ways to validate

[Jay Richards]

i need your javascript experties guys...
can i validate an expression like this
# numbers
[(####)] ###[-]#### [loc ####]
the optional [(####)] can be 2 - 4 numbers
the optional [loc ####] can be 3 - 4 numbers
i beleive i can do it on perl but i can't squeeze my brain on how to do it on javascript.
thanks anyone. hope you could post some scripts...
thansk again...

[Bear Bibeault]

Look up regular expressions. That should get you on-track.
hth,
bear

[Eric Pascarello]

I am guessing you wanted the brackets in it?
So here is what I came up with.
<script>
var TheNum="[(111)] 111[-]1111[loc111]";
var ThePat = /^\[\(\d{3}\)\] \d{3}\[-\]\d{4}\[\d{2,4}\]$/;
var ThePat2 = /^\[\(\d{3}\)\] \d{3}\[-\]\d{4}\[loc\d{3,4}\]$/;
if(ThePat.test(TheNum) || ThePat2.test(TheNum) ){alert('match');}
else alert('no');
</script>

Eric