DSP® Application Development

Validation Rules

Validation rules manage correct data entry. If the validation occurs upon save and fails, a message is displayed. Validation rules are based on views in SQL that are registered to the page in DSP.

During the design or modification of a WebApp, validations can be incorporated into a page or can be added to a field based on an event.

This section contains the following topics:

Validation Rule Guidelines

  • Use the naming convention webXXX_YYYYVal where XXX is the primary table or page and YYYY describes what the validation rule is validating, for example, webOrderDetail_QtyGreaterThanOnHandVal.
  • DSP automatically generates a validation rule view for columns under the following conditions:
    • When a column property is created with the Required value set to Required (soft).

      NOTE:Refer to Assign Column Properties for more information.

    • When a column property is established for a list box or filtered text box with the List Allow Insert option set to Constrained to table. Refer to Enable List Allow Insert for more information.
    • When image or button column properties are added to a column and not linked to a page.
  • Validations only run on the page for which they are created. They are not connected or linked to additional pages. Inherit Validation enables validations to run for up to 30 linked pages. Refer to Enable Inherit Validations for more information.
  • Validation rules are assigned a Severity on the Page Validation Rules page (WebApps > Pages > Events > Validation Rules) to dictate boastatus behavior. Severity types are:
    • Error – Marks the status as invalid until the error is corrected and the Validation rule passes.
    • Message – The status is valid but a message is displayed.
    • Warning – Displays a message and the status can be validated or invalidated by the user.
  • Ensure the table has a boaStatus column. Reserved columns can be automatically added to tables using the Append Column feature. Refer to Append BOA Reserved Columns to Tables for more information.
  • If the validation rule is only relevant under certain data conditions provide a “Conditional Column” in the view to allow for a 0 (disabled) or 1 (enabled) value to determine whether the Validation rule executes. This can be useful when, for example, ensuring a field has a non-NULL value when another column is enabled.

Register a Validation Rule to a Page

Refer to Validation Rule Guidelines for general information.

To register the Validation rule to a page in DSP:

  1. Select Admin > WebApps in the Navigation pane.
  2. Click the Pages icon for a WebApp and click Events.

    OR

  1. Access the page in the WebApp.
  2. Click the Change Settings icon on Site toolbar.
  3. Click Design.
  4. Click Events for the page.

    NOTE: An OnValidate event must be added for every page that contains a boaStatus field, even if there are no validation rules or business rules registered to the page. If the OnValidate event is not created, boaStatus is not automatically updated by DSP. If an OnValidate event has already been added, skip to step 8.

  5. Select OnValidate from the Event list box.
  6. Click Save, the Vertical View displays.

    NOTE: If populated, the Pre Message displays before the validation rule runs and the Post Message displays after the validation rule runs. Use the messages with consideration to the end user.

  7. Click Save.
  8. Return to the Horizontal View.
  9. Click the Validation Rules icon.
  10. Enter a number in the PRIORITY field.

    NOTE: The PRIORITY is the order in which the validation rule runs.

  11. Select an option from the VALIDATION TYPE list box.

    NOTE: Options are:

    • External Page - This setting executes a plugin to determine whether the associated record is valid. The validation fails if a non-zero result is returned.
    • Stored Procedure – This setting executes a procedure to determine whether the associated record is valid. The validation fails if a non-zero result is returned.
    • View – This setting binds the view against the current column key to determine validity. If the view returns any results, the Validation rule is considered failed.
  12. Select an option from the SEVERITY list box.

    NOTE: Options are:

    • Error - If the record fails this validation, the status is marked as invalid and the Business rule does not run.

      NOTE: A business rule can be configured to run even when a validation fails. Check the Run on Validate Fail check box on the Page Business Rules page’s Vertical View to configure this setting.

    • Message – This severity is an informative validation rule which works the same as other validation types but does not negatively affect the validity of the record itself (for example, failing a message does not fail the record validation).
    • Warning - If the record fails this type of validation, the user clicks Yes or No on the warning message to either pass or fail the record. If passed, all business rules set to “Run On Validate” on the Page Business Rules Vertical View run. If not, only the rules set to “Run On Validate Fail” run and the record is marked accordingly.
    • Workflow Only – Deprecated.
  13. Click Save; the Vertical View displays.
  14. Select the view that stores the validation rule from the View list box.
  15. Enter text in the Comment field.

    NOTE: The text in the Comment field displays to the end user when the validation rule fails.

  16. Click Save.

Enable Inherit Validations

Pages in a WebApp are not organized in a hierarchy; however, the Inherit Validation feature uses controls linking to other pages to establish a hierarchy.

For example, if Inherit Validation is enabled on the link between the Orders and OrderDetail pages, the OnValidate event of the Orders page also runs the validations from the OnValidate event on the OrderDetail page, just as if the validation rules were registered on the OrderDetail page.

To enable Inherit Validations between a parent and a child page:

  1. Select Admin > WebApps in the Navigation pane.

  2. Click the Pages icon for a WebApp and click Events.

    OR

  1. Access the parent page in the WebApp.
  2. Click the Change Settings icon on the Site toolbar.
  3. Click Design.
  4. Click the Column Properties icon for the page.

  5. Click the link in the LINK TO PAGE column that provides the navigation to the child page; the Page Column Links page displays.

    NOTE: The column property is not applied to the linking column on the parent page but rather the link property on the child page.

  6. Click the Advanced Properties tab.
  7. Click the Inherit Validations check box.