Angular's built-in Validation : Don't use FormControls

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Use ngModel instead!

Angular NgModel Validation

John Peters ・ Sep 24 '20 ・ 1 min read

#angular #ngmodel #validation

Instant Validation Logic

Not Really Instantaneous

We have to hook up the formGroup and formControl code in the backend to make this work.

Like this:

   private formGroupBind() {   
      if (!this.person) {
         return;
      }
      let namePattern = /^(?=.{1,40}$)[a-zA-Z]+(?:[-'\s][a-zA-Z]+)*$/;
      let ssnPattern = /^(?=.{11}$)\d{1,3}-?\d{1,2}-?\d{1,4}|###-##-####$/;
      this.formGroup = new FormGroup({
         lastName: new FormControl(this.person.lastName, [
            Validators.required,
            Validators.pattern(namePattern),
         ]),
         firstName: new FormControl(this.person.firstName, [
            Validators.required,
            Validators.pattern(namePattern),
         ]),
         middleName: new FormControl(this.person.middleName, []),
         ssn: new FormControl(this.maskedSSN, [
            Validators.required,
            Validators.pattern(ssnPattern),
         ]),
         kind: new FormControl(this.person.kindID, [Validators.required]),
      });

      this.formGroup.enable;
   }

As can be seen there is a distinct pattern. The formGroup is a container for formControls. Each formcontrol is bound the frontend by an object property. We can specify if it's required or not and then use a regex pattern.

If the pattern doesn't match the control will turn pinkish.

We simply do not have to worry about anything else. However we can add niceties for the user experience.

For example anytime a change is made we can hide the save icon based on this code:

this.showSaveIcon == this.formGroup.valid;

Or we can make sure of a valid state prior to saving like this:

  onSave() { 
      if (!this.formGroup.valid) {
         //reject this save it's not valid 
         return;
      }

Where is all this goodness located?

In the forms module for angular. Just import FormsModule and you are all set.

All front-end binding was covered in another post on this same topic.

Summary
Don't write your own validators; use the built-ins. They are faster and have everything you need to maintain proper state for user input.
JWP 2020