Question

How do I validate the string input to a UITextField? I want to check that the string is numeric, including decimal points.

Answer 1

I use this code in my Mac app, the same or similar should work with the iPhone. It’s based on the RegexKitLite regular expressions and turns the text red when its invalid.

static bool TextIsValidValue( NSString* newText, double &value )
{
    bool result = false;

    if ( [newText isMatchedByRegex:@"^(?:|0|[1-9]\\d*)(?:\\.\\d*)?$"] ) {
        result = true;
        value = [newText doubleValue];
    }
    return result;
}

- (IBAction) doTextChanged:(id)sender;
{
    double value;
    if ( TextIsValidValue( [i_pause stringValue], value ) ) {
        [i_pause setTextColor:[NSColor blackColor]];
        // do something with the value
    } else {
        [i_pause setTextColor:[NSColor redColor]];
    }
}