Question

I am trying to validate multiple fields/Controls based on individual conditions. The issue is I have individual labels that indicate an error based on the specific control rather than a message box; is there a more efficient way to do this?

Here is the code:

if (txtPhone. Text. Length <= 0) 
{ 
lblPhoneRequired.Visible = true; 
} 
else 
{ 
lblPhoneRequired.Visible = false; 
}

if (txtName. Text. Length <= 0) 
{ 
lblNameRequired. Visible = true; 
} 
else 
{ 
lblNameRequired. Visible = false; 
}

Finally I tried wrapping this into a Public method like this:

public void validation() {
if (txtPhone. Text. Length <= 0)
{ 
lblPhoneRequired.Visible = true; 
} 
else 
{ 
lblPhoneRequired.Visible = false; 
}

if (txtName. Text. Length <= 0) 
{ 
lblNameRequired. Visible = true; 
} 
else 
{ 
lblNameRequired. Visible = false; 
}
}

Then calling the method in a button click event but it does not work.

private void btnSample_Click(object sender, EventArgs e) 
validation(); 
}

The is new territory so please bear with my ignorance:

Guy

Answer 1

You could shorten your code:

lblPhoneRequired.Visible = (txtPhone.Text.Length == 0); 
lblNameRequired.Visible =  (txtName.Text.Length  == 0); 

Note that this is not more or less efficient than your appoach, but it is less verbose and maybe more readable.

Of course you could also use a single control with a different error message:

lblError.Visible =   (txtPhone.Text.Length == 0)
                  || (txtName.Text.Length  == 0);
if((txtPhone.Text.Length == 0) && (txtName.Text.Length  == 0))
     lblError.Text = "Enter phone number and name";
else if(txtPhone.Text.Length == 0)
     lblError.Text = "Enter phone number";
else if(txtName.Text.Length == 0)
     lblError.Text = "Enter name";
else
    lblError.Text = String.Empty;

But you should have a look at the Validating event and the CausesValidation property which every control has.