![[property icon]](bitmaps/browsetool21.png)
Validate
Validate
Validate
Specifies the default cell validation action
Enumerated type, possible values are:
| Default | Grid default rules |
|---|---|
| Edit | Editing is enabled for the cell but the EditValidate() routine will not be called when the user leaves the cell |
| EditWithValidate | If the user moves out of the cell, and the cells contents were modified, then call the EditValidate() event handler, if it exists |
| NoEdit | Used to skip to the Next or Previous cell when the user attempts to Tab or Shift Tab into the cell. Only relevant when the EditRow() or EditGrid() methods are being used. Note that this property does not prevent the user from clicking on the cell directly. To completely disable a cell you should set the LeftAction or RightAction property to Ignore so as to disable the click event handler |
| EditAlwaysValidate | The EditValidate() event is always called when the user moves between cells, regardless of any changes made to the cells contents |
![[event icon]](bitmaps/browsetool20.png)
Validate() Event
Called if the contents of the control were modified by the user
Applies to: KCMLEdit
The Validate property is used to determine if the EditValidate() event handler is to be called when the user moves out of the cell.
The Validate() event handler is used to validate text entered into an Edit control by the client. This event handler is only called if the text in the control has changed and the control is about to lose focus. Text set programmatically at the server is considered to be valid initially. It becomes invalid only if changed at the client. The modified text is available to the routine in the ValidateText$ property while the original, presumably valid, text is stored in the Text$ property.
The changed text is only accepted if the event handler completes succesfully, i.e. a RETURN FALSE statement is not executed. KCML will set the .text$ property to be the same as the ValidateText$ property. If the handler declares the text to be invalid by returning FALSE then the text is still considered modified and .Text$ is not changed. In order to shift focus to another control, the user must either enter valid text or press any Cancel button.
The AlwaysValidate property can be used to force the Validate() event to trigger on loss of focus even if the value of the control has not altered thus acting like the deprecated .LoseFocus() event in KCML 5.
Validate() events and dropdown lists
Note that on edit controls with a dropdown list, the Text$ field is set when the list entry changes in preparation for a SelChange() event. Thus in a Validate event (which will always happen after the SelChange event), both the Text$ and ValidateText$ will reflect the new selection. In these cases Validate makes little sense in terms of validation as the user is presented with a given list of presumably valid selections in the first place. The Validate event is still generated for the benefit of applications that prefer to fill in other fields on the form only after the user moves away rather than on every selection change.
Validate() events and menus
The validate event is only triggered when the control loses focus. If the form has a menu or toolbar, then selecting a menu item will not cause the control to lose focus. However, in this case the validate event is triggered first (assuming the contents have been changed) and only if the return from the handler is TRUE will the menu selection will occur.
It is possible to have individual menu items that do not force the validation to take place, for instance if the menu item will perform some sort of lookup based on the current value. This can be done programatically in the Create() event with
.menu.menuitem.Flag = .menu.menuitem.Flag + 0x80000000
Validate() events and Return() events
If a control has both a .Validate() event handler and an enabled Return() event handler then the Validate() event gets priority if RETURN is pressed. The Return() event will not trigger if the text has been modified and the Validate() event will be called. Only if the text is considered valid as a result of being set by the server or having passed a previous validation will the Return() event get called.
Note that in the case of modified text, focus will not actually leave the control in response to the RETURN even if .Validate() returns TRUE in order to be compatible with the normal rules for Return() events.