complex, spending a few minutes searching online will turn up plenty of commonly used, copy-and-pasteable expressions. RegEx is also useful when you need the user to enter a value in a specific format:
  • 03-AG.13: 2 digits, a hyphen, 2 letters, a dot, then 2 digits: ^[0-9]{2}\-[a-zA-Z]{2}\.[0-9]{2}$
  • 123-456-789: 3 digits, a hyphen, 3 digits, a hyphen, 3 digits: ^([0-9]{3}-[0-9]{3}-[0-9]{3})$