Formatting a Phone Number

[George Smyth]

I have used the Expression Builder to format a phone number, but it is not working. I want to check for the length of the phone number, and if it is 10 characters then format it as ###-###-####. I am entering 'LEN(TRIM("CUSTOMER-"PHONE"))=10' as the condition in the Customer table of the AlphaSports sample database.

Am I using this incorrectly? Is there somewhere I can get more information on how to use the Expression Builder?

Thank you -

george

[[email protected]]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

What is the expression builder telling you? Is it true or false?

Bill Belanger

[AaronBBrown]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number


George Smyth wrote:
-------------------------------
Am I using this incorrectly?


Yes, you are doing it incorrectly. You don't want quotes around the field name

You have...
LEN(TRIM("CUSTOMER->PHONE"))=10

It should be...
LEN(TRIM(CUSTOMER->PHONE))=10

With the quotes around the field name you are trimming the string value "customer->phone", not the value contained in the field customer->phone.

[[email protected]]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

This expression works for me

phone -" 2075678978

len(trim(Phone)) = 10 -" true

When I type your expression into the builder I get a character string returned, not a true or false.

Bill

[George Smyth]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

I have changed the string to:

LEN(TRIM(CUSTOMER-"PHONE))=10

Below the box I input my information it says "Result:False." Does that mean that I have not entered a valid expression? This expression does not work either.

Cheers -

george

[George Smyth]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

When I enter:

Len(Trim(Phone))=10 -" true

I get ""Invalid or incomplete expression""

Cheers -

george

[AaronBBrown]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

No, it means that the current value isn't 10 characters long...

len(value)=10
is a logical expression. It returns true or false. You need to *do* something with it.

case(len(trim(company-"phone))=10, someformattingfunction())

[[email protected]]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

No, that means that the answer to the expression is false. Do you by chance have hyphens in your phone number?

209-123-4455 would be a length of 12

Bill

[George Smyth]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

" len(value)=10
" is a logical expression. It returns true or false. You need to *do* something with it.
"

I thought that the mask was applied if the expression evaluated to true (I am entering this information in the Field Rules - perhaps I may have caused some confusion by not noting that). I assume that your response would refer to Action Script?

Cheers -

george

[George Smyth]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

Bill -

No. When I enter "1234567890" into the form, the phone stays that way.

Oddly enough, when I use the expression "LEN(TRIM(PHONE))""10" the Result below where I type that shows "True." When I enter the phone number it uses the mask whether there are 10 characters or not.

Cheers -

george

[Tom Cone Jr]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

George,

your original string is 12 characters long. the two blanks count. they are not trimmed since they aren't at the end of the string. trim() just removes trailing blanks.

-- t

[forskare]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

Is the field a character field or numeric? It must be character.

kenn

[George Smyth]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

Ken -

The field has a Character type.

Cheers -

george

[George Smyth]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

Tom -

Actually, I am entering "1234567890" so I am including no spaces.

I guess I am asking too much for this. I would like to allow for the entry of many types of phone numbers. This would allow for the entry of an extension number. If the user wants to type ten digits then it will be formatted as ### ###-####. If the phone number is foreign then a couple of extra digits may be added, but the formatting will be determined by the user. I am just not able to figure out how this can be done.

Cheers -

george

[George Smyth]

RE: Formatting a Phone Number

Bill -

When I enter:

Len(Trim(Phone))=10 -" true

I get ""Invalid or incomplete expression""

Are you referring to the Expressions Builder that is reached through Field Rules?

Cheers -

george