How to use CompareValidator Control in ASP.net 2.0

The CompareValidator control is used to compare data entered in two form fields. A common example we come across is comparing the Passwords while registering a new user. Another common example is while generating reports when user enters start date and end date, we need to check whether end date is always equal to or greater than the start date.

The common properties are:

ControlToValidate: We can specify the id of the control to Validate.
ControlToCompare : We can specify the id of the control to compare.
Type: Specifies the Datatype to use for comapring.
Operator: It defines the type of comparision.
Text: It specifies Error message to be displayed by the control.

How to use the CompareValidator control in Csharp 2005

The following example shows how to use the CompareValidator control in Csharp 2005.

<html>
<head runat="server">
<title>Untitled Page</title>
<script language="C#" runat="server">
void Button_Click(Object Sender, EventArgs e)
{
   if (Page.IsValid == true)
    {
        lblError.Text = "Page is Valid!";
    }
    else
    {
        lblError.Text = "The fields are empty";
    }
}
</script>
</head> 
<body> 

 

<form id="form1" runat="server"> 
<div> 
<b>Username</b> 
<br /> 
<asp:TextBox 
  ID="txtUsername" 
  Maxlength="20" 
  CssClass="formfield" 
  Runat="Server" />  
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator1" 
  ControlToValidate="txtUsername" 
  Text="Required!" 
  Runat="Server" />  
<b>Password</b> 
<br /> 
<asp:TextBox 
  ID="txtPassword" 
  Maxlength="20" 
  TextMode="Password" 
  CssClass="formfield" 
  Runat="Server" />  
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator2" 
  ControlToValidate="txtPassword" 
  Text="Required!" 
  Runat="Server" />  
<br /> 
 
<b>Password (Again for confirmation)</b> 
<br /> 
<asp:TextBox 
  ID="txtPassword2" 
  Maxlength="20" 
  TextMode="Password" 
  CssClass="formfield" 
  Runat="Server" /> 
   
<asp:RequiredFieldValidator ID="RequiredFieldValidator3" 
  ControlToValidate="txtPassword2" 
  Text="Required!" 
  Display="Dynamic" 
  Runat="Server" />  
<asp:CompareValidator ID="CompareValidator1" 
  ControlToValidate = "txtPassword" 
  ControlToCompare = "txtPassword2" 
  Type = "String" 
  Operator="Equal" 
  Text="Passwords must match!" 
  Runat = "Server" /> 
   
<asp:Label 
ID="lblError" 
EnableViewState="False" 
runat="Server" />  
<br /> 
   
<asp:Button ID="Button1" 
Text="Login!" 
OnClick="Button_Click" 
runat="Server" /> 
</div> 
</form> 
</body> 
</html>

How to perform DataType check using the CompareValidator control

We can check datatype using the CompareValidator control. Many a times, we need to check whether a user has enetered a date in a date filed, string in a string field, and a number in number field. For this, we use DataTypeCheck as the value for the Operator property of CompareValidator control.

The following example shows how to use the CompareValidator control to check DataType check in Csharp 2005

<html> 
<head runat="server"> 
    <title>Untitled Page</title> 
<script runat="server"> 

void Button_Click(Object sender, EventArgs e)  
{ 
    if (Page.IsValid) 
    { 
        lblError.Text = "Page is Valid!"; 
    } 
    else 
    { 
        lblError.Text = "Page is InValid!"; 
    } 
} 
</script> 
 
</head> 
<body> 
<form id="form1" runat="server"> 
<div> 
Enter Currency: 
 
<asp:TextBox 
  id="txtCurrency" 
  Columns="10" 
  Runat="Server"/> 
 
<asp:CompareValidator ID="CompareValidator1" 
  ControlToValidate="txtCurrency" 
  Display="Dynamic" 
  Text="Invalid Currency!" 
  Operator="DataTypeCheck" 
  Type="Currency" 
  Runat="Server" /> 
 
<asp:Label 
  ID="lblError" 
  EnableViewState="False" 
  runat="Server" />  
	<br /> 
 
<asp:Button ID="Button1" 
  Text="Submit" 
  OnClick="Button_Click" 
  Runat="Server"/> 
 
</div> 
</form> 
</body> 
</html>

How to use RangeValidator control

We use the RangeValidator control to check whether the value of a form field falls within a range, that is between a minimum and maximum value. This control can be used to check dates, numbers, currency amounts and strings. The commonly used properties of RangeValidator control are:

Type: We specify the data type to use when comparing values

Text: We specify the Error message to be displayed by the control

ControlToValidate: We specify the ID of the control that we want to validate

MaximumValue: We specify the maximum value in the range of values

MinimumValue: We specify the minimum value in the range of values

<html>
<head runat="server">
<title>Untitled Page</title>
<script language="C#" runat="server">

void Check_Click(Object Src, EventArgs e)
{
if (Page.IsValid)
{
lblError.Text = "Page is Valid!";
}
else
{
lblError.Text = "Page is InValid!" ;
}
}
</script>
</head>
<body>

<form id="form1" runat="server">
<asp:Label id="lblQty"
Text="Stock"  runat="server" />

<asp:TextBox ID="txtQty"
MaxLength="15"  runat="server" />

<asp:RangeValidator id="ValQty"
Type="Integer"
Text="Qty should be enter between 100 and 1000"
ControlToValidate="txtQty"
MaximumValue="1000"
MinimumValue="100"
runat="server"/>

<asp:Label
ID="lblError"
EnableViewState="False"
runat="Server" />

<asp:Button Text="Check" ID="btnCheck" onclick="Check_Click" runat="server" />
</form>
</body>
</html>

see this page for a basic understanding of ASP Net Validation Controls

How to use Validate() method of RangeValidator control to perform validation

An alternative method to check whether a page is valid is shown below.

We can use the validate method of RangeValidator control to perform validation and update the IsValid property. The IsValid property of RangeValidator control has the value true when the validation check succeeds and false if not. The code below shows how to use the Validate() method of RangeValidator control.

void Check_Click(Object Src, EventArgs e)
{
ValQty.Validate();
if (ValQty.IsValid)
{
lblError.Text = "Result: Valid!";
}
else
{
lblError.Text = "Result: Not Valid!";
}
}